Ay-O: Hong Hong Hong highlights the practice of Japanese artist Ay-O, widely known as the ‘rainbow artist’, who has explored the universal motif of the rainbow in ever-expanding constellations of forms, ideas, and moods, driven by his unflagging humour, curiosity, and imagination. Ay-O developed his distinct visual language in the immediate aftermath of World War II and later in the milieu of the international movement of Fluxus, centred in New York City in the 1960s. These experiences shaped his belief that art should be as widely accessible as possible. From this anti-elitist philosophy emerged his signature rainbow patterns, which he has been applying and adapting to numerous canvases, sculptures, and environments over the last six decades. 

Inaugurating the new M+ ‘Pao-Watari Exhibition Series’ of monographic exhibitions on significant figures and moments in the histories of art and visual culture of Asia, Ay-O: Hong Hong Hong features Ay-O’s works from the 1950s to the 2000s, complemented by a selection of Fluxus works by the artist and his fellow compatriots.