Ay-O

Ay-O

靉嘔

Takao Iijima

飯島隆雄

Iijima Takao

Ibaraki-ken 1931

printmaker

Ay-O is the art name of Iijima Takao, who was born in Ibaragi prefecture and graduated from the Tokyo University of Education. He began his art career at the Democratic Artist Association, which was formed by the progressive surrealist painter Ei-Q (1911-1960) to promote independence in art-making. During the 1960s, Ay-O lived in the United States where he was a founding member of the avant-garde group, Fluxus. In 1966, Ay-O was selected as Japan's representative to the Venice Biennale. He created a signature style of Pop Art with halo-like effects of radiating hues, which he also renders as large canvas acrylic paintings.

Male