Tatsuo Ikeda was involved in a number of prominent but short-lived artistic societies that emerged after the war, including Taro Okamoto and Kiyoteru Hanada's Zen'ei Bijutsu-kai, Seiki no Kai, Seibiren and the Seisakusha Kondankai, which he co-founded with film critic Senpei Kasu.
19 Facts About Tatsuo Ikeda
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Tatsuo Ikeda mostly worked in painting and drawing using earthy monochromatic tones, though later in his career he turned towards mixed-media and sculptural work as well.
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Tatsuo Ikeda is best known for his ink drawing works, which include Anti-Atomic Bomb, Chronicle of Birds and Beasts, and Genealogy of Monsters.
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Ikeda Tatsuo was born in Imari, Saga prefecture on August 15,1928, as the eldest son of a stonemason.
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Tatsuo Ikeda was drafted into the Imperial Japanese Navy to train as a kamikaze pilot in Kagoshima.
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However, after the GHQ prohibited former military personnel from taking teaching positions due to suspicions regarding the potential of lingering militarist sentiments to seep into postwar education practices, Tatsuo Ikeda was expelled from the teaching school in 1946.
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Tatsuo Ikeda gained admission to the Tama Art and Design School with the painting as part of his portfolio, and moved to Tokyo in 1948 to begin his studies.
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Tatsuo Ikeda quickly grew disillusioned with the conservatism of the university and his instructors.
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Tatsuo Ikeda, who affiliated with groups such as Seiki no Kai, NON, and Seibiren, participated in a number of organizations independently organized by the groups.
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At the encouragement of Okamoto Taro, Tatsuo Ikeda submitted his work to the second annual Yomiuri Independant Exhibition in 1950.
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In 1953, Tatsuo Ikeda visited a coal mine near his home in Saga.
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Tatsuo Ikeda went on to visit American military bases in Tachikawa and Uchinada, recording his observations with a critical gaze towards the social, environmental, and political anxieties that plagued residents in occupied areas.
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Tatsuo Ikeda explored the conditions and ramifications of postwar urban development through work such as Big Street, where he used expressive, child-like hand to draw houses, arrows and stick figures in haphazard array, alluding to the mass development and land reclamation practices that left many at the margins in impoverished living conditions, even a decade after the war.
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Alongside fellow left-wing artists such as Hiroshi Nakamura, Kikuji Yamashita, and Shigeo Ishii, Tatsuo Ikeda began producing a rich series of protest work that sharply critiqued the conservative cabinet that rose to power following the occupation and the ongoing violence incurred by the perpetuation of American military presence, endemic corruption, and the escalation of the nuclear arms race.
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Tatsuo Ikeda headed the painting group, which included On Kawara, Shigeo Ishii, Kiyoshi Shimamura, and Madokoro Akutagawa Saori.
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The collaborative work led to Tatsuo Ikeda producing set designs and posters during this period.
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The ensuing nuclear fallout and radiation poisoning suffered by the fisherman instantly became a flashpoint for anti-nuclear activism across Japan, and inspired Tatsuo Ikeda to begin his Anti-nuclear series the same year.
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Tatsuo Ikeda's ink drawing 10,000 Count, whose title refers to a Geiger counter reading, depicts the irradiated catch that was recalled at Tsukiji market.
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Tatsuo Ikeda died from aspiration pneumonia on 30 November 2020 at the age of 92.