Mishima Kimiyo

Mishima Kimiyo is one of the most prominent and widely exhibited woman sculptural ceramists. For the past forty years, her work has been shown at museums throughout the world. Like many women clay artists, she began as a painter. In her work, clay became the canvas for silk-screen and transfer renderings of “breakable printed matter”—discarded newspapers, magazines, cardboard boxes and posters. More recently, she has honed her techniques and enlarged her perspective to create monuments to popular culture, focusing on the theme of printed information and wastefulness in a comical, political, and critical fashion. Ever sensitive to the current state of the environment and the overwhelming flow of information in today’s world, Mishima hopes that her work will compel viewers to take notice and even action.

1932 Born in Osaka
1961 Awarded prize at Dokuritsu Exhibition, Dokuritsu Art Association
1963 Awarded Grand Prize at Dokuritsu Exhibition, Dokuritsu Art Association
1974 Awarded Gold Medal at Internazionale della ceramica d’arte contemporanea, Faenza, Italy
1976 Awarded prize at “Contemporary Japanese Art,” Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum
1986-87 Rockefeller Fellowship, A.C.C., New York, USA
1988 Awarded Gold Prize at Contemporary Ceramic Sculpture Exhibition 88, Toki City, Gifu
1989 Awarded Bronze prize at International Ceramic Exhibition, Tajimi, Gifu
1997 Awarded Grand Prize at Sai no kuni chôkoku ’97, Saitama
2001 Awarded Yamaguchi Museum of Art “Citizen’s Prize,” UBE Ceontmporary Sculpture Exhibition, Ube, Yamaguchi
2002 Awarded Lord Mayor of Yaizu prize at Humor Exhibition, Toki City, Gifu

Solo Exhibitions:

1964 Gallery 16, Kyoto (Annually hereafter until '68, then '70, '80, and '88)
Gallery Ano, Osaka (Annually hereafter until '68, and '70)
1969 Imahashi Gallery, Osaka
1971 Fujibi Gallery, Osaka
1972 Muramatsu Gallery, Tokyo (and in '89 and 2001)
Imai Gallery, Osaka
1974 Minami Gallery, Tokyo
1980 “Claywork: From Traditional to Avant-garde” Seibu Art Gallery, Tokyo
Sakura Gallery, Nagoya
1985 Gallery Ueda Warehouse, Tokyo
1989 Muramatsu Gallery, Tokyo
1990 INAX Gallery 2, Tokyo (and in '99)
INAX Gallery, Osaka
Galerie Pousse, Tokyo (and in '94)
1992 Kasahara Gallery, Osaka
1998 Art Front Gallery, Tokyo
Hillside Gallery, Tokyo
2001 Displayed "Work C-92" at the storefront of Mikimoto Headquarters,Tokyo
2004 Gallery Shinkyo, Osaka and Tokyo
Contemporary Art Museum Ise, Mie


Group Exhibitions:

