Tomie Ohtake
A seemingly paradoxical relationship between silence and rhythm has permeated the works of Tomie Ohtake since the 1960s, when the artist became established in abstract art, notably paintings, sculptures, and works on paper. Her artwork is very concise and endowed with a methodical fluidity–images that flirt with the winding, sensual shapes of Japanese tradition.
A constant research into color, texture, form, and transparency is revealed in all stages of her production and the various procedures she uses—from thin to thick paint, from a sober palette to counterpoints of saturated, vibrant colors. Her influences include suprematism, calligraphic abstraction, and the anamorphic—facets which do not deny Ohtake’s relations with tradition. Her works also outline an original trajectory of timeless, sensitive, fluid creations. Her sculptures bring into the three‑dimensional field the very issues she confronts in two dimensions—they emerge as manifestos of tactile calligraphies, dance moves turned to plasma into space, in which shape and color are integral.
Ohtake’s work was included in the XI Venice Biennale in 1972. She has had solo exhibitions at institutions such as Instituto Tomie Ohtake in São Paulo, Galeria Nara Roesler in São Paulo, and Fundação Iberê Camargo in Porto Alegre. Her work has been shown in …
A seemingly paradoxical relationship between silence and rhythm has permeated the works of Tomie Ohtake since the 1960s, when the artist became established in abstract art, notably paintings, sculptures, and works on paper. Her artwork is very concise and endowed with a methodical fluidity–images that flirt with the winding, sensual shapes of Japanese tradition.
A constant research into color, texture, form, and transparency is revealed in all stages of her production and the various procedures she uses—from thin to thick paint, from a sober palette to counterpoints of saturated, vibrant colors. Her influences include suprematism, calligraphic abstraction, and the anamorphic—facets which do not deny Ohtake’s relations with tradition. Her works also outline an original trajectory of timeless, sensitive, fluid creations. Her sculptures bring into the three‑dimensional field the very issues she confronts in two dimensions—they emerge as manifestos of tactile calligraphies, dance moves turned to plasma into space, in which shape and color are integral.
Ohtake’s work was included in the XI Venice Biennale in 1972. She has had solo exhibitions at institutions such as Instituto Tomie Ohtake in São Paulo, Galeria Nara Roesler in São Paulo, and Fundação Iberê Camargo in Porto Alegre. Her work has been shown in group shows including Museu de Arte do Rio, Art Museum of the Americas in Washington D.C., Museu de Arte Contemporânea de Niterói, and Pinacoteca do Estado de São Paulo, among other venues.
Courtesy of Carbono Galeria
