Biography
Minoru Onoda was born in Japanese occupied Manchuria in 1937 and moved with his family to Himeji, Japan in 1944. He studied at the Institute of Fine Arts, Osaka, and the Osaka School of Art (1956-60). He perfected his skills very early on – to the point that he was an assistant in art classes in his late teens. His early works are traditional gouache, charcoal and oil pastel portraits and urban scenes around Himeji. As of 1960 he started to incorporate plaster and found materials, mostly pieces of tubes and wooden slats, creating his first three-dimensional works. He published his Theory of Propagation Painting, On Breeding Painting, Manifesto in 1961 and built-up relief surfaces using gofun, a powder made of crushed seashells, glue and water. He participated in the 3rd International Exhibition for Young Artists in Paris in 1964 and, at Sadamasa Motonaga’s suggestion to Jirō Yoshihara, he was invited to join the Gutai Art Association in 1965 as one of its youngest members.
Perspective, relief and propagation of circles are early trademarks of the artist who spent his entire life in Japan. Using post WWII newly available materials (synthetic paint, glue, wood) and artistic freedom, Onoda's works make reference to Art informel and abstract art, along with some visual aspects of Suprematism, Constructivism, and even Op Art.
In the 1970s Onoda explored the dynamic relationship between a human and his surroundings through geometric unity and simplicity of the circle. He often referred to himself as “the one who performs the circle”. He presents the circle’s endless proliferation as it journeys towards a perfect state of emptiness, silence. Later, Onoda grew closer to Op Art, painting larger, radiating planetary circles that float weightlessly, alone or in ordered groups, within seemingly monochrome, but detailed canvases teeming with increasing spheres.
Yearly participation in shows in Himeji in the early 1960s, inclusion in important exhibitions such as Trends in contemporary Japanese paintings and sculpture, National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto (1965), The new generation of Japanese Art, The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo, (1966), as well as other museum shows in Kobe, Osaka, Switzerland, The Netherlands and the United States of America gave him domestic and international exposure although he personally did not travel abroad. He participated with Gutai members in Expo ’70 in Osaka as well as their exhibits in the Gutai Mini Pinacotheca until the group disbanded following Yoshihara’s death in 1972. Museum shows included Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum, Museum of Modern Art Hyogo, Civic Center, Ashiya, in the 1970s, followed by Hyogo Prefectural Museum of Art, Miyagi Prefectural Art Museum, Museum of Fine Arts, Osaka, in the 1980s. A large hand painted kite was made for the worldwide traveling exhibition Art Kites : Pictures for the Sky / Kunstdrachen. Bilder für den Himmel (1989–1992).
The 1996 exhibition, A turning point in Japanese Art – 1964, Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo, again brought international attention to Gutai members and other contemporary Japanese artists.
In 2004 the Himeji City Museum of Art dedicated its first solo show to him, Contemporary Local Artists Exhibition: The World of Minoru ONODA, followed by their 2021 show: Minoru Onoda.
He exhibited in numerous Japanese galleries (Gallery Koma, Atelier Nishinomiya, Amano Gallery, Lunami Gallery, Imabashi Gallery, Fujimi Gallery, Hakusan Gallery, Yokohama Citizen’s Gallery) until his death in 2008, and with Taka Ishii Gallery in 2017/18. Anne Mosseri-Marlio Galerie gave him global exposure through presentations at Frieze Masters, London, Taipei Dangdai and Art Brussels as well as solo shows in Basel, Switzerland since 2017.
The 2012 and 2013 survey exhibitions GUTAI | Spirit of an Era at the National Art Center, Tokyo, and Gutai : Splendid Playground at New York’s Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum of Art included his 1960s paintings and generated international attention to the Gutai Art Association and its members.
Onoda’s works are in private collections in Argentina, Belgium, France, Germany, Switzerland, The Netherlands, United Kingdom, United States of America, and Japan. Ashiya City Museum of Art and History, Himeji City Museum of Art, Hyogo Prefectural Museum of Art, Kobe, The Miyagi Museum of Art, JP, Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam, NL, Sammlung Goetz, Munich, DE, Tate Modern, London, UK, are some of the museums who own and exhibit his paintings.