1954 Dokuritsu Ehibition, Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Art (annually hereafter until 1969)
1963 Asahi Young Artists Exhibition, Osaka
1964 Trends in Contemporary Japanese Painting and Sculpture, National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto
The Third International Young Artists Exhibition, Tokyo
1965 The Ninth Annual Shell Exhibition, Shirokiya Department Store, Tokyo
1966 Mainichi Shimbun Art Concours Exhibition, Kyoto Municipal Museum of Art
1971 The Japan Ceramic Art Exhibiton, Daimaru Art Gallery, Tokyo
(exhibited also in '73, '75, '77, '79) ('71 exhibition toured U.S.A. and Canada, and '73 exhibition toured South America)
1972 International Ceramics Exhibition, International Museum of Ceramics, Faenza, Italy
(annually hereafter until 1980)
1973 International Ceramics, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Chunichi International Ceramics Exhibition, Nagoya
International Cup Exhibition, Kanazawa
1974 Eleventh International Art Exhibition, Japan-Tokyo Biennale, Tokyo
Metropolitan Museum of Art
1975 Asahi Art Now, Hyogo Prefectural Museum of Modern Art, Kobe
Contemporary Japanese Art, Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Art
Contemporary Japanese Graphic Art, Museum of Modern Art, Ferrara, Italy
Contemporary Expression '75, Daimaru Art Gallery, Kyoto
1976 Fifth British International Print Biennial, Bradford, Great Britain
Japanese Ceramics, Museum of Art, Dresden
Contemporary Ceramics, touring exhibition, Australia, New Zealand
Japan Art Festival, Ueno no Mori Museum, Tokyo; University of Washington, Seattle
International Print Biennale Krakow, Poland
1977 Contemporary Japanese Graphics Grand prix Exhibition, Matsuya Art Gallery, Tokyo
1978 Women Japanese Artists, A.I.R. Gallery, New York
Contemporary Japanese Crafts, National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto
Contemporary Craftsmen, Kyoto Municipal Museum of Art
1979 British International Print Biennial, Bradford, Great Britain
Japan Today, Denver Art Museum, Denver, Colorado
Contemporary Crafts, Gunma Prefectural Museum of Modern Art, Takasaki
Shimizu Kusuo and his Artists, Minami Gallery, Tokyo
1980 International Ceramics Biennial, Faenza Ceramics Museum, Faenza
International Ceramics Biennial, Vallauris, France
Simulated Landscape in Contemporary Art, National Museum of Art, Osaka
1980 Print of Japan, Tochigi Prefectural Museum of Art
1981 Contemporary Japanese Ceramics, National Museum of History, Taipei, Taiwan
Art Now: 1970-1980, Hyogo Prefectural Museum of Modern Art, Kobe
1982 Clay Work Now I, Yamaguchi Prefectural Museum of Art
1983 Contemporary Japanese Art, Musée d'Art et d'Histoire, Geneva, Switzerland
Contemporary Realism, Saitama Prefectural Museum of Modern Art
International Impact Art, Kyoto Municipal Museum of Art, Seoul Contemporary
Museum of Art
1984 International Ceramics, Budapest, Hungary
Ceramics Today, Seibu Gallery, Tokyo
1985 Yamamura Collection Exhibition, National Museum of Art, Osaka
10, Spiez Ceramics Exhibition, Spiez, Switzerland
Osaka Contemporary Art Fair '85, Osaka Contemporary Art Center, Osaka
Bookshelf Sculpture, Gallery 16, Kyoto
Toward the Museum of Tomorrow, Images as Environment, Hyogo Prefectural Museum of Art, Kobe
1985 Print of Japan, Tochigi Prefectural Museum of Art, Tochigi
1986 Claywork 2, Seibu Art Gallery, Shiga and Tokyo
Ceramic Now, Seibu Gallery, Tokyo
Reading Objects, Gallery Iteza, Kyoto
ESTIU Japo '86, Olot, Spain
Contemporary Japanese Ceramics, Everson Museum of Art, Syracuse, New York
Contemporary Ceramics, Budapest, Hungary
1987 Clay Sculptures from the 1950s in Japan, Museum of Art Gifu
Objet-Deviate Objet, Seibu Tsukashin Hall, Hyogo
1988 Exhibition of Touchable Art, Seibu Art Gallery, Tokyo and Hyogo
East-West Contemporary Ceramic Exhibition, Korean Culture and Arts Foundation, Korea
Biennale International Limoges, France
Contemporary Ceramic Sculpture Exhibition '88, Toki City Culture Plaza, Gifu
1989 Exhibition of the Collection, Tochigi Prefectural Museum of Art, Tochigi
Exhibition of the Yamamura Collection, Hyogo Prefectural Museum of Modern Art, Kobe
Development of Contemporary Art, Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum
Art, Exciting '89, Saitama Prefectural Museum of Modern Art, Saitama, and Museum of Art Queensland, Australia
Art of Kyoto - Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow, Kyoto Municipal Museum of Art
International Ceramics, Tajimi Gymnasium, Tajimi City, Gifu Prefecture
1990 Asahi Contemporary Crafts, Asahi Shimbun Headquarters (and in '92)
Japanese Clay Works Today, Tochigi Prefectural Museum of Art, Tochigi
Aspects of Contemporary Clay Art, Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum
Contemporary Ceramics, Wakayama Prefectural Museum of Modern Art
1991 Art Scene 1991 - Each Material, Each Expression, Tokushima Prefectural
Museum of Modern Art
1992 Contemporary Art for Children, Ashiya City Museum of Art & History, Osaka
1993 Repetition and Multiplication in Contemporary Art, Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum
Crafts of the World, National Museum of Modern Art Kyoto, Kyoto
Contemporary Ceramics, Aichi Prefectural Museum of Art
Realistic Art, Imaginary Art, Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Art
1994 The Locus of Contemporary Art - Art in the 1960s to 1970s, Tokyo Metropolitan Museum
Pearls of the Permanent Collection, Special Exhibition Commemorating the Museum's 60th Anniversary, Kyoto Municipal Museum of Art
1995 Japanese Culture: The Past Fifty Postwar Years, Meguro Museum of Art, Tokyo
International Contemporary Ceramics, Shigaraki Ceramic Cultural Park, Shiga
Award-winning Japanese Ceramists from “Breeze of Faenza Exhibition,” Seratopia, Toki Gifu
1996 Aspects of Japanese Ceramic Art, Hakone Open-Air Museum
Cross-sections of Art in the Post-war Period, Chiba City Museum of Art, Chiba
1997 Yamamura Collection, Hyogo Prefectural Museum of Art, Kobe
1998 50 Years of Contemporary Art, Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo
Itinerant International Exhibition: Japan-Brazil 98-99, Art Museum, Sao Paolo, Museum of Modern Art, Rio de Janiero, Brazil.
The Hop, Hungarian Museum of Photography, Kecskemet Hungary
1999 Post War Art, Kansai 1950’s-90’s, Museum of Modern art, Wakayama
The Plate Show, Glasgow Scotland
Collection in Focus: What You See is What You Get, Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo
2000 International Ceramic Exhibition, Keramion, Germany
2001 International Sculpture Exhibition Japan, Ubeshi, Yamaguchi
2002 100 Years of Japanese Modern Ceramics, Museum of Modern Ceramic Art, Gifu
Imagining the Book, The Royal Library of Alexandria, Egypt
Metamorphosis Art Exhibition, Museum of Modern Art, Gumma
2003 Art of the Earth- Clay Work of the New Century, National Museum of Art, Osaka
2004 Contemporary Codex: Ceramics and the Book, University Art Gallery at Central Michigan University (traveling exhibition in USA)
2005 Contemporary Clay: Japanese Ceramics for the New Century, Museum of Fine Arts,
Boston, MA
My Landscapes, Ryoji Ikeda Museum of Contemporary Art
Women Artists of the Avant-garde 1950-75 Tochigi Prefectural Museum of Art
2006 Quintessence of Modern Japanese Ceramics, Ibaraki Ceramic Art Museum
Contemporary Clay: Japanese Ceramics for the New Century, Japan Society, New York
Tôji: Avant-Garde et Tradition de la Cèramique Japonaise, Musèe national de cèramique Sèvres, France
Real—Reality in Ceramics, Museum of Modern Ceramic Art, Gifu
2007 Soaring Voices – Contemporary Japanese Women Ceramic Artists, The Shigaraki Ceramic Cultural Park, Shiga. Exhibition travels to New Otani Art Museum, Tokyo, Japan; le musée National Céramique à Sèvres, Sèvres, France; Crocker Art Museum, Sacramento, CA; The Katzen Arts Center at American University, Washington, DC; The Crow Collection of Asian Art, Dalla, TX; Morikami Museum and Japanese Gardens, Delray Beach, FL; The Samuel P. Harn Museum of Art, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL
Breaking the Mold/ kata o yaburu. Joan B. Mirviss, Ltd. New York
Various Aspects of the Avant-garde Ceramic Art, Museum of Modern Ceramic Art, Gifu
Hermandades Escultoricas Mexivo-Japan 2007, MYCE Fundacion Cultural Macay, Mexico
Depicting Words in art- Masterpieces from the Permanent Collection, Kyoto Municipal Museum of Art
2008 Osaka Art Kaleidoscope 2008, Contemporary Art Center, Osaka
2009 Breaking from Tradition Japanese Ceramics Today, Harvey/Meadows Gallery, Aspen CO with
Joan B. Mirviss, LTD., New York
Touch Fire: Contemporary Japanese Ceramics by Women Artists, Smith College Museum of Art, Northampton, MA


