Koichi Kageyama | Morris Louis “Alpha‑Pi” — Experiencing “Seeing” with Kenji Kajiya
The article explores Morris Louis’s “Alpha‑Pi” and Professor Kenji Kajiya’s insights into its significance in Color Field painting.Summary
The piece examines Morris Louis’s 1960 canvas‑acrylic work “Alpha‑Pi,” held by the Metropolitan Museum of Art, through an interview with Tokyo University professor Kenji Kajiya. The painting features a white surface overlaid with multicolored V‑shaped streams and a central blank area, exemplifying Color Field painting. Kajiya explains that Louis pursued a “non‑composition” approach, emphasizing visual immersion and the tension between the empty center and surrounding color flows. The article also outlines Louis’s biography, education, techniques, connections to other abstract artists, and the discovery of previously unpublished “Unfurled” works. It highlights how the work challenges traditional compositional balance and invites viewers to experience painting as a pure visual field, offering contextual insight for readers interested in Japanese‑American modern art history.
(Source：artscape)