Anne Mosseri-Marlio
Studies
1958 – 1960
The Osaka School of Art (currently Osaka College of Art), Osaka, JP
1956 – 1958
Institute of Fine Arts, Osaka City Museum of Fine Arts, Osaka, JP
Selected Solo Exhibitions
2021
Minoru Onoda : Through Another Lens, Anne Mosseri-Marlio Galerie, Basel, CH
Minoru Onoda: Watashi no Maru (My Circles) Himeji City Museum of Art, Himeji, JP
2019
Paintings 1960's Onward, Anne Mosseri-Marlio Galerie, Basel, CH
2018
Taka Ishii Gallery, New York, NY, USA
2017
Taka Ishii Gallery, Tokyo, JP
MARU : Minoru Onoda, Anne Mosseri-Marlio Galerie, Basel, CH
2004
Contemporary Local Artists Exhibition: The World of Minoru ONODA, Himeji City Museum of Art, Himeji, JP
1999
Hotel Seashore Mitsumisaki, Tatsuno, JP
1986
Amano Gallery, Osaka, JP
History of Minoru Onoda: 1953 - 1986, Renga-Sha, Himeji, JP
1985
Gallery Koma, Himeji, JP
1984
Atelier Nishinomiya, Nishinomiya, JP
1982
Atelier Nishinomiya, Nishinomiya, JP
1980
Suntory Foundation, Osaka, JP
1979
Imabashi Gallery, Osaka, JP
1977
Shunko Gallery, Osaka, JP
Art Core Gallery, Kyoto, JP
1974
Hakusan Gallery, Kobe, JP
1970
Minoru Onoda Atelier, Himeji, JP
1965
Gallery Daiwa, Kobe, JP
Sanyo Department Store, Himeji, JP
1964
Lunami Gallery, Tokyo, JP
Gallery 16, Kyoto, JP
Selected Group Exhibitions
2023 – 2023
Le Sacre du Printemps, Himeji City Museum of Art, Himeji, JP
Performer and Participant, TATE Modern, London, UK
2022 – 2022
Allusive Variation : Honkadori and Museum Masterpieces, Himeji City Museum of Art, Himeji, JP
Into the Unknown World – GUTAI: differentiation and Integration, National Museum of Art, Osaka, JP
Into the Unknown World – GUTAI: differentiation and Integration, Nakanoshima Museum of Art, Osaka, JP
2021 – 2022
Ways of Seeing: Three Takes on The Jack Shear Collection, The Drawing Center, New York, NY, USA
2020
Gutai collection of Hyogo Prefectural Museum of Art, Hyogo Prefectural Museum, Hyogo, JP
Game of Sight: the delightful connection between Art and Eyes, Hyogo Prefectural Museum, Hyogo, JP
ASHIYA TIME: a Large Collection Exhibition - 1991 - 2020 , Ashiya City Museum of Art & History, Ashiya, JP
Art in the Expo Osaka ‘70, Museum of Osaka University, Osaka, JP
2019
Ashiya City Museum of Art & History, Ashiya, JP
2018
Back to 1918: Time Travel with the Museum Collection, Hyogo Prefectural Museum of Art, Kobe, JP
Taka Ishii Gallery, New York, NY, USA
2017
The Collection, Hyogo Prefectural Museum of Art, Kobe, JP
2015
Gutai-Jin, Karuizawa New Museum, Karuizawa, JP
Konnasozaide art sakuhin, Himeji City Museum of Art, Himeji, JP
ZERO, GUTAI, KUSAMA, Bonhams, London, EN
2014
GUTAI × INTERNATIONAL : GUTAI, UMIWOWATARU, Ashiya City Museum of Art and History, Ashiya, JP
2013
Gutai : Splendid Playground, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum of Art, New York, NY, USA
The Collection GUTAI YAKUSHIN, Ashiya City Museum of Art and History, Ashiya, JP
2012
Gutai: The Spirit of an Era, National Art Center Tokyo, Tokyo, JP
