Ascent, 1975

Immediately after the birth of Tōkō Shinoda in China, her family returned to Japan. Influenced by her father’s love of calligraphy, Tōkō Shinoda devoted herself to the Japanese art of writing and combined it in her works with Western abstract art.

Precise ink lines drawn in different widths exist in a balanced relationship with each other. This also explains the meaning of the title Ascent, a constant rise in the ink lines drawn by hand. The characteristic feature of Shinoda’s œuvre is revealed in her painting style – each individual line is added to the canvas with the paintbrush in one go, whereby every curvature and graduation of the paint is considered by the artist. This art described as an image of controlled sensuality allows content and form to merge together. During her career, the artist can look back on exhibitions worldwide. In 1936, she had her first solo exhibition in Japan, while in 1953 her works were already displayed at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Numerous exhibitions were to follow. After living in New York from 1956, where she participated in flourishing developments in its art scene, she returned to Japan in 1958. Her reputation grew in Japan and the United States alike. Despite her great age, Tōkō Shinoda continued to work in Tokyo until her death in 2021 at the age of 107.