Toko Shinoda is known as one of Japan's leading female artists and
as one of the foremost painters of abstract sumi-e (ink paintings).
Unaffiliated with any artistic school or group, this singular artist has
pursued a world of beauty that is uniquely her own, creating works
that have won international praise and have been included in the
collections of major museums throughout the world and in many
royal collections.
Born in 1913, Shinoda was initiated into the use of brush and ink
at an early age by her father. From around 1945, she began to extend
beyond the conventional rules (forms) of calligraphy, turning to a freer,
more creative sumi-based aesthetic. In 1956, having already won a
reputation as a calligrapher, she embarked on a solo 2-year stay in
New York, where abstract expressionism was being enthusiastically
received. During that period, through exchange with many artists and
people related to the arts, began to pioneer an uncharted world of
painting involving delicate and lyrical tones within structures filled with
dynamic tension.
Since that time, Shinoda has held a great number of solo exhibitions
in Japan and throughout Europe and the U.S. She has also done
much work in bas-reliefs, murals, drop curtains, and other large-scale
projects connected with architecture. Shinoda's elegant, refined
sense of beauty is also apparent in essays as well as interviews in
various media. Without a doubt, her works, as well as Shinoda's
existence as an artist, will continue to delight and influence countless
people in the years to come, transcending generations and national
boundaries.
After a career of more than 50 years, Shinoda continues to show
a strong and ever-growing enthusiasm for creation. New paintings
(five) produced specially for this solo exhibition underscore the
artist's sincere and constant will to create, one that is firmly
based in Japanese tradition, but one which brooks no compromise
and which originates from the artist's unique sense of space and
physicality.
This exhibition presents around 15 new sumi-e (presented to
the public for the first time) and 25 precious examples of
lithographic works created over a span of 20 some years. We
hope you will find a chance some fine spring day to come to
the exhibition and experience the mysterious and profound
world of Toko Shinoda.
IMAGE:
TOKO SHONODA
Avanti 2002
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