Vale: Kimiyo Mishima

Works by Kimiyo Mishima installed in ‘The 10th Asia-Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art’ (APT10), QAGOMA 2021 / Photograph: N Harth © QAGOMA

Works by Kimiyo Mishima installed in ‘The 10th Asia-Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art’ (APT10), QAGOMA 2021 / Photograph: N Harth © QAGOMA / View full image

We were saddened to learn that Kimiyo Mishima (1932-2024), whose witty, life-like ceramic replicas of everyday detritus delighted audiences in APT10, passed away in June at the age of 91.

Born in Osaka in 1932, Mishima distinguished herself as a painter in Japanese avant-garde circles in the 1950s and 60s, before turning to ceramics in 1971. Concerned by the growing problems of the waste and information overload in a society that produced more than it needed, she set about creating exquisite copies of advertising brochures, comic books, fruit cartons and shopping bags that were indistinguishable from the real thing.

Mishima described her work as ‘breakable printed matter’, lending fragility and preciousness to objects that would otherwise be tossed away without a second thought. Her earliest ceramics recreated newspapers, a medium she felt transformed information into entertainment, where knowledge could be disposed of as easily as the cheap paper it was printed on.

‘Power Poles’ installed in Japanese Ways, Western Means

Kimiyo Mishima, Japan 1932-2024 / Power Poles 1985 installed in Japanese Ways, Western Means: Art of the 1980s in Japan QAG 1989 / Ceramic, concrete / © Kimiyo Mishima Estate / Photograph: R Fulton © QAGOMA

Kimiyo Mishima, Japan 1932-2024 / Power Poles 1985 installed in Japanese Ways, Western Means: Art of the 1980s in Japan QAG 1989 / Ceramic, concrete / © Kimiyo Mishima Estate / Photograph: R Fulton © QAGOMA / View full image

In 1989 Mishima was a key participant in the Gallery’s groundbreaking survey, Japanese Ways, Western Means. Forty artists were showcased in the exhibition, among them Yayoi Kusama, Lee Ufan, Shigeo Toya and a young Yasumasa Morimura. Mishima travelled to Brisbane to install her imposing sculpture Power Poles 1985 (illustrated), recreating three shorn-off concrete pylons covered in safety signage and weatherworn advertising and fly posters.

Works by Kimiyo Mishima installed in APT10

Works by Kimiyo Mishima installed in ‘The 10th Asia-Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art’ (APT10)

Works by Kimiyo Mishima installed in ‘The 10th Asia-Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art’ (APT10) / View full image

In 2021, she presented a selection of works spanning 50 years of practice as part of ‘The 10th Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art’ (APT10). The display (illustrated) centred on two new creations, a pair of dustbins filled with ceramics hand-painted and screen-printed to pass convincingly for aluminium soft drink and beer cans, and cardboard boxes torn up for recycling. The two sculptures, Work 19 G 2019 and Work 21 C4 2021, entered the QAGOMA Collection (illustrated).

As early as the 1970s, Mishima addressed the problems of environmental waste and misinformation that have become all too familiar. This, along with her humour, energy and material sophistication, ensured she continued to find new audiences. A unique and somewhat maverick figure in Japanese art, Mishima helped lay the foundation for QAGOMA’s engagements with the art of the Asia Pacific region, and she remains an inspiring figure.

Kimiyo Mishima ‘Work 19 – G’ 2019

Kimiyo Mishima, Japan 1932-2024 / Work 19 – G 2019 / Screenprinted and hand-coloured ceramic and iron / 91 x 57 x 58cm / The Kenneth and Yasuko Myer Collection of Contemporary Asian Art. Purchased 2021 with funds from Michael Sidney Myer through the Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art Foundation / Collection: Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art / © Kimiyo Mishima Estate / Image courtesy: MEM, Tokyo

Kimiyo Mishima, Japan 1932-2024 / Work 19 – G 2019 / Screenprinted and hand-coloured ceramic
and iron / 91 x 57 x 58cm / The Kenneth and Yasuko Myer Collection of Contemporary Asian Art. Purchased 2021 with funds from Michael Sidney Myer through the Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art Foundation / Collection: Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art / © Kimiyo Mishima Estate / Image courtesy: MEM, Tokyo / View full image

Kimiyo Mishima ‘Work 21 – C4’ 2021

Kimiyo Mishima, Japan 1932-2024 / Work 21 – C4 2021 / Screenprinted and hand-coloured ceramic and iron / 74 x 56 x 56cm / The Kenneth and Yasuko Myer Collection of Contemporary Asian Art. Purchased 2021 with funds from Michael Sidney Myer through the Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art Foundation / Collection: Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art / © Kimiyo Mishima Estate / Image courtesy: MEM, Tokyo

Kimiyo Mishima, Japan 1932-2024 / Work 21 – C4 2021 / Screenprinted and hand-coloured ceramic
and iron / 74 x 56 x 56cm / The Kenneth and Yasuko Myer Collection of Contemporary Asian Art. Purchased 2021 with funds from Michael Sidney Myer through the Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art Foundation / Collection: Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art / © Kimiyo Mishima Estate / Image courtesy: MEM, Tokyo / View full image

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