Public Collections:

Ariana Museum, Switzerland
Ashiya City Museum of Art and History, Hyogo
Asian Cultural Council, New York City
Benesse Art Site Naoshima, Kagawa
Everson Museum of Art, Syracuse New York
First National Bank of Chicago
Hamada Children's Museum of Art, Hamada City, Shimane
Hara Museum of Art, Tokyo
Hokkaido Prefectural Museum of Modern Art
Hyogo Prefectural Museum of Modern Art, Hyogo
Ikeda Museum of 20th Century Art, Shizuoka
Institute of Contemporary Art, Kunsan National University, Korea
International Ceramics Studio, Hungary
International Museum of Ceramics, Faenza, Italy
Japan Foundation
Japanese Culture Center, Rome
Keramion Museum of Contemporary Ceramics, Frechen, Germany
Korean Culture & Arts Foundation, Seoul
Kunst Gesellschaft Spiez, Switzerland
Kyoto Municipal Museum of Art
Museum of Art, Hakodate
Museum of Art Olot, Spain
Museum of Modern Art, Wakayama
Museum of Modern Ceramic Art, Gifu
National Museum of Art, Osaka
National Museum of History, Taipei, Taiwan
National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto
Ôhara Art Museum, Kurashiki City, Hyogo
Okegawa Municipal Park West, Okegawa City, Saitama
Samuel P. Harn Museum of Art, University of Florida, Gainsville Florida
Shigaraki Ceramic Cultural Park, Shiga
Takamatsu City Museum of Art, Kagawa
Tochigi Prefectural Museum of Art
Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum
Yamaguchi Prefectural Museum of Art, Yamaguchi

Selected References:
Christine Shimizu, Tôji: Avant-Garde et Tradition de la Céramique Japonaise, Editions de la rèunion des musées nationaux, Paris, 2006

Soaring Voices – Contemporary Japanese Women Ceramic Artists; Shigaraki Ceramic Cultural Park, Shiga, 2007