A raw mid-century acrylic on paper, mounted on a wooden panel depicting an eye filled with various abstract shapes by Mikami Makoto of the Avant-garde Pan Real Art Organization. It measures 33.3 x 24.5 x 2.5 cm (13 x 10 x 1 inches). There is wear to the edges typical of an unframed paper artwork of the era.
Mikami Makoto (1919-1972) Born in Osaka and raised in Fukui, he failed the entrance exam for the Oil Painting Department of Tokyo School of Fine Arts in 1940 and entered the preparatory course of the Nihonga Department at Kyoto City School of Painting. He graduated from the main course in 1944 and became an assistant at the same school. He co-founded the Panreal Art Association, together with Hoshino Shingo and Yamazaki Takashi. He played a central role in the association, drafting its declaration and became its president in 1951. After contracting tuberculosis, he created many works depicting deformed or fragmented human bodies, often recalling his surgical and medical experiences, in addition to works incorporating unconventional materials such as straw rope, cardboard, and wood fragments. His art evolved from surrealist-inspired works to abstract collage pieces, culminating in a unique style influenced by Eastern medicine used in his treatment. From 1952, he returned to Fukui for convalescence, and from 1958 to 1970, he taught as a part-time lecturer at the Faculty of Liberal Arts, Fukui University. He suffered a recurrence of pulmonary tuberculosis in 1971 and passed away the following year. Except for periods of treatment and surgery for pulmonary tuberculosis, he continued to exhibit in Panreal exhibitions until his death. His works are held in the collections of Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo, Niigata Prefectural Museum of Modern Art, Fukui Fine Arts Museum, Toyohashi City Museum of Art & History, The National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto.
