Images

“My Own Death”, 1970 at Tokyo

Photo © Mitsutoshi Hanaga

Overview

Yutaka Matsuzawa (松澤宥, Matsuzawa Yutaka, February 2, 1922–October 15, 2006) was a pioneering Japanese conceptual artist whose innovative work redefined the boundaries of art through immateriality and meditative visualization. Born in Shimosuwa, Nagano Prefecture, in central Japan, Matsuzawa grew up during Japan’s tumultuous Fifteen-Year War (1930–1945), an experience that profoundly shaped his rejection of conventional artistic and societal norms. After studying architecture at Waseda University in Tokyo (1943–1946), he abandoned the field to pursue poetry and art, teaching mathematics at a night school in his hometown.

From 1955 to 1957, Matsuzawa studied in the United States on Fulbright and Japan Society fellowships, engaging with philosophy, religion, and art history at Columbia University. In New York, he encountered the works of Jackson Pollock, Robert Rauschenberg, and John Cage, which informed his early surrealist explorations. Inspired by parapsychology, he developed his “Theory of Psi,” exploring cognitive abilities beyond the five senses, as seen in works like Psi Bird (1958) and Psi Altar (1961). This earned him the nickname “Mr. Psi.”

 

A pivotal moment came on June 1, 1964, when Matsuzawa experienced a revelation to “vanish matter,” prompting a shift to text-based, anti-materialist art centered on the concept of kannen (idea or meditative visualization). Works like White Circle (1967) and My Own Death (1970) invited viewers to engage with absence and impermanence, drawing on Pure Land Buddhism and quantum physics. His estate in Suwa became a hub for the Nirvana School, a collective of like-minded conceptual artists, and his work gained international recognition through exhibitions like the Tokyo Biennale (1970) and Venice Biennale (1976).

 

Matsuzawa’s practice, which synthesized Eastern and Western philosophies, challenged Euro-American conceptualism by emphasizing the invisible and impermanent. His influence endures through exhibitions and the republication of his Quantum Art Manifesto (1988). Matsuzawa died on October 15, 2006, in Shimosuwa, leaving a legacy as a trailblazer of Japanese conceptual art.

Works
  • ψ Box (松澤宥 ψの函)
    Yutaka Matsuzawa
    ψ Box (松澤宥 ψの函), 1983
    Artist’s book, published by Zōkeisha, Tokyo
    Box: 12 x 11 13/16 x 2 1/4 in (30.5 × 30 × 5.5 cm)
  • The Nine Meditation Chambers (九想の室)
    Yutaka Matsuzawa
    The Nine Meditation Chambers (九想の室), 1977
    12 handwritten and typed sheets
    Paper size: 7 1/8 x 10 1/8 in (18 x 25.6 cm) each
    Framed: 11 x 13 1/2 (27.9 x 34.3 cm) each
  • Contemplate a White Circle in This White Sheet of Paper (Swan Song) この一枚の白き和紙の中に (白鳥の歌)
    Yutaka Matsuzawa
    Contemplate a White Circle in This White Sheet of Paper (Swan Song)   この一枚の白き和紙の中に (白鳥の歌), 1976
    Silkscreen
    Paper size: 35 7/16 x 35 7/16 in (90 x 90 cm)
  • My Own Death (私の死)
    Yutaka Matsuzawa
    My Own Death (私の死), 1970
    Photostat panel
    35 7/8 x 36 5/8 x 1 1/4 in
    91 x 93 x 3 cm
  • Psi Corpse (プサイの死体遺体)
    Yutaka Matsuzawa
    Psi Corpse (プサイの死体遺体), 1964/ 1995
    9 sheets; offset lithograph, 2nd printing
    Paper size: 15 1/8 x 10 1/4 in (38.4 × 26 cm) each
    Framed: 21 1/8 x 16 1/8 in (53.6 x 40.9 cm) each
  • Psi Corpse (プサイの死体遺体)
    Yutaka Matsuzawa
    Psi Corpse (プサイの死体遺体), 1964/ 1995
    19 sheets; offset lithograph, 2nd printing
    15 1/8 x 10 1/4 in
    38.4 x 26 cm
  • On "Meaning of Psi" and Psi Chamber,"〈プサイの意味〉および〈プサイ函・Psi Chamber〉
    Yutaka Matsuzawa
    On "Meaning of Psi" and Psi Chamber,"〈プサイの意味〉および〈プサイ函・Psi Chamber〉, 1961
    Print
    13 x 9 1/2 in (33 x 24 cm)
  • Psi Chamber
    Yutaka Matsuzawa
    Psi Chamber, 1961
    13-1/4 x 9-1/2 inches
  • The Nine Meditation Chambers (concrete platform)
    Yutaka Matsuzawa
    The Nine Meditation Chambers (concrete platform)
    floor
    installation
    with text
Video
Exhibitions