Tetsumi Kudo's Prophetic Cybernetic Art at Maison Rouge

The late Japanese artist Tetsumi Kudo, who died in 1990 at age 55, is the subject of a major retrospective at La Maison Rouge in Paris from February 16 to May 13. Though little known in France, Kudo lived there from 1962 and was active in the European art scene. His pessimistic worldview, shaped by the aftermath of Hiroshima, resonated with landmark exhibitions such as 'Pour conjurer l'esprit de catastrophe' (1962) and 'Les Objecteurs' (1965). Kudo's assemblages, which incorporated electronic circuits, explored the coexistence of humans with nature and cybernetics. In the current era of biotechnology and ecological catastrophe, his work reads as a prophetic warning—or a sardonic laugh.