Photographer
She held her first solo exhibit in 1985 with Still Life, and has focused on creating peculiar still life assemblages using anything from fish and vegetables to flowers and insects ever since. Her wildly artistic works, beautifully captured using a complex monochromatic process, exist on a plane somewhere between the real and the imagined.

©Michiko Kon, courtesy of PGI

Chronology

1955 Born in Kamakura, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan
1978 Graduated from the Sokei Academy of Fine Art & Design
1978-80 Studied at Tokyo Photographic College

Publications

2021 philia — KON Michiko, Kokushokankokai Inc.
2011 IMPACT, M/Light
1997 Michiko Kon, Korinsha Press
1997 Michiko Kon: Still Lifes, Aperture
1996 KON BOX, P.G.I. & Nazraeli Press
1991 EAT, Shogakukan
1987 EAT, Art Works Committee

Selected Solo Exhibitions

2021 philia —KON Michiko, The Museum of Modern Art, Kamakura Annex, Kanagawa
2021 Michiko Kon, iGallery, Tokyo
2019 Michiko Kon, Gallery Kobo, Tokyo
2019 Reviving Objects, FUJIFILM SQUARE, Photo History Museum, Tokyo
2019 Cannibal Feast, Robert Mann Gallery, USA
2018 Recent Works 2018, PGI, Tokyo
2017 Naturaleza Muerta, Fototeca Nacional Sinafo. INAH, Mexico
2017 Michiko Kon, Michel Soskine Gallery, Madrid
2016 Exposición fotográfica de Michiko Kon, Universidad Veracruzana, Xalapa, Mexico
2014 Recent Works, Photo Gallery International (P.G.I.), Tokyo
2012 IMPACT, B Gallery, Tokyo
2011 Michiko Kon, Gallery Kobo, Tokyo
2010 Kon Michiko Exhibit of Platinum Photograph, Timeless Gallery, China
2009 Michiko Kon, Michel Soskine Inc., Spain
2008 Platinum Prints Collection, P.G.I., Tokyo
2002 Michiko Kon, Taiwan International Visual Arts Center, Taipei
2002 Michiko Kon, Gallery Kobo, Tokyo
1999 Michiko Kon: Still Lifes, Burden Gallery, USA
1999 Michiko Kon, Gallery Kobo, Tokyo
1998 Michiko Kon: Photographs 1998, P.G.I., Tokyo
1998 Michiko Kon : Still Life, Gallery Raku, Kyoto University of Art and Design, Kyoto
1997 Michiko Kon, P.G.I. Shibaura, Tokyo
1996 Michiko Kon Exhibition by Polaroid Color 8x10, Polaroid Gallery, Tokyo
1995 Michiko Kon, Robert Mann Gallery, USA
1995 Michiko Kon, Gallery Kobo, Tokyo
1995 Still Lives, Gallery Ississ, Kyoto
1995 Still Lives, Picture Photo Space, Osaka
1995 Still Lives, Taipei Photo Gallery, Taiwan
1994 Still Lives, P.G.I., Tokyo
1993 Michiko Kon: Still Lives, Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, USA
1992 Michiko Kon: Still Lives, MIT List Visual Arts Center, USA
1992 Michiko Kon, Gallery Kobo, Tokyo
1991 EAT, Minolta Photo Space, Tokyo
1991 New Japanese Photography Vol.2 Michiko Kon, EXPOSURE PARCO Shibuya Part II, Tokyo
1990 EAT: Recent Works, P.G.I., Tokyo
1987 EAT, Kodak Photo Salon, Tokyo
1985 Still Life, Shinjuku Nikon Salon, Tokyo

