Studio Co., Ltd.
-Starting December 12th (Tuesday)- “100th Anniversary of Kinuko Emi’s Birth – The Brilliance of Life” Exhibition
We look back at the creations of abstract painter Kinuko Emi, with the keyword “life” in mind. The restored early masterpieces “Life” (1956) and “Fragments” (1958) will be on display.
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We will be holding an exhibition titled “100th Anniversary of Kinuko Emi’s Birth – Celebrating Life”.
Kinuko Emi (1923-2015) was active in the Behavioral Art Association and became the first Japanese woman to exhibit at the 31st Venice Biennale International Art Exhibition in 1962, becoming one of the stars of the 1960s when abstract painting flourished. He is a painter who has attracted attention. After that, she continued to pursue abstract expression and devoted herself to promoting art in the region as the president of the Kanagawa Prefecture Women Artists Association. This exhibition is a modest project consisting of nine paintings, but it looks back at Kinuko Emi’s painting career from 1950 to her later years, with the keyword “life” in mind. The birth and farewell of familiar “life,” the great loss due to natural disasters, the “life” instilled into society during the period of high economic growth after the war, and even the rebirth of the “life” of the work itself… These issues are examined from various perspectives. We hope that you will view Kinuko Emi’s works and understand Kinuko Emi’s creations as a shared cultural heritage that should be passed on to future generations.
December 2023
Kinuko Emi 100th birthday executive committee
[Image 1
overview
“100th Anniversary of Kinuko Emi’s Birth – Brilliant Life” Exhibition Event period: December 12th (Tuesday) to December 17th (Sunday), 2023 Holding time: 11:00 to 18:30 (until 16:00 on the last day)
Venue: Ginza Art Hall Room B (1F)
8-110 Ginza, Chuo-ku, Tokyo (Ginza Corridor Street)
Admission fee: Free
Sponsored by: Emi Kinuko 100th Anniversary Executive Committee access
3 minutes walk from JR Shinbashi Station Ginza Exit
3 minutes walk from Exit 5 of Tokyo Metro/Toei Subway Shimbashi Station 7 minutes walk from Tokyo Metro Ginza Station C3 exit
10 minutes walk from JR Yurakucho Station Ginza Exit/Central Exit Highlights
・Looking back on the creations of abstract painter Kinuko Emi, with the keyword “life” in mind.
・We will be exhibiting restored early masterpieces “Life” (1956) and “Fragments” (1958).
event
A talk event with Kinuko Emi’s eldest daughter and author Anna Ogino will be held from 1:00 pm on Saturday, December 16th (advance reservations required).
Contribution to the exhibition
This year marks 100 years since my mother Kinuko Emi was born. A young painter who specializes in serious nudes, after spending time in France he made a major shift towards abstract painting. Although his choices coincided with the trends of the times, he continued to be an abstract painter even after the so-called boom had passed. She had no other means of expression in order to make the canvas into a microcosm.
I believe that looking back on Kinuko Emi’s past 100 years also means questioning the possibilities of abstract painting. In this
exhibition, some of his early masterpieces have been restored and brought back to life. We hope that this will be a step towards the next 100 years.
Anna Ogino
Kinuko Emi・Biography
Born in 1923 in Akashi City, Hyogo Prefecture. Studied at Kobe City Western Painting Research Institute. Exhibited at the Behavioral Art Association Exhibition from 1949. Received the Encouragement Award and the Action Art Award. Moved to Tokyo in 1951. From 1953, he lived in the United States and France for two years. He won the Shell Art Prize in 1956 and 1958, and from around this time he turned to abstract painting. Exhibited at international art exhibitions such as the 1962 Venice Biennale. Since the 1970s, he has been known for his style of drawing cosmic spaces using the four major elements as motifs. Passed away in 2015. Her eldest daughter is writer Anna Ogino.
Press preview
Monday, December 11th 14:00-16:00
Anna Ogino’s gallery
Contact information
Kinuko Emi 100th Anniversary Exhibition Executive Committee
kinukoemi.artist@gmail.com
Official Facebook https://www.facebook.com/kinukoemi.artist
From the exhibited works
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life
1956 Oil on canvas
11th Action Exhibition
Kinuko Emi, who studied at the Kobe City Western Painting Institute while working at a junior high school in Kobe City, was first selected for the 4th Action Exhibition in 1949, won the Newcomer Award two years later, and became a member of the Action Art Association. I took the opportunity to move to Yokohama. In 1953, he became a member and went to the United States, held a solo exhibition in Sausalito, California in February of the following year, and soon moved to the 6th arrondissement of Paris, France, where he became friends with Gyoji Nomiyama, Kumi Sugai, Ryokichi Mukai, Masakazu Horiuchi, Yozo Hamaguchi, and others. did. At the time, abstract paintings called Informel were popular in Paris, and Kinuko Emi was strongly inspired by the vibrant prehistoric cave paintings she saw in Altamira and Lascaux during her travels, and created semi-abstract paintings. Start drawing. He returned to Japan in 1955, and the following year won the Shell Art Award (third prize) for his work “Birth” (owned by the Museum of Modern Art, Kanagawa). In September of the same year, “Life” was exhibited along with “Yo” at the 11th Exhibition of Behavior. In a photo published in Palette, a collection of works by members of the Society for Behavioral Art, the large-bellied artist is seen with her husband Henri Gaillard, holding a paintbrush in front of an unfinished painting, “Life”. Two months later, Anna was born, and a studio designed by Tadao Tanaka, a member of the Behavioral Art Association, was completed in Yamate, Yokohama.
[Image 3
Kinuko Emi and her husband, Henri Gaillard, working on “Life” Photographed in 1956