Miyoko Ito, Heart of Hearts, Basking (1973). Oil on canvas. 112 x 81 cm. Courtesy the artist and Matthew Marks Gallery, New York.
Miyoko Ito, Act One in the Desert (1977). Oil on canvas. 119 x 91 cm. Courtesy the artist and Matthew Marks Gallery, New York.
Exhibition view: Miyoko Ito, Matthew Marks, New York (24 February–15 April 2023). Courtesy the artist and Matthew Marks Gallery, New York.
Miyoko Ito, Untitled (1975). Oil on canvas. 153 x 173 cm. Exhibition view: Miyoko Ito, Matthew Marks, New York (24 February–15 April 2023). Courtesy the artist and Matthew Marks Gallery, New York.
Miyoko Ito, E for Elissa (c. 1975). Oil on canvas. 122 x 117 cm. Courtesy the artist and Matthew Marks Gallery, New York.
Japanese American painter Miyoko Ito, who was born in California, sent to an internment camp near San Francisco shortly before graduation, and passed away in Chicago in 1983, illuminates her landscapes and interiors in saturated sunset hues.
Ito’s flattened imagery is imbued with a mood of mystery and restraint. A palette of ochre, amber, and coral paired with retreating perspectives and apparent horizons lends her landscapes an uncanny quality that recalls some of the characteristics of Synthetic Cubism.
Matthew Marks Gallery in New York introduces the American artist’s work in the exhibition Miyoko Ito (24 February–15 April 2023).
Featuring 16 paintings and three lithographs created from 1948 to 1983, the exhibition is a rare opportunity to see Ito’s finesse up close.
Ito’s sophisticated use of colour and undulating lines are especially evident in works like Heart of Hearts, Basking (1973) and E for Elissa (c. 1975). Both paintings frame simple shapes and bright colours, central features of Synthetic Cubism.
Her handling of subtle tonal shifts, luminosity of colour and fluidity of line gives the work an ambience that recalls her early education in Japanese calligraphy and landscape painting.
Main image: Miyoko Ito, E for Elissa (c. 1975). Oil on canvas. 122 x 117 cm. Courtesy the artist and Matthew Marks Gallery, New York.
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