Artwork Description

Title: Three Kinds of Artifact
Artist: Keiko Moriuchi
Date: n.d.
Medium: Mixed media
Dimensions: 16.1 x 12.6 in. (41 x 32 cm)

1. Artwork Identification
In Three Kinds of Artifact, Keiko Moriuchi presents a richly textured mixed media composition dominated by a central golden vessel, rendered in thick impasto and encased within a tiered architectural-like frame. The painting radiates with a ceremonial aura, its palette confined to brilliant gold, silver, and white, enhancing the sense of sacred objecthood. The canvas is meticulously bordered and studded with gilded relief elements, evoking the appearance of a relic or an offering tablet.

2. Artistic Style and Influences
Moriuchi’s work draws on the legacy of the Gutai Art Association, known for its radical material experimentation and emphasis on direct engagement with medium. This piece channels the ethos of Gutai through its tactile exuberance while simultaneously referencing devotional iconography and ritualistic forms. The aesthetic echoes baroque exuberance fused with minimalist symmetry—a compelling tension between lavishness and restraint.

3. Historical Context
Keiko Moriuchi's artistic journey bridges two key postwar cultural poles—Japan and the United States. Influenced by Jiro Yoshihara’s Gutai principles and her later exposure to New York’s minimalist and conceptual scenes, Moriuchi developed a personal vocabulary rooted in object-making and abstraction. This work, with its enshrined central motif and ornate embellishments, may be read as a quiet subversion of Western canonical painting through the lens of ritual, memory, and material saturation.

4. Provenance
Provenance documentation can be provided upon contact.

5. Condition and Conservation
The artwork is in very good condition. The impasto retains its sculptural dimensionality with no visible losses or damage. The gilded elements are stable, and the surface shows no signs of degradation. No restoration is required at this time.

6. Artistic Significance
This painting is a testament to Moriuchi’s unique contribution to postwar art. While firmly grounded in the Gutai tradition, she deviates with a deeply personal symbology, elevating humble materials into artifacts of contemplative power. Three Kinds of Artifact encapsulates Moriuchi’s dual engagement with spiritual symbolism and avant-garde materiality—an approach that situates her work as both enigmatic and enduring in its cultural resonance.