Kazuo Shiraga: Embracing Matter and Challenging Tradition Kazuo Shiraga (白髪 一雄, *Shiraga Kazuo*; August 12, 1924 – April 8, 2008) was a Japanese abstract painter and the first-generation member of the postwar artists collective Gutai Art Association (Gutai). As a Gutai member, he was a prolific, inventive, and pioneering experimentalist who tackled a range of media: in addition to painting, he worked in performance art, three-dimensio…