Modern Art Collection of Japan and Overseas, The Miyagi Museum of Art, Sendai, JP
Collection III KONNAHITOGAITA! HYOGO BIJYUTUKA RETSUDEN, The Hyogo Prefectural Museum of Art, Kobe, JP
2006
Iro to Katachi no Harmony (Harmony of Colors and Shapes), Himeji City Museum of Art, Himeji, JP
2004
Retrospective Exhibition of Gutai, Hyogo Prefectural Museum of Art, Kobe, JP
2002
From the Collection : Artists of the Gutai Group, Miyagi Museum of Art, Sendai, JP
1998
Collection of the Himeji City Museum of Art for the last 15 years, Himeji, JP
Artists of GUTAI Group, Miyagi Museum of Art, Sendai, JP
1997
5 Modern Artists of Hyogo: Kazuo Shiraga, Sadamasa Motonaga, Minoru Onoda, Koui Fujiwara, Masahiko Tsubota, Mori Gallery, Himeji, JP
Materials and Expressions, Collection of the Himeji City Museum of Art, Himeji, JP
The 8th Neo Art Exhibition, Himeji City Museum of Art, Himeji, JP
1996
Pictures for the Sky - Art Kite Show, Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes, Buenos Aires, AR; Museo Nacional de Artes Visuales, Montervideo, UY
A turning point in Japanese Art – 1964, Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo, JP
96 Artists of Hyogo, Hyogo Prefectural Museum of Art, Kobe, JP
Himeji Bijutsu Kyokai, Phoenix Exhibition, Phoenix, AZ, USA
50 years of ‘Osaka Bijutsu Kenkyuusho’, Institute of Fine Arts, Osaka City Museum of Fine Arts, Osaka, JP
1995
Pictures for the Sky - Art Kite Show, Musik-und Kongresshalle, Lubeck, DE; Musée des Beaux Arts, Montreal, CA; Darling Harbour Exhibition Centre, Sydney, AU; Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile, Santiago, CL
50 years of the Post War Art, Collection of the Himeji City Museum of Art, Himeji City Museum of Art, Himeji, JP
1994
Erabareta Katachi, Himeji City Museum of Art, Himeji, JP
1993
GUTAI Exhibition III 1965-1972, Ashiya City Museum of Art and History, Ashiya, JP
The 3rd Modern Artists Exhibition, Renaissance Square, Himeji, JP
Hyogo Artists Exhibition - Artists of Harima, Kaibundo Gallery, Kobe, JP
1992
Art Kites : Pictures for the Sky / Kunstdrachen. Bilder für den Himmel, Expo Sevilla, Pabellon de Bellas Artes, Sevilla; Sala de Exposiciones de la Maestranza, Sevila, ES; Galleria nazionale d’arte moderna e contemporanea, Rome, IT; Documenta Halle, Kassel, DE
The Artists of Gutai Group - Focusing on the collections of the Miyagi Museum of Art, Miyagi Museum of Art, Sendai, JP
150 out of 1500 – Collection of the Himeji City Museum of Art for the last 10 years, Himeji City Museum of Art, Himeji, JP
1991
Art Kites : Pictures for the Sky / Kunstdrachen. Bilder für den Himmel, Promotrice delle Belle Arti, Turin, IT; Charlottenburg, Copenhagen DK; Neue Nationalgalerie, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Berlin, DE; Musée royaux des Beaux-Arts de Belgique, Brussels, BE; Centro de Arte Moderna (CAM), Fundacao Calouste Gulbenkian, Lisbon, PT
