Kumi Yamashita was born in Takasaki, Japan. She received her Master of Fine Arts Degree from Glasgow School of Art and her Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree from Cornish College of the Arts in Seattle, Washington.
Her solo shows include the Seattle Art Museum, Boise Art Museum, Roswell Museum, Yerba Buena Center, Taipei’s Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall, the Esplanade-Theatres on the Bay in Singapore, Art Front Gallery in Tokyo and Kent Gallery in New York City. Group shows include the Louvre’s Musée des Arts Décoratifs, the Netherland's CODA Museum, the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery, Honolulu Museum of Art, Grand Rapids Art Museum, the Liverpool Biennial, Southeast Center for Contemporary Art, Scottish Parliament, Karşı Sanat Çalışmaları in Istanbul and the Echigo-Tsumari Art Triennial in Japan. She continues to exhibit internationally.
Private and public collections include the Microsoft Art Collection, the New Mexico History Museum, American Express, Birmingham Museum of Art, Thoma Art Foundation, Le Meridien Shenyang, Otsuma University, Seattle City Light, Tokyo's Akiru Medical Center, Osaka's Namba Parks Tower, Stellar Place at Sapporo JR Tower, Boise Art Museum and Hamada Children's Art Museum.
In 2009, her sculpture “Pathway” commissioned by Seattle City Light was listed as one of the top 40 public works in the nation by the Public Art Network (PAN). Other awards and grants include the Pollock and Krasner Foundation grant, Artist Trust GAP, and China’s Crystal Kirin Award. Residencies include RAIR (Roswell Artist in Residence), the Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts, and the Millay Colony.
She lives and works in Woodstock, New York.
SELECTED SOLO SHOWS
2018 Fleeting, Global Harbor Museum, Shanghai, China
2016 Fleeting, Chiang Kai Shek Memorial Hall, Taipei, Taiwan
2015 Mountains & Valleys, Art Front Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
2008 Kent Gallery, New York City, USA
2005 Sunny Days and Starry Nights, Esplanade-Theatres on the Bay, Singapore
2002 Kathleen E. Nash Gallery, University of Minnesota, USA
Glass Gallery, University of Texas at El Paso, USA
Hillside Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
Kent Gallery, New York City, USA
Roswell Museum and Art Center, New Mexico, USA
1999 Yerba Buena Center, California, USA
1998 Salt Lake Art Center, Utah, USA
Boise Art Museum, Idaho, USA
1997 Seattle Art Museum, Washington, USA
SELECTED GROUP SHOWS / SPECIAL PROJECTS
2023 Gallery Children’s Biennale, National Gallery Singapore, Singapore
2020 In Profile: A Look at Silhouettes, New York Historical Society, NYC, USA Forgotten Faces, Charles B Wang Center, Stony Brook University, USA
2019 Light & Shadow: Alyson Shotz and Kumi Yamashita, Wichita Museum of Art, Kansas, USA
Beyond the Shadows, Chimei Museum, Tainan City, Taiwan
Black Out: Silhouettes Then and Now, Birmingham Museum of Art, Alabama, USA
Black Out: Silhouettes Then and Now, Mississippi Museum of Art, USA 2018 Black Out: Silhouettes Then and Now, National Portrait Gallery, Washington DC, USA 2017 Paper Art, CODA Museum, Apeldoorn, Netherlands
Beyond the Gift of Time: RAIR at 50, Roswell Museum Art Center, New Mexico, USA 2016 Overlap: Life Tapestries, A.I.R. Gallery, New York City, USA
Tissus Inspirés: Pierre Frey, Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris, France
2015 Extreme Fibers: Textile Icons and the New Edge, Muskegon Museum of Art & Dennos Museum Center, Michigan, USA
Origami Heaven, Wang Center, Stony Brook University, New York, USA
Less = More, Honolulu Museum of Art, Hawaii, USA
Cosmos, Annmarie Sculpture Garden, Maryland, USA
2014 Figurative Association, Arrowmont School of Arts, Tennessee, USA
Over the Edge: Paperworks Unbound, WAH Center, New York City, USA
2013 Eros, 23rd Edition Miniartextil, Villa Olmo, Como, Italy
Outwin Boochever Exhibition, National Portrait Gallery, Washington DC, USA
Encore, Grand Rapids Art Museum, Michigan, USA
2012 Math Alive!, International Gallery, Smithsonian, Washington DC, USA
Transformation, Grand Rapids Art Museum, Michigan, USA
2010 Kaohsiung Design Festival, Taiwan
Look Again, Southern Center for Contemporary Art, North Carolina, USA
Smoke + Mirrors / Shadows + Fog, Hunter College / Times Square Gallery, New York City, USA
2009 Echigo-Tsumari Art Triennial, Niigata, Japan
Woman Forward, Williamsburg Art & Historical Center, New York City
2007 Roswell Artist in Residence Program 40th Anniversary, Roswell Museum and Art Center, New Mexico, USA
Sculpture Alumni Invitational, Cornish College of the Arts, Washington, USA
Reversible, Scottish Parliament, Edinburgh, UK
2006 Urban Cosmology, Kent Gallery, New York City, USA
2005 Wake of Light, Sendai Mediateque, Miyagi, Japan
Iimawashi, Merz Gallery, Edinburgh, UK
Nazo Nazo, Hamada Children’s Museum of Art, Shimane, Japan
