A compendium of more than seven decades’ worth of artistic activity.

Over more than seventy years since the start of her career in the 1950s, contemporary artist Mishima Kimiyo (1932–) has consistently astounded viewers with her many masterpieces, from ceramic “breakable printed matter” objets to works themed on empty cans and cardboard boxes or rendered out of scrap iron and other scavenged materials. Her reputation continues to grow both in Japan and around the world to this day: she has a public artwork, Another Rebirth 2005-N, on display on the island of Naoshima, one of the sites of the Setouchi Art Triennale, and she was the only Japan-based artist to be featured in the exhibition Another Energy: Power to Continue Challenging—16 Women Artists from around the World held at the Mori Art Museum from April 2021 to January 2022.

This book presents a look back at Mishima’s career up to now along with roughly ninety works. From overinformation to mass consumption and garbage, these works combine an unsparing gaze on the dark side of modern society with Mishima’s signature playfulness, and—as such—are sure to strike the hearts of readers living today in a world where these same issues are growing ever more immediate and pressing.

Contents
Chapter 1. The Early Years: 1950s–c.1970
Chapter 2. Breakable Printed Matter: Circa 1970 Onward
Chapter 3. Grappling with Garbage
Chapter 4. Large-Scale Installations

Essay contributors
Tokuyama Hirokazu (Mori Art Museum)
Morimura Yasumasa (artist)
Ito Masanobu (director, Nerima Art Museum)

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