Abstraction and Illusion - Exhibition of the Collection of the Himeji City Museum of Art, Himeji City Museum of Art, Himeji, JP
1990
Art Kites : Pictures for the Sky, Deichtorhallen, Hamburg, DE; Central House of Artists, Moscow, RU; Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen Düsseldorf, DE; L’Art prend l’air. Cerfs-volants d’artistes / Kunstdrachen. Bilder für den Himmel, Grande Halle de la Villete, Paris, FR; Haus der Kunst, Munich; K20, Düsseldorf; Alte Nationalgalerie, Berlin DE
1989
Art Kites : Pictures for the Sky / Kunstdrachen. Bilder für den Himmel, Hiroshima City Museum of Contemporary Art, Hiroshima; Nagoya City Art Museum, Nagoya; Shizuoka Prefectural Museum of Art, Shizuoka City; Hara Museum ARC, Shibukawa; Himeji City Museum of Art, Himeji, JP (Presided by the Osaka Goethe Institut )
Vernissage in the sky, Himeji, JP
Kumamoto Prefectural Museum of Art, Kumamoto, JP
Takamatsu Art Museum, Takamatsu, JP
1988
Art Kites : Pictures for the Sky / Kunstdrachen. Bilder für den Himmel”, Museum of Modern Art, Shiga; Mie Prefectural Museum, Tsu; Miyagi Museum of Art, Miyagi, JP
88 Artists of Hyogo, Hyogo Prefectural Museum of Modern Art, Kobe, JP
1987
40th Anniversary of ‘Osaka Bijutsu Kenkyuusho', Institute of Fine Arts, Osaka City Museum of Fine Arts, Osaka, JP
36 Local Artists Exhibition, Ymatoyashiki Gallery, Himeji, JP
The First Modern Art Exhibition, Renaissance Square, Himeji , JP
1986
Ge Exhibition, Kyoto, Kyoto Municipal Museum of Art, Kyoto, JP
The 7th Neo Art Exhibition, Fuji Gallery, Osaka, JP
1985
Jiro Yoshihara and ‘Gutai’, Ashiya Civic Center, Ashiya, JP
Ge Feature Exhibition, ABC Gallery, Osaka, JP
1984
Gifu Independent Festival – the trend in twenty years, Museum of Fine Arts Gifu, Gifu, JP
Ima kaiga ha (Picturial Art Now) - Osaka ’84, Osaka Contemporary Art Center, Osaka, JP
1981
A Scene of Contemporary Japanese Art, Miyagi Prefectural Art Museum, Miyagi, JP
Hyogo Modern Art Exhibition, Hyogo Prefectural Museum of Art, Kobe, JP
1980 – 1984
The First Kakuutsuushin Tent Bijutsukan, Shukugawa Park, Nishinomiya, JP
1980
Artists’ Union Symposium ’80, Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum, Tokyo, JP
1979
Jiro Yoshihara and Today’s Aspects of the ‘Gutai', Hyogo Prefectural Museum of Modern Art, Kobe, JP
The 5th Hiroshima Renaissance Art Exhibition, Hiroshima Prefectural Museum of Art, Hiroshima, JP
Artists’ Union Symposium ’79, Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum, Tokyo, JP
1978
Graphic works by the former Gutai Members, Imabashi Gallery, Osaka, JP
The 2nd Kanayama Prize Candidates Art Exhibition, Hyogo Prefectural Museum of Art, Kobe, JP
Nara Artists’ Union Exhibition, Nara Prefectural Cultural Hall, Nara, JP
Artists’ Union Symposium ’78, Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum, Tokyo, JP
Art ’78 Setouchi, Matsuyama, Ehime Prefectural Museum of Art, Matsuyama, JP
1977
The 6th Hyogo Art Fair, Hyogo Prefectural Museum of Art, Kobe, JP
