Toeko Tatsuno

Toeko Tatsuno was born in Nagano Prefecture in 1950 and died in Tokyo-to in 2014. She graduated from Tokyo University of the Arts, majoring in oil painting at the Faculty of Fine Arts Department of Painting, and completed graduate school at the same institution. While attending school, she created minimalistic woodblock prints using inorganic and regular patterns such as stripes and grids. From 1978 onwards, she began to release oil paintings composed of vivid, deep colors and organic forms reminiscent of plant vines and the organs of living things, which gained much attention. She also exhibited her work at “Art Now ’78”. In 1994, she exhibited her work at “Japanese Art After 1945: Scream Against the Sky” (Yokohama Museum of Art, others) and the 22nd São Paulo Art Biennale. In 1995, she held a solo exhibition, “Toeko Tatsuno: 1986 to 1995” at The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo, and in 2012, “Given Forms – Toeko Tatsuno/Kunio Shibata” was held at The National Art Center, Tokyo. Her rich expression has been praised as opening up one of the possibilities for contemporary painting. From 2003, she also took up a teaching position at Tama Art University.