Tomie Ohtake

Tomie Ohtake was born in Kyoto, Japan in 1913 and lived in São Paulo, Brazil from 1936 until her death in early 2015. She began to work professionally as an artist only in her late 30s, immersing herself in an exploration of abstraction first in paint, and expanding into printmaking and sculpture in later years. Throughout her long and prolific career, she was the subject of numerous solo exhibitions, including several at Museu de Arte Moderna de São Paulo since her first in 1957; major exhibitions at the Hara Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo; Mori Art Museum, Tokyo; Barbican Centre, London; The Museum of Modern Art, Rio de Janeiro; and a retrospective at the Instituto Tomie Ohtake in São Paulo on the occasion of her 100th birthday, among many others. She has participated in numerous international biennial exhibitions, including Venice, Havana, Cuenca and eight editions of the São Paulo Bienal.
Since the 1980s, Ohtake has produced several major public sculptures for cities and towns across Brazil, including iconic works throughout her hometown of São Paulo. In 2001, Instituto Tomie Ohtake opened its doors in São Paulo with a program dedicated to important exhibitions of contemporary art, architecture and design, and to preserving the artist’s legacy. Tomie Ohtake’s work is represented in permanent collections worldwide, including the Hara Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo; M+, Hong Kong; Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; MASP, Museu de Arte de São Paulo Assis Chateaubriand, São Paulo; MAM-SP, Museu de Arte Moderna de São Paulo, São Paulo; MAM-RJ, Museu de Arte Moderna do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro; MAC-USP, Museu de Arte Contemporânea da Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo; MAC-Niterói, Museu de Arte Contemporânea de Niterói, Niterói; Patricia Phelps de Cisneros Collection, Caracas; Pinacoteca do Estado de São Paulo, São Paulo; and Tate Gallery, London. Tomie Ohtake has been represented by Galeria Nara Roesler since its inception.

Source: Galeria Nara Roesler