Ge Exhibition, Prefectural Art Gallery of Osaka, Osaka, JP (yearly through 2008)
The third Ashiya Art Association Member Exhibition, Ashiya City center, Hyogo, JP
Artists’ Union Symposium ’77, Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum, Tokyo, JP
1976
Eighteen Years of Gutai, Osaka Prefectural Gallery, Osaka, JP
Artists’ Union Symposium ’76, Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum, Tokyo, JP
Artists’ Union Symposium ’76, Hokkaido, JP
JAPAN NOW, San Francisco, CA, USA
2nd Neo Art Exhibition, Himeji Civic Hall, Renga-sha, Doi Gallery, Himeji; Utsumi Gallery, Takasago, JP
’76 Modern Art Exhibition, Gallery Sanchika, Kobe, JP
Konnichi no Kuukan ten- Information and Communication, Yokohama Citizen’s Gallery, Yokohama, JP
Art now, Museum of Modern Art Hyogo, Kobe, JP
1975
Sannin ten : Minoru Onoda, Hachiro Iizuka and Takesada Matsutani, Gallery Doi, Himeji, Hyogo, JP
Yonin ten : Minoru Onoda, Hachiro Iizuka and Takesada Matsutani, Utsumi Gallery, Takasago, Hyogo, JP
Fourth Setouchi Modern Art Exhibition, Okayama General Cultural Center, Okayama, JP
Art now, Museum of Modern Art Hyogo, Kobe, JP
The 1st Tokyo Exhibition, Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum, Tokyo, JP
1974
The First Neo Art Exhibition, Hakusan Gallery, Kobe, JP
1973
Himeji Representative Artists Exhibition, Gallery Doi, Himeji, JP
1972
Yoshihara Jiro wo kakomu ten (Yoshihara Jiro and his Circle), Fujimi Gallery, Osaka, JP; Jusco Store, Himeji, JP
1971
Opening Exhibition of Gutai Mini Pinacotheca, Gutai Mini Pinacotheca, Osaka, JP
1970
Japan Expo ’70, Museum of Fine Arts, Osaka, JP
The First Hyogo Art Fair, Hyogo Prefectural Art Museum, Kobe, Hyogo, JP
1969
Hiroshima Renaissance Art Exhibition, Hiroshima Prefectural Art Museum, Hiroshima, JP
1968
21st Gutai Exhibition, Gutai Pinacotheca, Osaka, JP
20th Gutai Exhibition, Gutai Pinacotheca, Osaka, JP
Contemporary Art Exhibition Only At Night, Miyazaki Kanko Hotel, Miyazaki, JP
Kobe Newspaper Peace Prize Art Exhibition, Daimaru department store, Kobe & Sanyo Department Stores, Himeji, JP
1967
19th Gutai Exhibition, Central Museum, Tokyo, JP
New Works of Gutai (18th Gutai Exhibition), Gutai Pinacoteca, Osaka, JP
Gutai, Heide Hildebrand Gallery, Klagenfurt, AT
Gutai Small Works Exhibition in Holland, Rotterdam Design House, Rotterdam, Netherlands
Southern Japan Modern Art Exhibition, Kochi, JP
1966
17th Gutai Exhibition, Takashimaya Department Store, Yokohama; Gutai Pinacoteca, Osaka, JP
Gutai Art Exhibition, International Gallery Orez, The Hague, NL
Gutai Small Work Exhibition, Mickey Art Gallery, Loenersloot, NL
Pan-Setouchi Modern Art Exhibition, Okayama General Cultural Center, Okayama, JP
2e Salon international de galerie pilotes, Musée Cantonal des Beaux-Arts, Lausanne, CH
The new generation of Japanese Art, National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo, JP
Seven Contemporary Japanese Artists, Fine Arts Gallery, San Diego State College, San Diego, CA, USA ( cat.)
