Profile
Yuki Onodera was born in Tokyo (1962). In 1993, she established a studio in Paris and began to work internationally. Onodera’s experimental work, which does not fit within schemas of “photography,” often poses two questions: what is photography, and what can be done through it? She uses any possible method to realize her works, whether this means taking photographs with a marble inside her camera, or creating a story out of a legend and traveling to the ends of the earth to shoot it. Onodera is known for making two-meter-high prints in the darkroom, painting on her photographs, and for other original hands-on methods. Her work is held in collections around the world, including those of Centre Georges Pompidou, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, The J. Paul Getty Museum, Shanghai Art Museum and The Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography. Among other locations, her solo exhibitions have been held at The National Museum of Art, Osaka (2005), Shanghai Art Museum (2006), The Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography (2010), The Museum of Photography, Seoul (2010) and Musée Nicéphore Niépce, France (2011).
Public Collections
- Musée National d’Art Moderne, Centre Pompidou, Paris.
- Musée Nicéphore Niépce, Chalon-sur-Saône, France.
- le Fonds National d’Art Contemporain, France.
- le Fonds Municipal d’Art Contemporain, Paris.
- Bibliothèque Nationale de France, Paris.
- Huis Marseille/ Museum for Photography, Amsterdam.
- La ville de Dudelange / Centre d’art Nei Liicht, Dudelange, Luxembourg.
- The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Texas, U.S.A.
- San Francisco Museum of Modern Arts, California, U.S.A.
- The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, U.S.A.
- The Peabody Essex Museum (PEM) of Salem, Massachusetts, USA.
- National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian, Freer Gallery of Art, Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Washington, USA.
- Van den Ende Foundation, Amsterdam.
- Fondation Daniel et Florence Guerlain, France.
- Shanghai Art Museum, Shanghai, China
- Three Shadows Photography Art Centre, Beijing, China.
- The Museum of Photography, Seoul.
- The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo, Japan.
- The Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography, Tokyo.
- The National Museum of Art, Osaka, Japan.
- Tochigi Prefectural Museum of Fine Arts, Utsunomiya, Japan.
- The Museum of Modern Art, Gunma, Japan.
- Aichi Prefectural Museum of Art, Aichi, Japan.
- Japan Foundation.
- Kawasaki City Museum, Japan.
- Kuwazawa Design School, Tokyo.
- Tokyo Institute of Polytechnics, Tokyo.
- Higashikawa, Hokkaido, Japan.
- Terada Collection – Tokyo Opera City Cultural Foundation
- The Amana Collection, Tokyo, Japan.
Awards
| 2011 | Received “Award of Ministry of Education and Culture”, Japan. |
| 2011 | Received “The Higashikawa Award- grand prix”, Japan. |
| 2006 | Received “Prix Niépce”, France. |
| 2003 | Received “Ihei KIMURA Prize”, Japan. |
| 2002 | Received “Photographic Society of Japan”, Japan. |
| 2001 | Received “The Higashikawa Award- young artist award”, Japan. |
| 1996 | Received “The 21st Kodak Prize of Critical Photography”, France. |
| 1991 | Received “The 1st New Cosmos of Photography Award”, Japan. |
Solo Exhibitions
| 2023 | Wamono Art, Hong Kong. |
