Kazuyo Kinoshita: A Retrospective

Summary
Kazuyo Kinoshita (1939–1994) was a Kansai-based artist and one of the leading artists of the postwar Japanese art scene.

Kinoshita studied at Kyoto City University of Arts and then worked as an art teacher in Kobe. Beginning in the late 1960s, her artistic practice turned to the question of what it means to exist.

In her early period, she used photographs in her works, and after gaining acclaim at a young age she broadened her horizons to work in Kobe to Kansai, Tokyo, and overseas. Then, in 1981 she mounted a solo exhibition in Heidelberg, Germany that garnered her high praise in Europe, as well.

Around 1982, after this solo exhibition abroad, she left her previous style behind and began to create abstract paintings. There was much anticipation about the works to come in this new style, but a cancer diagnosis in 1990 altered the course of Kinoshita’s practice. Even as she was ravaged by illness, Kinoshita continued to create art. She desperately wanted to paint, and keenly felt the lack of time. Ultimately, she died in 1994 at the young age of 55.

This is the first solo exhibition of Kinoshita’s work at a museum in Japan, and it is also the largest exhibition ever of her art. This exhibition will present everything from her early works and her important works up to her final work, which serves as a reminder of a life that burned brightly and ended too soon.

Tracing the trajectory of a little-known artist
Even today, it is not easy for a Japanese artist to mount a solo exhibition overseas, but Kinoshita managed to accomplish this more than 40 years ago in Heidelberg. Even so, the full picture of her talent remained unrecognized when she died in 1994 at the age of 55.

This exhibition will present “everything” by Kinoshita, whose artistic practice examined the question of what it means to exist. It follows the course of a career in which she is believed to have created more than 1200 works. 

The definitive Kinoshita exhibition, presenting important works from around Japan
This will be the largest solo exhibition of Kinoshita’s works ever held, displaying her important works in one place. The pieces have been carefully selected from among her works held by museums around Japan. Presenting more than 120 pieces from her early period to her final years, this will be the definitive exhibition of Kinoshita’s works of art.

Kazuyo Kinoshita
Kinoshita began gaining attention again after her pieces were included in “For a New World to Come: Experiments in Japanese Art and Photography, 1968 – 1979,” an exhibition in 2015 at The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston and other venues.

Information about the exhibition
Closed: Mondays (except for July 15 and August 12)
Opening hours: 10am–5pm (last entry 4:30pm)

Admission fee
Adults: 1600 yen
University / High school students: 1000 yen 
Junior high school / Elementary students: Free admission
*Prices include tax.