1965
Trends in contemporary Japanese paintings and sculpture, National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto, JP
Seven Contemporary Japanese Artists, Art Gallery at California State College at Fullerton, Fullerton, CA, USA
16th Gutai exhibition, The Shinjuku Keio Department Store, Tokyo, JP
Gendai no Yokubou 100 ten, Tokyo, JP
1964
3rd International Exhibition for Young Artists, Japan and Europe
The Seibu Department Store SSS Hall, Tokyo, JP
The First Turner Award Exhibition, Osaka, JP
1962
16th Niki-kai exhibition, Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum, Tokyo, JP
1960
Warera no Shinjin ten, Kobe City Museum, Kobe, Hyogo, JP
1960 – 1965
Himeji Independents, Himeji, JP
1958 – 75
12th Niki Group Exhibition (yearly through 1975)
Permanent Installations and Public Collections
Ashiya City Museum of Art and History, Ashiya, JP
Himeji City Hall, Himeji, JP
Himeji Kohryo Junior High School, Himeji, JP
Himeji City Gallery, Himeji, JP
HOLE・CUT・LIGHT, Nissan Corporation, Himeji, JP
Hyogo Prefectural Museum of Art, Kobe, JP
Literature monument of Rinzo Shiina, Himeji, JP
Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam, NL
Sammlung Goetz, Munich,
TATE Modern, London, UK
The Miyagi Museum of Art, JP
Private collections: Argentina, Belgium, France, Japan, the Netherlands, Switzerland, United Kingdom, USA
Major Catalogs
Seigensha / Himeji City Museum of Art. ONODA MINORU, Kyoto, JP 2021.
Anne Mosseri-Marlio / Scheidegger & Spiess. Minoru Onoda, Zürich 2019.
Munroe, Alexandra / Tiampo, Ming. Gutai : Splendid Playground, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum of Art, New York 2013.
Hirai, Shoichi. Gutai, The Spirit of an Era, National Art Center Tokyo, Tokyo 2012.
Art Kites. Pictures for the Sky / Kunstdrachen. Bilder für den Himmel, Haus der Kunst, Munich 1989.
Selected Publications and Book Illustrations
2011
Illustration of “Me no Umi-The Sea of Eye”, Yo Hemmi, (The Mainichi Newspapers)
1990
Illustration of “Kaiten Doa”, Takako Kumegawa, (Ima Shobo)
1989
Illustration and book design “Omoide no Miwaki Ryoichi”, Ryoichi Miwaki, (Karinsha)
1986 – 1988
Issued quarterly magazine Shiro vol.1-8, Book Design and Editing
1984
Illustration of Maboroshi no Hyoufu, Shun Terabayashi, Gakujin
1983
Illustration of Tateyama no Heizou Sandai and Fuji Kyouryoku, Shun Terabayashi, Gakujin
1981
Illustration and book design Akamatsu Enshin Norimura to sono ichizoku, Seiichi Ido (Chuou Shuppan)
1978
Illustration of Toku Ikabaya, Toshihito Terakawa, Honganji Shinpo
1977
Illustration of Soshite 35, Ryuzo Takehiro, (Galant)
1976
Illustration and book design Nara, Hiroshi Kaneda, (Galant)
1974
Started Mail Art with Saburo Murakami, Shozo Shimamoto
1968
Issued anthology GARANT (vol. 1-8)
1961
“Paintings of propagation. On Breeding Painting, Manifesto”, Himeji Bijutsu vol.1, December, 1961
Awards
2004
33nd Blue Mer Prize for Art, Kobecco Magazine, Kobe, JP
1984
The 6th Himeji Geijutsu Bunka Taisho (Himeji Cultural Grand Prize for Art)
1976
Handonnokai Bunka Taisho (Handonnokai Cultural Award for Modern Art), Kobe, JP
1968
The 6th Himeji Bunka Taisho (Himeji Cultural Award), Himeji, JP
1964
The First Turner Award Exhibition, Awarded the Turner Grand Prize, JP
1963
The 10th Kansai- Niki-Kai Exhibition (Honorable Mention Award)
The 17th Niki-Kai Exhibition (Honorable Mention Award)
1962
The 9th Kansai Niki-Kai Exhibition (Sakura Award)
1960
The 7th Kansai Niki-Kai Exhibition (Honorable Mention Award)
The 14th Niki-Kai Exhibition (Encouragement Award)
Organized Himeji Independents 1960-1965
Niki Group member 1963-1975
Gutai member since 1965.
Organized and participated in Artists' Union
Stage set: The 2nd Himeji Festival "Jyoukamachi Ourai", Himeji, JP, 1967
Established and presided NEO ART, 1974
Worked on the concept of Himeji Art Museum and Himeji Literature Museum from1979