| 2022 | Centre de la Photographie de Mougins, France. Ricoh Art Gallery, Tokyo. |
| 2020 | “Burning with Desire” ICICLE Space, Shanghai. “From Where” THE GINZA SPACE, Tokyo. “To Where” Yumiko Chiba Associates, Tokyo. “Everywhere Photographs” Zeit-Foto Kunitachi, Tokyo. |
| 2018 | Vanguard Gallery, Shanghai. Kyoto Museum of Photography, Kyoto, Japan. KIDO Press, Tokyo. |
| 2017 | Pierre-Yves Caër Gallery, Paris. |
| 2016 | Art Basel Hong Kong (Vanguard Gallery), Hong Kong. |
| 2015 | Maison Européenne de la Photographie (MEP) Zeit-Foto Salon, Tokyo. |
| 2014 | Thousand mirrors in the forest, Maison d’Art Bernard Anthonioz, Nogent-sur-Marne, France. 2902 Gallery, Singapore. Beaugeste Gallery, Shanghai. |
| 2013 | Galerie Louis Gendre, Paris. |
| 2012 | Vanguard Gallery, Shanghai. |
| 2011 | Musée Nicéphore Niépce, Chalon-sur-Saône, France. Yossi Milo Gallery, New York. |
| 2010 | The Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography, Tokyo The Museum of Photography, Seoul Zeit-Foto Salon, Tokyo. |
| 2009 | Galerie RX, Paris. KIDO Press, Tokyo. |
| 2008 | Centre d’art Nei Liicht, Dudelange, Luxembourg. Beijing Keumsan Gallery, Beijing. Zeit-Foto Salon, Tokyo. |
| 2007 | L’été Photographique de Lectoure 2007, Centre de Photographie de Lectoure, France. Keumsan Gallery, Heyri Art Valley, Korea. Gallery K, Seoul, Korea. |
| 2006 | Shanghai Art Museum, Shanghai. Galerie Conrads, Düsseldorf. Zeit-Foto Salon, Tokyo. Prix Niépce 2006, Quinzaine Photographique Nantaise, Médiathèque, Nantes, France. Images du pôle, Orléans, France. Galerie RX, Paris. Chambre avec Vues, Paris. |
| 2005 | National Museum of Art, Osaka, Japan. Galerie RX, Paris. Van Zoetendaal Collections, Amsterdam. |
| 2004 | quicksilver, Galerie für Gegenwartskunst, Berlin. Galerie RX, Paris. Culturesfrance (Ministère des Affaires Etrangères), Paris. Zeit-Foto Salon, Tokyo. Galerie il tempo, Tokyo. |
| 2003 | C-Square, “transvest“, Nagoya, Japan |
| 2002 | Galerie RX, “How to make a pearl“, “Look out the window“, Paris. Zeit-Foto Salon, “transvest“, Tokyo. Galerie il tempo, “the Bee the Mirror“, Tokyo. |
| 2001 | Zeit-Foto Salon, “How to make a pearl“, Tokyo. Galerie il tempo, “Look out the window“, Tokyo. |
| 2000 | Galerie du Théâtre Granit, Belfort, France. |
| 1999 | The Museum of Modern Art, Gunma, Japan. Galerie il tempo, “C.V.N.I.“, Tokyo. Zeit-Foto Salon, “P.N.I.“, Tokyo. |
| 1998 | Galerie il tempo, Tokyo. |
| 1997 | Galerie Laage-Salomon, Paris. Galerie du Théâtre Granit, Belfort, France. |
| 1996 | l’Université Lumière Lyon ll, “Portrait of Second-hand Clothes“, Lyon, France. |
| 1995 | Zeit-Foto Salon, “DOWN / Liquid and Glass“, Tokyo. Galleria Chimera, “DOWN / Portrait of Second-hand Clothes“, Tokyo. Aki-Ex Gallery, “DOWN / Birds“, Tokyo. l’Institut Français de la Mode, “Portrait of Second-hand Clothes“, Paris. |
| 1993 | Gallery Hosomi, “White and Sphere“, Tokyo. |
Selected Group Exhibitions
| 2023 | “Genealogy of Peep Media and the Gaze”, Tokyo Photographic Art Museum, Tokyo, Japan. “The Light”, the Shizuoka Prefectural Museum of Arts, Shizuoka, Japan. “Noir & Blanc: une esthétique de la photographie”, Bibliothèque Nationale François-Mitterrand, Paris. |
| 2022 | “Time Tunnel”, Tikotin Museum of Japanese Art, Haifa, Israel. “Collection II”, Tochigi Prefectural Museum of Fine Arts, Japan. “Photography? End?”, Post, Tokyo, Japan. “Photography? End?”, Media shop, Kyoto, Japan. |
