Into performance : Japanese women artists in New York /

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Bibliographic Details
Author / Creator:Yoshimoto, Midori.
Imprint:New Brunswick, N.J. : Rutgers University Press, c2005.
Description:xv, 248 p. : ill. ; 27 cm.
Language:English
Subject:Arts, Japanese -- New York (State) -- New York -- 20th century.
Performance art -- New York (State) -- New York.
Expatriate artists -- New York (State) -- New York.
Women artists -- Japan.
Arts, Japanese.
Expatriate artists.
Performance art.
Women artists.
Japan.
New York (State) -- New York.
Format: Print Book
URL for this record:http://pi.lib.uchicago.edu/1001/cat/bib/5643098
Hidden Bibliographic Details
ISBN:0813535204 (hardcover : alk. paper)
0813535212 (pbk. : alk. paper)
Notes:Includes bibliographical references (p. 201-235) and index.
Review by Choice Review

In the late 1950s and 1960s when happenings were the locale of avant-garde artists, performance art emerged and the five Japanese women artists in this study worked and continue to exhibit under that tag. Yoshimoto (art historian and gallery director, New Jersey City Univ.) produced a penetrating study of five Japanese artists who were very active at the time and continue so today. Only one, Yoko Ono, appears in standard studies today, although her early work was eventually overshadowed by that of her husband, John Lennon. The others are Yayoi Kusama, Takako Saito, Mieko Shiomi, and Shigeko Kubato. This book convincingly shows that each contributed to and derived from the artistic environment of the time; early Japanese happenings were more visceral than those in the US or Europe. After an introduction placing them in the context of contemporary art in Japan and the US, each is given a full biographical treatment including artistic development. They came to the US because of Japanese society's strictures about women artists. However, even in New York they faced both gender and racial biases. This is a tough read for beginning students because the art discussed eschews traditional art trappings, emphasizing elements of the aesthetic and iconography. List of illustrations but no bibliography. ^BSumming Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through faculty. D. K. Haworth emeritus, Carleton College

Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Choice Review