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Ay-Ō Happy Rainbow Hell

Title: Ay-Ō Happy Rainbow Hell
Author List: Kit Brooks, Sukeda Kenryō (contributor)
Publisher: Smithsonian Books; National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution
Publication Date: March 21, 2023
Publication Type: book
Format: print (hardcover)
Pages: 160
Illustrations: 140
ISBN: 9781588347411
Collection Area(s): Japanese Art
White text placed against a striped rainbow background. Stripes of color curve diagonally across the book cover, transitioning from red in the top left corner to orange, then yellow, then green, and finally dark blue in the bottom right corner. Across the top left quadrant, “Ay-O” appears in a large script font with “happy rainbow hell” arranged below that in a smaller, lightweight sans serif font.
Description:

This kaleidoscopic catalogue celebrates avant-garde artist Ay-Ō’s first major museum exhibition in the United States. Known as the “Rainbow Artist” for the prominent bright motif in his work, Ay-Ō has long referred to this compulsion as his “rainbow hell.” Ay-Ō Happy Rainbow Hell invites readers into the vibrant world of his brilliant art, mind, and imagination, featuring artwork from the first major U.S. museum exhibition devoted to his work.

Ay-Ō Happy Rainbow Hell presents approximately 140 gorgeous illustrations from the Smithsonian’s Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, home to the largest U.S. collection of Ay-Ō’s silkscreen prints, and loans from other U.S. institutions along with enlightening catalogue entries to better appreciate each piece. The book includes an essay from Kit Brooks, the Japan Foundation Assistant Curator of Japanese Art, that provides a biography of Ay-Ō; an illustrated essay from Ay-Ō’s longtime printer Sukeda Kenryō; and a message from the artist Ay-Ō himself.

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Related Exhibition

  • A swimmer, wearing goggles, performs the butterfly stroke in wavy splashes of water. The whole scene is rendered in vibrant segments of rainbow colors.

    Ay-Ō's Happy Rainbow Hell

    March 25–September 10, 2023

    Immerse yourself in Ay-Ō’s world of sensory experience, exploration, and fun. Featuring over eighty artworks from the collections of the National Museum of Asian Art as well as several other US institutions, Ay-Ō’s Happy Rainbow Hell is the first ever exhibition dedicated to the artist’s work at a museum in the United States.

    View Exhibition

  • 1050 Independence Ave. SW
    Washington, DC 20013
    202.633.1000

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