Selected Group Exhibitions

2023 FUJIFILM Photo Collection Special Exhibition: Part 2 The Crystallization of Photographic Expression and Technique, FUJIFILM Square, Tokyo
2022 The amana Collection Exhibition, Miyota Museum of Photography, Nagano, Japan
2022 The Photographic Society of Japan Awards, Winner’s Exhibition, FUJIFILM Photo Salon, Tokyo
2022 México Mágico, Gallery Kobo, Tokyo
2020 瞬く皮膚、死から発光する生, Ashikaga Museum of Art, Tochigi, Japan
2020 10th Anniversary Exhibition, Ginza Okuno Building Room 306, Ginza, Tokyo
2019 Sleep with Fishes, Robert Mann Gallery, USA
2019 Summer Exhibition, Michel Soskine Gallery, Spain
2019 Inmigrantes, Kyoto-ba, Kyoto
2019 In One Drop of Water, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Australia
2017 Birds in the Hand, PGI, Tokyo
2017 The here in there, Salon de Vert, Nagano, Japan
2017 Eternal Fantasy, Beauty Illusion, Roppongi Stripe’s Space, Tokyo
2017 Birds of a Feather, Robert Mann Gallery, USA
2016 Take In, PGI, Tokyo
2016 A Room Hanging One Picture, Morioka Book Shop, Tokyo
2015 What is Naked?, Gallery Shinjuku-za, Tokyo
2015 ARTS & FOODS, La Triennale di Milano, Expo Milano 2015, Italy
2014 Tanemura Suehiro, Itabashi Art Museum, Tokyo
2014 12 visual points, 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa, Ishikawa, Japan
2014 A Table! -Art Feast-, Mie Prefectual Art Museum, Mie, Japan
2014 “Single Photo” Exhibition A collection of single photographs from some of the leading photographers in the history of Japanese photography, FUJIFILM Square, Tokyo
2013 Chasing Japan’s Youkai, Yokosuka Museum of Art, Kanagawa, Japan
2011 Iizawa Kotaro + Kon Michiko, Gallery Kobo, Tokyo
2011 Homage to Yukio Akatsuka, Ai Gallery Tokyo
2011 BIYOU, 306 Ginza Okuno Building, Tokyo, Japan
2011 Beauty, Humor and Social Justice: Gift from Joan Morgenstern, The Museum of Fine Art, Huston, USA
2010 The Letter from X, Salon de Vert, Nagano, Japan
2010 Gelatin Silver Session, Axis Gallery, Tokyo
2010 Human Images of 20th Century: All Photographs are Portraits, Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography, Tokyo
2010 Homage - Suehiro Tanemura, Span Art Gallery, Tokyo
2009 Special Exhibition: Michiko Kon, at the Modern Japanese Art from Museum Collection, The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo
2009 4 person exhibition, Gallery Soyo, Kanagawa
2008 Texas Collects Asia: Contemporary Art, Crow Museum of Asian Art, USA
2007 Japan Caught by Camera–Works from the Photographic Art in Japan, Shanghai Art Museum, China
2007 Between Reality and Illusion, Marty Walker Gallery, USA
2006 Fish and our Lives, The Museum of Art, Ehime, Japan
2004 Imaging the West, Sheldon Art Galleries, USA
2004 04 Summer, JURL et MODE, Kamakura, Kanagawa
2004 Homage to Hideo Nakai, Gallery Oculus, Tokyo
2003 Beyond the Surface – Japanese Style of Making Things, Singapore Art Museum, toured Philippine Cultural Center
2003 History of Japanese Photography, The Museum of Fine Arts, USA
2003 Contemporary Print from Bulgaria/Japan, Yamanashi Prefectural Museum of Art, Kofu, Japan
2003 Japanese Photography 1970’s-1980’s, SK Josefsberg Studio, USA
2002 The World of Platinum Print, Photo Gallery International(P.G.I.), Tokyo
2002 Metamorphosis in Art, Museum of Modern Art, Gunma, Japan
2002 The 50th Anniversary - The Growth of the Museum Collection: 1952, The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo
2001 Illusion: Japanese Photography, Kulturhuset Stadsteatern, Sweden
2001 Exploring Photography Ⅱ: From the Museum Collection, National Film Center, The National Muse of Modern Art, Tokyo
2001 01 Summer, JURL et MODE, Kamakura, Kanagawa
2001 Uncommon Threads: Contemporary Artists & Clothing, Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art, Cornell University, USA
2000 FALL | 00, University of North Texas Art Gallery, USA
2000 P.G.I. Gallery Artists, P.G.I., Tokyo
2000 Reading Works, Itabashi Art Museum, Tokyo
2000 Made You Look! 19th Annual Family Exhibition, Austin Museum of Art, USA
2000 Hommage a Van Gogh, Mitaka City Gallery of Art, Tokyo
1999 An Incomplete History: Women Photographers from Japan 1864-1997, Houston Center for Photography, USA
1999 Internationale Fototage Herten, Germany
1999 The History of Ihei Kimura Photography Award, Kawasaki City Museum, Kawasaki
1999 Desert from Contemporary Cultural Theory, Itabashi Art Museum, Tokyo
1999 10 years, Center for Photographic Art, USA
1999 Eleven Artists Exhibition, JURL et MODE, Kamakura, Kanagawa
1998 Mirror Images: Women, Surrealism and Self-Presentation, MIT List Visual Arts Center, USA
1998 Still Life by Woman Photographers, P.G.I. Shibaura, Tokyo
1998 Waterproof, Expo ’98, Portugal
1998 An Incomplete History: Women Photographers from Japan, 1864-1997, Visual Studies Workshop, USA