| 2021 | “2021 A Space Odyssey: Monolith_Memory as Virus-Beyond the New Dark Age”, Gyre Gallery, Tokyo “70th Anniversary of Photographic Society of Japan: Japanese Contemporary photography 1985-2015”, Tokyo Photographic Art Museum, Tokyo. “Photographic Distance”, Tochigi Prefectural Museum of Fine Arts, Japan. “Photograph of Photograph and Photographs”, Yumiko Chiba Associates, Tokyo. |
| 2020 | “SAGACHO Exhibit Space 1983-2000”, The Museum of Modern Art, Gunma, Japan. “Pictures from Another wall- The collection of Huis Marseille”, De Pont Museum, Tilburg, Netherlands. “Love Your Neighbours from the Terada Collection-069”, Tokyo Opera City Art Gallery, Tokyo, Japan. |
| 2019 | “NMAO collection with Alberto Giacometti II”, The National Museum of Art, Osaka, Japan. “Fashion in Images”, Tochigi Prefectural Museum of Fine Arts, Japan. “L’Antichambre”, Centre GeorgeV Art Center, Beijing, China. “Contemporary Art II”, The Museum of Modern Art, Gunma, Japan. “The Objects’ Shadow- Sensory Spaces”, Artisan Lofts Gallery, New York. “Genealogy of Pop Art”, Shizuoka Prefectural Museum of Art, Shizuoka, Japan. |
| 2018 | “Incognito : Eye in Search”, Singapore International Photography Festival, Japan Creative Centre, Singapore. “A beautiful moment / Japanese Photography”, Huis Marseille Museum for photography, Amsterdam. “The Myriad Forms of Visual Art :196 Works with 19 Themes”, The National Museum of Art, Osaka, Japan. “Come Back! Retour à la Photo”, Galerie de l’Etrave- Espace d’art Contemporain, Thonon-les-Bains, France. “Paris c’est Elles”, La Boîte 31 de Marie-Ange Guilleminot, Paris. “Tan /110th Anniversary : Memorial Exhibition”, Art Gallery of Takashimaya, Tokyo. |
| 2017 | “Rodin, Muybridge and Yuki Onodera”, Shizuoka Prefectural Museum of Art, Shizuoka, Japan. “Communication and Solitude”, Tokyo Photographic Art Museum, Tokyo, Japan. “Inframince”, The Museum of Modern Art, Gunma, Japan. “Re: Collection II”, Aichi Prefectural Museum of Art, Nagoya, Japan. “Forms of Light /Scenes of Light”, Hiroshima City Museum of Contemporary Art, Hiroshima, Japan. “From the Terada collection 058 Black & White: Colours”, Tokyo Opera City Art Gallery, Tokyo, Japan. |
| 2016 | “The expert eyes”, Musée Nicéphore Niépce, Chalon-sur-Saône, France. “Eyes of Six Women”, Zeit-Foto Salon, Tokyo. “Ecce Homo : The Human Images in Contemporary Art”, The National Museum of Art, Osaka, Japan. “Fashion for Children”, Iwami Art Museum, Shimane, Kobe Fashion Museum, Hyogo, and Tokyo Metropolitan Teien Art Museum, Japan. “Japanese Photography from Postwar to Now”, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, USA. “The Collector’s Eye”, Musée d’Art Moderne et Contemporain (MAMCS), Strasbourg, France. “Le Bal / Hommage à Etsuro Ishihara”, Zeit-Foto Salon, Tokyo. |
| 2015 | “The Younger Generation: Contemporary Japanese Photography”, The J.Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles. “La lucidité des utopies”, Chateau de Lunéville, Lorraine, France. “40th Anniversary of the Kimura Ihei Award”, Kawasaki City Museum, Japan. “Impact of Photograhy : collection of Higashikawa”, Asahikawa Museum of Art, Hokkaido, Japan. “Photographer’s eyes /Printmaker’s eyes, Six anthologies”, Shizuoka Prefectural Museum of Art, Shizuoka, Japan. “Dessin”, Zeit-Foto Salon, Tokyo. “Between Ceramics and Light”, Takashimaya X Gallery, Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoko, Yokohama, Japan. |
