Emiko Nakano (1925–1990) was an American abstract expressionist painter,[1] printmaker, fiber artist,[2] and fashion Illustrator.
Emiko Nakano | |
|---|---|
| Born | July 4, 1925 Sacramento, California, U.S. |
| Died | March 7, 1990 (aged 64) Richmond, California, U.S. |
| Education | San Francisco Art Institute, University of California, Berkeley, Mills College |
| Occupation(s) | painter, printmaker, fiber artist, fashion Illustrator |
| Years active | 1947 to 1960 |
| Movement | Abstract expressionism |
Biography
Emiko Nakano was born on July 4, 1925, in Sacramento, California; her parents were immigrants from Japan.[3][4] She was raised in Chico, California.[3] When Nakano was in high school in 1939, the United States entered World War II.[3] Following the signing of Executive Order 9066, her family was placed internment camp for three years because they were of Japanese ancestry; first at the Merced Assembly Center, followed by Camp Amache.[5][6] When they were released from the camps, the family moved to Richmond, California.[3]
From fall 1947 until the summer of 1951, Nakano attended the California School of Fine Arts (now known as San Francisco Art Institute).[5][7] She studied with Clyfford Still, James Budd Dixon, Edward Corbett, Richard Diebenkorn, Hassel Smith, and Elmer Bischoff.[5] In summer 1949, she attended the University of California, Berkeley; and in the summer 1952, she attended Mills College.[3]
In the 1950s, Nakano worked as a freelance fashion illustrator.[3] She died on March 7, 1990, at the age of 64, in Richmond, California.[3] Her work is in the public museum collection at the Monterey Museum of Art.[8] In 2016 her biography was included in the exhibition catalogue Women of Abstract Expressionism organized by the Denver Art Museum.[9] In 2023 her work was included in the exhibition Action, Gesture, Paint: Women Artists and Global Abstraction 1940-1970 at the Whitechapel Gallery in London.[10]
Exhibitions
A select list of exhibitions, by Nakano:
Solo exhibitions
- 2014–2015: Cross the Bridge: Emiko Nakano – Abstract Landscapes, Monterey Museum of Art, Monterey, California[5]
Group exhibitions
- 1952: San Francisco Women Artists Annual Exhibition, San Francisco Museum of Art (now known as San Francisco Museum of Modern Art), San Francisco, California[5]
- 1952: American Drawings, Watercolors, and Prints, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City, New York[5][11]
- 1955: São Paulo Art Biennial, São Paulo, Brazil[5][12]
- 1955: Emiko Nakano and Clayton Pinkerton, Richmond Art Center, Richmond, California[13]
- 1955: Bay Region Painting and Sculpture, San Francisco Museum of Art (now known as San Francisco Museum of Modern Art), San Francisco, California[5]