1998 Women Photographs 1945-1997, Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography, Tokyo
1997 Art is Fun 8: Ways of (Re)Production, Hara Museum ARC, Shibukawa, Gunma
1997 Contemporary Art: How Can They Possibly Understand It, Itabashi Art Museum, Tokyo
1997 The 4th Kitakyushu Biennale, Kitakyushu Municipal Museum of Art, Kitakyushu, Fukuoka
1997 Japan Today: Kunst Fotografie Design, MAK Museum fuer angewandte Kunst, Austria
1997 Some Assembly Required, The Art Institute of Chicago, USA
1997 The Enigmatic Object, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Australia
1996 100 Wristwatches by the Artist & Original Images, Gallery Seira, Tokyo
1996 New Japanese Photography in 1990’s: The Resonance of Unconsciousness, Yokohama City Art Gallery, Yokohama
1996 Japanese Photography from in/out Part 3: Contemporary Scenery 1980-95,
1996 Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography, Tokyo
1996 Kanagawa Art Annual 96, Kanagawa Kenmin Hall Gallery, Yokohama
1996 History of Japanese Contemporary Photography in The Ihei Kimura Photography Award,
1996 Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography, Tokyo
1996 Nobuyoshi Araki & Michiko Kon, Center for Photographic Art, USA
1996 Eight Artists Exhibition, JURL et MODE, Kamakura, Kanagawa
1996 Japan Today, Kunstnernes Hus, Norway (Traveling to Finland)
1995 Texture & Touch, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Australia
1995 Rituals and Transformations, National Gallery of Canada, Canada
1995 JAPAN TODAY, Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Denmark
1995 10/10/10, Robert Mann Gallery, USA
1995 The Ihei Kimura Photography Award 20th Anniversary Exhibition, Ginza Nikon Salon, Tokyo
1995 Unique Exhibition of Contemporary Japanese Photographic Artists, A.O.I. Gallery, USA
1995 Beyond Recognition: Contemporary International Photography, Logan Art Gallery, Australia
1994 When the Body Becomes Art, Itabashi Art Museum, Tokyo
1994 Youth of the Photograph -Anthology of Newcomer Award, Higashikawa International
1994 Photography Festival, Egg Gallery, Tokyo
1994 Seven Artists Exhibition, JURL et MODE, Kamakura, Kanagawa
1994 Tradition and the Unpredictable: The Allan Chasanoff Photographic Collection, The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, USA
1993 Beyond Recognition: Contemporary International Photography, National Gallery of Australia,
1993 Australia (Traveling in Australia 1995- )
1993 Photographs Vol.3, ai gallery, Tokyo
1993 Michiko Kon: Still Lives, Hiroshi Sugimoto: Seascapes and Theaters, Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, USA
1993 Fabricated Realities, The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, USA
1992 Representatives: Women Photographers from the Permanent Collection, Center for Creative Photography, University of Arizona, USA
1991 Make Believe: Contemporary Photography from JAPAN, The Photographers' Gallery, UK
1991 Art is Fun, Hara Museum ARC, Shibukawa, Gunma
1990 The Imprinted Ideas, Tochigi Prefectural Museum of Fine Arts, Utsunomiya
1990 TOKYO, Seibu Art Forum, Yurakucho, Tokyo
1990 Japanese Contemporary Photography: Twelve Viewpoints, Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of
1990 Photography, Tokyo
1990 Japanese Contemporary Photography, Pavillon des Arts, France
1990 Beyond the Photographic Frame-11 recent works, Contemporary Art Gallery, Art Tower Mito, Mito
1990 The Silent Dialogue: Still Life in the West and Japan, Shizuoka Prefectural Museum of Art, Shizuoka
1990 Fotofest / The International Month of Photography, Houston Convention Center, USA
1990 High-Tech Plants Photo Exhibition, The Hanshin Department Store, Japan
1989 The 151st Year of Photography, Heineken Village, Tokyo
1989 The Hitachi Collection of Contemporary Japanese Photography, Center for Creative
1989 Photography, University of Arizona, USA
1989 TORINO PHOTOGRAFIA, Torino, Italy
1989 New・Age・New・Art Exhibition, Isetan Shinjuku Store, Tokyo
1988 Speaking Through Photography, The Chinretsukan Gallery, Tokyo University of the Arts
1988 Peace By Peace, Ginza Graphic Gallery, Tokyo
1987 Japanese Women Photographers from the ‘50s to the ‘80s, Lehigh University Art Gallery, USA
1987 New Age Photography, Store Days, Roppongi WAVE, Tokyo
1984 Japan Graphic Exhibition, PARCO Gallery, Tokyo
1984 ELEVEN PLUS ONE Exhibition, Kamakura Central Community Center, Kamakura
1984 The 20th Kanagawa Art Exhibition, Kanagawa Kenmin Hall Gallery, Yokohama
1983 Aspects of Fifteen Individuals-Winter 1983, Kamakura Central Community Center, Kamakura
1983 Aspects of Fifteen Individuals-Summer 1983, Kamakura Central Community Center, Kamakura
1982 ELEVEN Exhibition, Kamakura Central Community Center, Kamakura
1979 Art as Photography, Photography as Art, Gallery Shiba, Tokyo