| 2014 | “Feel in Blank”, Vanguard Gallery, Shanghai. “Elles Allument”, Art Course/Galerie Associative, Strasbourg, France. “Photographs by five”, Zeit-Foto Salon, Tokyo. “Silent Light”, Takashimaya X Gallery, Tokyo. “Dancing Light”, Huis Marseille Museum for photography, Amsterdam. |
| 2013 | “At the Window: The Photographer’s View”, The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles. “Vignettes : Between Light & Dark”, 2902 Gallery, Singapore. “The Aesthetics of Photography – Five Elements”, The Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography, Tokyo. |
| 2012 | “View Point”, Huis Marseille Museum for photography, Amsterdam. “The 35th Anniversary / the Allure of the Collection”, The National Museum of Art, Osaka, Japon. “Hundred Flowers profuse blooming / Scenes of the Women”, Yokosuka Museum of Art, Yokosuka, Japon. “La ferme des animaux”, Galerie Fraçoise Paviot, Paris. |
| 2011 | “Jamais le même fleuve”, Maison d’art Bernard Anthonioz, Nogent-sur-Marne, France. “l’apparition”, la Gare Saint Sauveur de Lille, Lille, France. “Higashikawa International Photo Festival”, Culture Center, Higashikawa,Hokkaido, Japon. “The child within un / from the collection”, The Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography, Tokyo. |
| 2010 | “8th Shanghai Biennale”, Shanghai Art Museum, Shanghai, China. “Beyond the body”, Museum of Contemporary Art, Shanghai, China. “Photography Now”, The Museum of Modern Art, Gunma, Japan. “Collection of National Museum of Art,Osaka”, Miyagi Museum of Art, Sendai, Miyakonojo City Museum of Art, Miyazaki, Japan. “Rétrospective du Prix Niépce”, Mois de la Photo, Musée du Monparnasse, Paris. “35th Anniversary of the Kimura Ihei Award”, Kawasaki City Museum, Japan. “Semaine du Japon”, Musée de Brou, Bourg-en-Bresse, France. “Beyond the Boder”, Tangram Art Center, Shanghai, China. “So+Zo Movement”, The Museum of Bonkamura, Tokyo, Japan. |
| 2009 | “Elles@centrepompidou, “Musée national d’art moderne, Centre Pompidou, Paris. “Paysges de la Conscience”, International Photography Biennale, “Museo de Arte Moderno de Bogotá, Colombia. “Ce qui est à voir est ce que vous voyez”, Rencontres d’Arles 2009, Arles, France. “Indizien”, Galerie baer I raum f aktuelle kunst, Dresden, Germany. “Never Late Than Better”, Elizabeth Foundation, New York. “Warm up”, Minsheng Art Museum, Shanghai, China. “The Photograph’s Enticements to the Brush”, Ofoto Gallery, Shanghai, China. “Japan meets China”, Tochigi Prefectural Museum of Fine Arts, Utsunomiya, Japan. “Face à Faces” organized by Culturesfrance, The State Museum of Contemporary Art, Thessaloníki, Greek. “Booth 67f”, Van Zoetendaal collections, Amsterdam. “Be Quiet”, M50 Creative Space, Shanghai. “Incheon Art Platform Opening Exhibition”, Incheon Art Platform, Incheon, Korea. |
| 2008 | “Collection 3/ Aspects of Portrait”, National Museum of Art, Osaka, Japan. “Indefinite Beauty”, White Factory, Shanghai, China. “Verticals”, Van Zoetendaal collections, Amsterdam. “Face à Faces” organized by Culturesfrance, la Silom Galleria, Bangkok, Thailand. “The history of arts and cities-Paris, New York, Tokyo and Shanghai”, Sendai Mediatheque, Japan. “Chasseurs de beauté”, Gallery 21, Tokyo. “7 Views Toward the World”, Gallery Touchart, Heyri Art Valley, Korea. |
