Takesada Matsutani / Kate Van Houten: Paris Prints 1967-1978. VIP Reception and Exhibition Viewing.

Lifelong partners in art and life, Takesada Matsutani and Kate Van Houten first met in 1967 while working at Atelier 17, the celebrated print studio established in Paris by Stanley William Hayter. Beginning 25 January 2024, Hauser & Wirth New York will present a two-part exhibition exploring the couple’s overlapping oeuvres and deep involvement with printmaking over the years through a selection of etchings, screenprints, photography, painting, sculpture and various ephemera on view at the gallery’s 18th Street location in New York City. The first installment of this presentation will focus on works made using intaglio techniques, while the second will foreground hard-edge silkscreens in vibrant color. Through these works and related public programs, ‘Paris Prints 1967-1978’ will draw visitors into the intimate creative dialogue that has unfolded over half a century between two remarkable individuals in love with both artistic innovation and one another.

One of the youngest members of the radical Japanese avant-garde art collective Gutai, Matsutani left Japan for Paris in November of 1966 after receiving first prize at the First Mainichi Art Competition and a six-month scholarship from the French government to study abroad. Having never left Japan before, his journey to France would ultimately transform both his artistic career and personal life: while the teachings and ethos of Gutai have exerted an enduring influence upon him, nearly 50 years later Matsutani still calls Paris home.