Awards

2022 Lifetime Achievement Award, Photographic Society of Japan Awards
1991 The 16th Kimura Ihei Award, The Asahi Shimbun
1987 Newcomer Award, Higashikawa International Photography Festival
1984 Art Scholar Prize, Kanagawa Prefectural Art Exhibition

Collections

The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo
Tokyo Photographic Art Museum, Tokyo
Higashikawa The Town of Photography, Hokkaido
Itabashi Art Museum, Tokyo
The Museum of Modern Art, Kamakura & Hayama, Kanagawa
National Gallery of Canada, Canada
The Art Institute of Chicago, USA
Princeton University Art Museum, USA
George Eastman Museum, USA
Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, USA
Center for Creative Photography, University of Arizona, USA
Crow Museum of Asian Art, USA
The Cleveland Museum of Art, USA
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, USA
MIT List Visual Arts Center, USA
Naturaleza Muerta, Fototeca Nacional Sinafo. INAH, Mexico
National Gallery of Australia, Australia
The Art Gallery of New South Wales, Australia
Queensland Art Gallery & Gallery of Modern Art, Australia
Fondation Vincent van Gogh Arles, France

Books from Michiko KON

I’m So Happy You Are Here: Japanese Women Photographers from the 1950s to Now

Mikiko HARA, HIROMIX, Mao ISHIKAWA, Miyako ISHIUCHI, Mari KATAYAMA, Rinko KAWAUCHI, Hiroko KOMATSU, Michiko KON, Yurie NAGASHIMA, Asako NARAHASHI, Mika NINAGAWA, Tamiko NISHIMURA, Rika NOGUCHI, Sakiko NOMURA, Momo OKABE, Toshiko OKANOUE, Yuki ONODERA, Tomoko SAWADA, Lieko SHIGA, Kunie SUGIURA, Yuki TAWADA, Toyoko TOKIWA, Tokuko USHIODA, Hitomi WATANABE, Eiko YAMAZAWA, Miwa YANAGI

$89.32

Philia

Michiko KON

$28.03 $23.83

Signed IMPACT

Michiko KON

$55.32 $47.03