Leiko ikemura biography for kids

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This can be seen in her terracotta "Cabbage Heads" and her paintings of a character named "Miko."

The Rabbit and the Earthquake

In recent years, the rabbit has appeared often in Ikemura's art. Different versions of Usagi Kannon have been shown in public places around the world, offering a message of hope and healing.

Selected Exhibitions

  • 2011: "Leiko Ikemura: Transfiguration", The National Museum of Modern Art, MOMAT, Tokyo, Japan
  • 2012: "Leiko Ikemura.

    Another frequent element of Ikemura’s canvases is the red colour which is a sign of life and passion. She is known for being part of a style called Neo-Expressionism, which uses strong colors and emotions. The first solo exhibition in a public institution took place in 1983 at the "Bonn Kunstverein", in Bonn, Germany.

    Terra!" Centro Sperimentale d´Arte Contemporanea, Caraglio, it

  • 2000: "Beyond the horizon" Toyota Munincipal Museum of Art, Toyota, jap (solo)
  • 2000: "Visage" The National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto, The National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo, National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo, jap
  • 1999: "Sign of life" Melbourne International Biennal, Japan Pavillon, Melbourne, au (solo)
  • 1999: "La razon para la impresion" Mueso de Arte Moderno de Medellin, Colombia
  • 1999: "Migration" The Haggerty Museum of Art, Milwaukee, usa (solo)
  • 1997: "Leiko Ikemura" Ausstellungsgesellschaft für zeitgenoessische Kunst Zollverein, Essen, de (solo)
  • 1995: "art en plein air" Motiers '95, Motiers, ch
  • 1992: "Ankunft" Kunstwerke, Berlin, de
  • 1991: "Double Take" Soho Art House, New York, usa
  • 1990: "A Perspective of Contemporary Art: Color and/or Monochrome" The National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto, jap
  • 1989: "Drawing as Itself" The National Museum of Art, Osaka, jap
  • 1988: "Leiko Ikemura", Cantonal Museum of Fine Arts, Lausanne, ch (solo)
  • 1988: "Made in Cologne" DuMont Kunsthalle, Köln, de
  • 1987: "Stiller Nachmittag" Kunsthaus Zuerich, Zurich, ch
  • 1987: "Leiko Ikemura, Gemaelde, Zeichnungen 1980-1987" Museum of Contemporary Art (Basel), ch (solo)
  • 1985: "Vom Zeichnen" Frankfurter Kunstverein, Frankfurt am Main, Kasseler Kunstverein, Museum moderner Kunst MUMOK, Wien, at
  • 1983: "Leiko Ikemura" Bonner Kunstverein, Bonn, de (solo)
  • Musée National d'Art Moderne, Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, France
  • National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo, Japan
  • National Museum of Art, Osaka, Japan
  • Kunstmuseum Basel, Basel, Switzerland
  • Kunstmuseum Bern, Bern, Switzerland
  • Kunstmuseum Liechtenstein, Liechtenstein
  • Kunsthalle Nürnberg, Nuremberg, Germany
  • Kolumba, Art museum of the Archdiocese of Cologne, Germany
  • Museum Kunst Palast, Kunstmuseum Duesseldorf, Germany
  • Kunstmuseum Linz, Lentos, Museum of modern Art Linz, Austria
  • Tochigi Prefectural Museum of Fine Arts, Japan
  • Toyota Municipal Museum of Art, Toyota, Japan
  • Hara Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo, Japan
  • "u mi no ko" (jap) poems and drawings by Leiko Ikemura, The Vangi Sculpture Garden Museum, Akaaka (Japan), ISBN 4-903545-04-0
  • "andalusia" authors: John Yau, Leiko Ikemura, Weidle Verlag, ISBN 3-931135-96-9
  • "Leiko Ikemura: Sculpture, painting, drawing" authors: Hans-Jürgen Schwalm, Wilfried Dickhoff, Britta E.

    Buhlmann, Elisabeth Bronfen, Kunsthalle Recklinghausen ISBN 3-929040-81-6

  • "beyond the horizon" de, en, jap, Toyota Municipal Museum of Art; T. Kitagawa, editors: Fölbach, Dietmar ISBN 3-934795-50-1
  • "Leiko Ikemura" authors: Udo Kittelmann, Friedemann Malsch, Noemi Smolik, editor: Galerie Karsten Greve, Paris, Cologne, Milano
  • "Leiko Ikemura" authors: Gerard A.

