Ay-O is the artist name for IIJIMA Takao, born in 1931 in Ibaraki Prefecture. Worldwide, he has been known as the Rainbow Artist, and was long associated with Fluxus, the international interdisciplinary group of artists, designers, composers and poets from around the world. They sought experimental art performances with an emphasis on the process rather than the creation. They thrived in the 1960s and 1970s.