| 2007 | “Japan Caught by Camera”, Shanghai Art Museum, Shanghai, China. “Convection”,Three Shadows Photography Art Centre, Beijing, China. “Photographie: Détrônera la Peinture”, Musée Nicéphore Niépce, Chalon-sur-Saône, France. “Face à Faces” organized by Culturesfrance, Akureyri Art Museum, Reykjavik, Iceland. “7ème Biennale d’art contemporain”, Issy-les-Molineaux, France. “Japanese Contemporary Art Festival”, Heyri Art Valley, Korea. “Die Liebe zum Licht”, Museum Bochum, Bochum, Germany. “Paris du Monde Entier, Artistes étrangers à Paris 1900-2005/ Collection de Centre Pompidou” The National Art Center, Tokyo. “Figures of Thinking”, Chicago Cultural Center ,Chicago, Illinois, USA. “Winter”, Galerie RX, Paris. “Fascination”, Takashimaya X Gallery, Tokyo. |
| 2006 | “Les Peintres de la Vie Moderne”, Cente Pompidou, Paris. “Die Liebe zum Licht”, Kunstmuseum Celle, Celle, Germany. “Out of Ordinary / Extraordinary”, Centre de la Imagen, Mexico. “Collection four”, The Museum of Modern Art, Gunma, Japan. “Die Liebe zum Licht”, Städtische Galerie Delmenhorst, Delmenhorst, Germany. “Figures of Thinking”, McDonough Museum of Art ,Youngstown, OH, USA. “Seeing the Light”, Carl Solway Gallery, Cincinnati, OH, USA. “Face à Faces” organized by Culturesfrance, City Art Center, Edinburgh,UK. “Taille Humaine”, Sénat et Orangerie su Luxembourg, Paris. “Face à Faces” organized by Culturesfrance, Fotografins Hus, Stockholm, Sweden. “Quintessence”, l’Ecole des Beaux-Art de Nîme, Nîme, France. |
| 2005 | “Life Actually”, The Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo. “Out of Ordinary / Extraordinary”, Sala de arte y cultura de Caja Canaria de la Laguna, Canaria, Spain. “Out of Ordinary / Extraordinary”, Centre Culturel “Les Chiroux”/ Institut Lambert Lombart, Liège, Belgium. “Face à Faces” organized by Culturesfrance, Artcurial, Paris. “The Children’s hour”, Museum of New Art, Pontiac, Michigan, USA. “the photography beyond 20 years from Tsukuba Museum of photography 1985”, Sendai Mediatheque, Japan. “Out of Ordinary / Extraordinary”, The Japan Cultural Institute in Rome, Italy. “Out of Ordinary / Extraordinary”, Museum fuer Ostasiatische Kunst, Berlin. “Figures of Thinking: Convergences in Contemporary Cultures”, Richard E. Peeler Art Center, DePauw University, Greencastle, IN, USA. “How Photography Changed People’s Viewpoint”, The Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography, Tokyo. “Quintessence”, Galerie RX, Paris. “36 Photographers of the Kimura Ihei Award 1975 – 2005”, Kawasaki City Museum, Japan. |
| 2004 | “Roppongi Crossing – New Visions in Japanese Contemorary Art 2004”, Mori Art Museum, Tokyo. “Mask of Japan”, Guangtong Museum of Art, Guanzhou, China. “Out of Ordinary / Extraordinary”, The Japan Cultural Institute in Cologne, Germany. “beyond paradise”, Galerie Hengevoss-Duerkop, Hambourg, Germany. “Apparently Light / European Image Weeks”, Galerie Nei Licht, Dudelange, Luxembourg. “Out of Ordinary / Extraordinary”, Casa Asia Headquaters, Barcelona, Spain. “No Body’s Fool No Body’s Hurt”, Aura Gallery, Shanghai. |
| 2003 | “Ihei KIMURA Prize”, Minolta photo space, Tokyo and Osaka, Japan. “Aura”, Galerie RX, Paris. “Mask of Japan”, aura gallery, Shanghai, China. “The New Cosmos of Photography”, Kaigandori Gallery CASO, Osaka, Sendai Mediatheque, Sendai, Japan. “Mon Paris”, Galerie 21, Tokyo. |
