Mishima Kimiyo was born in Juso, Osaka, Japan in 1932. In the 1950s, she began creating paintings in the studio of Tsuguro Ito. Later she studied under Mishima Shigeji and created experimental collage works using printed matter and waste materials such as newspaper, magazines, horse betting slips, and mosquito nets. At Dokuritsu Exhibitions between 1954 and 1969 (at the Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum), Mishima was awarded the Osaka City Prize (1961) as well as the Dokuritsu Prize and Suda Prize (1963). In 1964, her works were on show at the “Trends in Contemporary Japanese Painting and Sculpture” exhibition at the National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto Annex. She also showcased works at Kansai Dokuritsu Exhibitions and Dokuritsu Young Artists Exhibitions (at Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum), as well as at the Asahi Young Artists Exhibition (sponsored by Asahi Shimbun). Throughout this period, she distinguished herself as a painter within the Japanese avant-garde art scene.
In 1971, Mishima switched to the medium of clay, creating three-dimensional works by silk-screening newspaper, advertising leaflets, and comic books onto clay. By portraying the terror embedded in floods of information and a sense of dread from the waste generated by contemporary consumer society through “breakable” ceramics, Mishima was able to articulate her feelings of tension and fear. From 2001 to 2005, she used melted slag* to create a gigantic corrugated cardboard in trash can, titled “Another Rebirth 2005-N,” exhibited as an outdoor installation on the island of Naoshima, Okayama/Kagawa, Japan. In 2019, Mishima’s work was exhibited and collected at the British Museum as part of the “The Citi exhibition Manga,” an extensive manga-themed exhibition, attracting further attention for the artist both in Japan and internationally.
Mishima’s work, which she describes as the product of “playing as if one’s life depended on it,” is rich in exquisite humor and exudes a warm humanity, even as it sounds a warning about our contemporary consumer life and information-based society. Her “breakable trash works” are elaborately executed to the point that it is difficult to distinguish whether they are a piece of art or trash. They are at times startling and never cease to arouse curiosity. The current coronavirus pandemic has left the world in a state of anxiety. Yet, we are also facing the next stage of an environmental crisis. Hopefully, this exhibition offers us an opportunity to look to this future.
*Slag is a glass powder made by dissolving the ash of incinerated trash and sewage sludge at temperatures over 1,400°C.
Mishima Kimiyo
Born in Osaka in Japan in 1932, and lives and works in both Juso, Osaka and Toki, Gifu. She exhibited her paintings at Dokuritsu Exhition from 1954 and studied under her mentor, MISHIMA Shigeji who later became her husband. She received Rockefeller Scholarship ACC, U.S.A. and stayed in New York, NY from 1986 to 1987.
Awards include: Encouragement Award, Dokuritsu Exhibition (1954); Winner of the Prize, Dokuritsu Exhibition (1961), Grand Prix, Dokuritsu Exhibition (1963), Kansai Dokuritsu Prize (1964), Winner of the Prize, The 9th Annual Shell Exhibition (1965), Effort Prize, Dokuritsu Exhibition (1966), Gold Prize, International Ceramic Exhibition, Faenza (1974), Winner of the Prize, The 11th Contemporary Art Exhibition of Japan (1975), Gold Prize, Contemporary Ceramic Sculpture Exhibition, Toki (1988), Sardi per l’Arte Back to the Future Prize at Artissima, Torino, Italy (2019), Ando Tadao Cultural Foundation Prize as the first artist to receive the prize (2019).
Permanent collections include: The National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto, Kyoto, Japan; The National Museum of Art, Osaka, Osaka, Japan; Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum, Tokyo, Japan; Kyoto City KYOCERA Museum of Art, Kyoto, Japan; Hyogo Prefectural Museum of Art, Hyogo, Japan; Benesse Art Site Naoshima, Okayama/ Kagawa, Japan; Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL, U.S.A.; Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA, U.S.A.; British Museum, London, UK; M+, Hong Kong.
Forthcoming museum group exhibitions are “Another Energy: Power to Continue Challenging - 16 Women Artists from around the World” at Mori Art Museum, Tokyo, Japan from April 22 to September 26, 2021; and “The Flames. The Age of Ceramics “at Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, Paris, France on October, 2021.