    Goodrow, Kimio Jinno, Friedeman Malsch, Alexander Pühringer, Cantz, ISBN 3-89322-803-9

  • "Alpenindianer" authors: Leiko Ikemura, Akira Tatehata, editor: Satani Gallery, Tokyo
  • "Hundertundelf Haiku" authors: Matsuo Basho, 22 drawings from Leiko Ikemura, editor: Amman Verlag, Zurich
  • "Leiko Ikemura: Gemälde, Zeichnungen 1980-1987", authors: Dieter Koepplin, Museum für Gegenwartskunst (Basel) ISBN 3-7204-0053-0
  • "Der stumme Schrei" authors: Kenzaburō Ōe, Leiko Ikemura, editor (Nobel Prize Edition): Coron Verlag (CH)
  • "Shadows" authors: Leiko Ikemura, editor: Johan Jonker, Amsterdam et Gabriele Rivet, Cologne
  • "Leiko Ikemura" authors: Curt Heigl, Anton Wolfgang Graf von Faber-Castell, Kunsthalle Nürnberg
  • "Ancestors" authors: Leiko Ikemura, edition, Kunstverein St.

    Gallen, (CH)

  • "Wild cats and domestic cats" authors: Leiko Ikemura, 61 drawings, Edition Stähli, Zurich

Leiko Ikemura

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レイコ イケムラ

also known as池村 玲子

paintersculptor

Leiko Ikemura is a modern Japanese artist who works with painting and sculpture. In European art, it has been painted by artists like Albrecht Dürer.

Her style has changed over the years, but she often explores similar ideas and themes in her work.

Some of her early inspirations were famous artists like Matisse and Picasso. Her art shows girls in a more powerful and complex way. For example, her work Genesis shows a famous old road in Japan called the Tōkaidō.

leiko ikemura biography for kids

She created a huge sculpture called Usagi Kannon. The rabbit is a powerful symbol in many cultures.

Quotations: "I think the female figure, as imagined by male artists, is frequently an idealized version of the female form and is always seductive in some way."

"The way females naturally accept being modeled by conventions and social norms does not interest me."

"Imagination is the strongest force in my work."

References

Leiko Ikemura facts for kids

Quick facts for kids

Leiko Ikemura

Born(1951-08-22) 22 August 1951 (age 74)

Tsu, Mie Prefecture, Japan

NationalityJapanese/Swiss
Alma materAcademia de Bellas Artes, Spain
Known forMelbourne International Biennial 1999
Stylepainting, sculpture, drawing, watercolor, prints, and photography

Leiko Ikemura(イケムラレイコ, Ikemura Reiko, born 22 August 1951) is a Japanese-Swiss artist famous for creating art that looks like it's from a magical world.

The rabbit is also a famous character in Alice in Wonderland, a story about a dream-like world similar to the ones Ikemura creates.

After the big Tohoku earthquake and tsunami in Japan in 2011, Ikemura was very moved. The young artist combined her training with the sculpture apprenticeship in a workshop.

Later, Ikemura came to Seville where she had studied painting in the Academy till 1978.

Career

Leiko Ikemura started her professional artistic career at the beginning of the 1980s when she came to Switzerland.

This one was followed by the exhibition at the Art Museum in Nuremberg. This format was often used in old European religious art.

Ikemura used triptychs to mix landscapes from Europe with scenes from Japan. It is over 3 meters tall and hollow inside, so people can stand inside it to feel safe and protected. She makes paintings, sculptures, and drawings that often mix together humans, animals, and plants.

Ikemura has been an important artist since the 1970s.

In 1985, Ikemura relocated to Cologne.

During next several years, Ikemura presented her paintings at various personal and group shows, including the Museum of Contemporary Art in Basel, Switzerland, the Kunsthaus Zürich, both in 1987, the DuMont Kunsthalle in Cologne, Germany (1988), Cantonal Museum of Fine Arts in Lausanne, Switzerland (1988) and the National Museum of Art in Osaka (1989).

At the end of the 1980s, Leiko Ikemura revealed her interest in sculpture, particularly female figures.

Despite her artistic activity, Ikemura also works as a teacher of art.