NEW YORK
Kazuko Miyamoto in Sol LeWitt’s Collection
curated by Dr. Barbara Stehle
January 30 - March 9, 2021

Opening Reception: Saturday, January 30, 2021, 3:00-6:00 PM

Press: Review by Jillian Steinhauer for The New York Times, February 24, 2021

The exhibition presents a selection of works by Kazuko Miyamoto from the LeWitt Collection. The collection samples most of Kazuko Miyamoto’s periods of work dating from the 1970s to 2000s, during which she was closely associated with Sol LeWitt. The exhibition will include two of her rare string construction models from the early 70s, works from her extraordinary 1980 Nesting show at the feminist A.I.R. gallery, and examples of her Kimono and Umbrella series. A seminal string construction: Male I, 1974, and several other works from Kazuko Miyamoto’s own collection join the ensemble. All together, these works exemplify Kazuko Miyamoto’s contribution to art history, from minimalism to post minimalism, feminism to reflections on isolation. Kazuko Miyamoto’s practice shows itself to be as rigorous as it is spontaneous, as geometric as it is physical and emotional.

Born in Tokyo in 1942, Kazuko Miyamoto attended the Gendai Bijutsu Kenkyujo (Contemporary Art Research Studio) and spent much of her time going to American jazz concerts. In 1964 she moved to NYC, rented a room in Harlem, and enrolled at the Art Students League. She cleaned the League’s studio and worked in cafés and restaurants in order to afford her studies. Her painting teacher was Charles Alston (1907-1977). Alston was one of the most important painters of the Harlem Renaissance and a mentor to the young Jacob Lawrence. He liked Kazuko and encouraged her to pursue her personal abstract style. She stayed four years at the school, never looking for another teacher. When she left in 1968, she had met a number of minimalist artists and decided to migrate downtown, ready to embrace the scene.

Kazuko Miyamoto moved to 117 Hester Street. Like 222 Bowery, 117 Hester Street is a legendary address. Its tenants and visitors made the history of art in the 70s and 80s. LeWitt had moved there in 1961. Miyamoto followed in 1968. They met during a fire drill in front of the building. Sol LeWitt had traveled to Japan in the 1950s and 1970s. He admired Japanese culture and aesthetics. He asked Kazuko if she would assist him with his wall drawings installations so she could make some money. Sol often found Japanese artists to be ideal collaborators for his work. Kazuko Miyamoto eventually became the main fabricator of his geometrical wood structures, a task she accomplished with care in parallel with the development of her own work.

During his lifetime Sol LeWitt exchanged, bought, and was gifted works by 1200 artists. The LeWitt Collection contains about 5000 pieces by artists other than him, amongst which 50 works are by Kazuko Miyamoto. This remarkable number is a testimony to Sol’s high esteem of Kazuko and his enduring support to her artistic practice. Sol and Kazuko considered each other close friends, there was deep mutual respect between them. The postcards they exchanged showcase the closeness of their friendship, their familiarity with each other’s life, work, travels and pets.

Kazuko Miyamoto and Sol LeWitt had also in common a desire to support the artistic community they so cherished. In 1986, Kazuko opened “Onetwentyeight” on Rivington Street. The unconventional art space became the center of her curatorial activity after A.I.R. Kazuko Miyamoto had an “open to all” policy. She gave visibility to men and women of diverse ethnicities and sexual orientations, showing unknown and well-known artists alike, often side-by-side. Sol LeWitt was a frequent visitor, buyer and exhibitor at Onetwentyeight. He enthusiastically supported Kazuko Miyamoto’s work in all its facets. His collection reflects that commitment, their friendship, and the artistic spirit of the time. At Onetwentyeight on Rivington, Kazuko has made a piece with Sol’s postcards and some of her twisted paper sculptures. It hangs on the wall, a singular presence, right by the entrance.

Barbara Stehle
New York, 2021

This is Kazuko Miyamoto’s fourth solo exhibition at Zürcher Gallery, NY.

KAZUKO MIYAMOTO has lived and worked in New York City since 1964. She was born in Tokyo in 1942 where she studied art at the Gendai Bijutsu Kenkyujo (Contemporary Art Research Studio). She moved to New York in 1964 and attended The Arts Student League of New York (1964–1968). She has been the recipient of Federico II: Premio Internazionale di Pittura; Italy in 2003, the Francis J. Greenburger Foundation Award in 2003, and the National Endowment for the Arts, CAPS in 1979 & 1980.

Public Collections include: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Museum of Modern Art, Print Collection, NYC, Wadsworth Antheneum, Princeton University Art Museum, National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo (MOMAT), National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto, Japan, Neue Gallerie der Stadt, Linz, Austria, Lentos Art Museum, Linz, Austria, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington DC, Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, CT, Daimler Art Collection, Berlin. Private Collections include: Sol LeWitt Collection, David Hammons, Nancy Spero and Leon Golub, Werner Kramarsky, Heide and Hanna Streick, Tadanori Yotsuda, Marilena Bonomo.

Miyamoto’s 1978 string construction Archway to Cellar, acquired by the Daimler Art Collection in 2014, is included in 31: Women, the current exhibition at Daimler Contemporary in Berlin until June 27, 2021. Her 1971 Untitled string construction, acquired by the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia in 2020, was included in their exhibition Some Mysterious Process. She was recently included in the exhibition, Dimensions of Reality: Female Minimal at Galerie Thaddeus Ropac, Paris. She will be included in an upcoming exhibition at the Mori Art Museum, Tokyo: Another Energy: Art + Life of Women Artists That Continue Creating from April 22 - September 26, 2021.

Zürcher Gallery published a catalog in 2018 on the occasion of Kazuko Miyamoto’s second solo exhibition at the gallery: 110 pages, paperback with color reproductions of works, essay by Valentina Gioia Levy and poems by Yuko Otomo and Janet Passehl. Available for purchase at Zürcher Gallery, NY and by mail for customers outside of NYC.

Zürcher Gallery and Barbara Stehle would like to give a special thank you to Carol LeWitt and Janet Passehl, curator of the LeWitt Collection.

For all inquiries, please contact Ernesto Renda, Gallery Assistant: studio@galeriezurcher.com