| 2002 | “Illusion”, Lunds Konsthall, Lund, Sweden. “Illusion”, Museet for Fotokunst, Brandts klaedefabrik, Odense, Denmark. “Illusion”, The County Museum of Jonkoping, Jonkoping, Sweden. “Illusion”, Midlanda Konsthall, Timra, Sweden. “Illusion”, Bomuldsfabriken Kunsthall, Arendal, Norway. “Illusion”, The Finnish Museum of Photography, Helsinki, Finland. “Photography in Japanese Contemporary Art”, Latvian Museum of Photography, Riga, Lettonie. “l’Inauguration de la Galerie RX”, Galerie RX, Paris. “Paroles de Fringue”, Bourgoin-Jallieu Museum, France. “The Built and the Living /European Image Weeks”, Galerie Nei Licht, Dudelange, Luxembourg. “Prize of Photographic Society of Japan”, Fuji Photo Salon, Tokyo. “The New Cosmos of Photography 10th Anniversary”, The Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography, Tokyo. |
| 2001 | “Illusion”, Culture Center, Stockholm, Sweden. “Higashikawa Photo Fiesta”, Culture Center, Higashikawa,Hokkaido, Japan. “Contemporary Photography II”, Nikon Salon, Shinjuku, Tokyo. “Off Triennale-Zeit-Foto”, Ryunichi Kantonn Kaikan, Yokohama, Japan. |
| 2000 | “Zeitgenössische Fotokunst aus Japan”, Hallescher Kunstverein, Halle, Germany. “An Incomplete History”, University Art Gallery University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, Massachusetts, U.S.A. “Zeitgenössische Fotokunst aus Japan”, Museum Bochum, Bochum, Germany. “Zeitgenössische Fotokunst aus Japan”, Badischer Kunstverein Karlsruhe, Karlsruhe, Germany. “Mois de l’Image”, Centre d’Art s Plastiques Albert Chanot, Clamart, France. “Contemporary Photograpers of Japan”, Shanghai Sanya Photograph Gallery, Shanghai, China. |
| 1999 | “Internationale Fototage Herten”, Herten, Germany. “Zeitgenössische Fotokunst aus Japan”, NBK ( Neüer Berliner Kunstverein ), Berlin. “An Incomplete History”, Houston Center for Photography, Houston, Texas, U.S.A. “About Leaving Home”, Centre d’art Contemporain, Saint-Priést, France. |
| 1998 | “Photobiennale’98”, Art Media Center-TV Gallery, Moscow. “Medialogue – Photography in Japanese Contemporary Art ’98”, The Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography, Tokyo. “Jeux de genres ; from recently collection of Fonds Municipal d’Art Contemporain Paris, “Espace Electra, Paris. “An Incomplete History / Women Photographers from Japan, 1864-1997”, Visual Studies Workshop, Rochester, NY, U.S.A. “Le donné, le fictif”, Centre National de la Photographie, Paris. “Narrative Art from the Collection”, Tochigi Prefectural Museum of Fine Arts, Utsunomiya, Japan. “Between Water, Air and Earth”, Galerie Vrais Rêves, Lyon, France. “21st Anniversary Zeit-Foto”, Artspace Shimoda, Tokyo. |
| 1997 | “Floating Images of Women in Art History”, Tochigi Prefectural Museum of Fine Arts, Utsunomiya, Japan. “The 2nd Tokyo International Photo-Biennale / Nomination Section”, The Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography, Tokyo. |
| 1996 | “Sosie”, Sagacho Exhibit Space, Tokyo. “6ème Festival International de la Photographie de Mode”, Centre Bellevue, Biarritz, France. “21st Kodak Prize of Critical Photography”, Galerie Passage de Retz, Paris. “Premier Salon des Artistes Naturalistes”, Le Mois de la Photo, Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, Paris. “Oiseaux”, Le Mois de la Photo, Galerie Pierre Brullé, Paris. |
| 1993 | “Avant-Garde Photographers of Japan”, Space for Cultures Seihin, Taipei, Taiwan. |
| 1992 | “The 1st New Cosmos of Photography”, P-3 Art and Environment Gallery, Tokyo. |