MATERIA is inspired by the Japanese avant-garde GUTAI artistic movement.

Founded by visionary artist Jiro YOSHIHARA in 1954, the GUTAI group was legendary in its time. GUTAI artists sought to break down the barriers between art, the public and everyday life.

GUTAI art aspired to go beyond abstraction and enthusiastically pursue the possibilities of pure creativity by merging human qualities and material properties to interpret abstract space.

The "Gutai Art Association" (active from 1954 to 1972) was born in the cosmopolitan city of Ashiya, near Osaka, in western JAPAN. Spanning two generations, the group has totaled 59 Japanese artists over its 18-year history.