The "samurai" of painting who connected East and West

The Japanese artist, naturalized Brazilian, was one of the pioneers of abstract art in the country of Rio. 100 years after his birth, this creator capable of uniting two cultural worlds continues to be a reference.

Today, September 14, Manabu Mabe would have turned 100 years old, an artist who could be identified as a "revolutionary" in Latin American art, thanks to his particular abstract style. Born in Japan but living in Brazil since he was young, Mabe became a reference in modern art, creating a kind of "bridge" between the cultures of the East and the West.
His work is, in fact, a mixture of colors and shapes that manifest the union between both ancient traditions. In this sense, there is an article in Fahrenheit Magazine that points out that in Brazil he is better known as "the samurai of painting" because "he made striking abstract works that were characterized by bright colors and large dimensions."

Manabu Mabe's life echoes his art: it combines the rigor and delicacy of Japanese art with the freedom and spontaneity he found in Brazil. At the age of 10, his family moved to rural São Paulo, where he discovered painting. In his early works, an influence of oriental art was still noticeable, but it was in Brazil that he found his style: lyrical abstraction, which brought him international fame.
The year 1959 was decisive for Mabe, as Time magazine reported. One of the milestones was his participation in the V São Paulo Biennial of that year, where his work was awarded first prize. This achievement consolidated Mabe as a reference in abstract art, and opened the doors to exhibitions in New York, Tokyo and Paris. From that moment on, his career took on a global momentum.
Walter Jey, in a text from 1960, indicates that “since 1953, when he abandoned figurative painting, Mube had been researching and making attempts to mature his art, to express his message with depth. All his work is a permanent dialogue between the fineness and delicacy of the East, with the telluric force of the Brazilian tropics.”
“Manabu Mabe - adds Jey - arrived at abstraction through black graphics placed with great force and without hesitation on a background of vivid colors, greatly worked not only in the superposition of colors, but also by the process of scraping or sanding until achieving surprising qualities.”

Honoring the origins

Throughout his life, Manabu Mabe maintained a permanent contact with his Japanese heritage. In his works one can appreciate the influence of traditional calligraphy from that country, especially in his handling of brushstrokes and the use of empty space. However, Brazil's tropical nature also played a crucial role in defining his color palette, which fills his works with life.
A text on the website of Galería Caribé, a space specializing in modern and contemporary art, notes that “Mabe's lyrical abstractionism is a constant in his work. The mixture of influences between East and West is visible in his compositions. The works reflect the evolution of an artist who demonstrates why he is considered a master. Concern for the conception and the final product is always a trademark of Mabe. Nothing should be missing in his works, each one must have life.”
According to the EcuRed site, “his canvases, in which the drippings typical of informalism and abstract expressionism coexist, along with large areas of uniform color, bear titles that refer to moods.” Although he died in 1997, Manabu Mabe's work is still present in the collections of important museums around the world, such as the Museum of Modern Art in São Paulo and the Museum of Contemporary Art in Tokyo.

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