Only Make-Believe: Ways of Playing, Compton Verney, UK
Yet Another Reality, Contemporary Art Gallery, University of Conn, USA 2004 Dis-tance, Aomori International Art Center, Aomori, Japan
Sfenks Seni Yiyip Yutacak, Karşı Sanat Çalışmaları, Istanbul, Turkey
2003 Global Priority, University of Massachusetts at Amherst, USA
2002 Super Figurative Approximations, Behnke Gallery, Cornish College of the Arts, Washington - Atrium Gallery, Old Dominion University, Virginia, USA
Containment, Llanternam Grange Art Centre, Wales, UK
Shadow Play, Roger Smith Gallery, New York, USA
2001 Sculpture: Figure in Motion, Kent Gallery, New York City, USA
Obsession, University Art Gallery, University of California, San Diego, USA
2000 Kirin Art Award Exhibition, Tokyo – Osaka, Japan
1999 Trace, Liverpool Biennale, Liverpool, UK
COLLECTIONS / COMMISSIONS
AEON, Tokyo, Japan
Akiru Municipal Medical Center, Tokyo, Japan
American Express, New York City, USA
Birmingham Museum of Art, USA
Boise Art Museum, Idaho, USA
Cryptic Theatre and Productions, Glasgow, UK
Hamada Children’s Museum of Art, Shimane, Japan
Kunming University of Science and Technology, Yunnan, China
FX Networks
Le Meridien, Shenyang, China
Microsoft Art Collections, Washington, USA
Namba Parks Tower, Osaka, Japan
New Mexico History Museum, Santa Fe, USA
Otsuma Women’s University, Tokyo, Japan
Perfe Takiyama Maternity Clinic, Tokyo, Japan
Pierre Frey
Sapporo JR Tower Stellar Place, Hokkaido, Japan
Seattle City Light, Washington, USA
Takikawa Hall, Hokkaido, Japan
Thoma Art Foundation, Chicago USA
ARTIST IN RESIDENCE PROGRAMS
2010 – 12 Denmark Arts Center, Maine, USA
2004 Aomori International Art Center, Aomori, Japan
2002 Border Art Residency, New Mexico, USA
2001 Roswell Artist in Residence Program, New Mexico, USA
2000 Millay Colony, New York, USA
1999 Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts, Nebraska, USA
LECTURES / VISITING ARTIST
2015 Artist talk at Stony Brook University, New York, USA
2014 Artist talk at Arrowmont School of Arts, Tennessee, USA
2003 Artist talk at Mimar Sinan Universitasi, Istanbul, Turkey
2003 Artist talk at Institut architectura, Juarez, Mexico
2002 Visiting artist at University of Minnesota, Minnesota, USA
2002 Lecturer at University of Texas at El Paso, Texas, USA
2001 Volunteer art instructor at Chaves County Juvenile Detention Center New Mexico, USA
AWARDS / GRANTS
2014 Crystal Kirin Award, Beijing, China
Special Merit Award, WAH Center, New York City
2009 Year in Review 2009, Public Art Network (PAN), Americans for the Arts
2003 The Pollock and Krasner Foundation, New York, USA
2000 Kirin Art Award Second Prize, Japan
1997 King County Art Commission Special Project Grant, Washington, USA
Artist Trust GAP Award, Washington, USA
1995 Betty Bowen Art Award Special Recognition, Washington, USA
1993 Merit Scholarship, Cornish College of the Arts, Washington, USA
EDUCATION
1999 MFA Glasgow School of Art, Glasgow, UK
1994 BFA Cornish College of the Arts, Washington, USA
Smithsonian (USA) 2018 "The Woman Who Isn't There" Crawford, Amy
Washington Post (USA) 2018 “Before Photography, the silhouette helped leave
an impression” Kennicott, Phillip
Wall Street Journal (USA) 2018 “Tracing the Shadows of Past and Present”
Rothstein, Edward
Black Out: Silhouettes Then and Now (USA) 2018 Naeem, Asma
Harper’s Bazaar (Malaysia) 2015 p. 176 “Out of the Box” Summugam, Sharmita
Honolulu Star (USA) 2015 p. F7 “”Less” Urges Inquiry” Goldberg, David
Singapore Tatler Homes (Malaysia) 2014 pp. 117-121 “Shadow Play” Mun-Delsalle, Y-Jean
Miniartextil 23rd Edition Catalog (Italy) 2013
Creatie Magazine No. 3 (Netherlands) October 2013 p.14
Washington Post (USA) March 22, 2013 “Boochever Portrait Competition winners” Kennicott, Philip
The Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition 2013 (USA) Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery, Exhibition Catalogue p. 76
Cut Magazine No. 8 (Germany) 2013 pp. 48-50
It’s Nice That Annual (UK) 2012 pp. 180-181
Boston Globe (USA) June 24, 2012 K12 “Brainiac” Rothman, Joshua
Art Boom: Contemporary Art in El Paso (USA) 2012 pp. 99-100 Hendrick, Becky
Sublime – New Design and Architecture from Japan (Germany) 2011 p. 183
Dpi (Taiwan) Vol.152 December 2011 pp. 66-69
Wonder Magazine (Portugal) Issue #7 September/October 2011 pp. 8-11 Senra, Maria
City + Design (Italy) 2011 p. 23 Ramani, Donato
Muse (USA) Vol. 15, Number 4 April 2011 p. 40 “More Than the Sum of Her Parts” E.P.
Alphabets: A Miscellany of Letters (UK) 2010
Pie (New Zealand) 2010 Issue #02 p. 8
Cue (Japan) vol.17 May 2010 pp. 14-15
Smoke + Mirrors / Shadows + Fog (USA) Exhibition Catalog Times Square Gallery / Hunter College
Modern Weekly Life Style (China) February 13, 2010 Issue 583 p. C63 “Ones to Watch”
L’Uomo Vogue (Italy) January 2010 N.407 p. 66 “ART focuses on the hidden side of LIFE” Ramani, Donato
Design Play (China) pp. 198-201
Santa Fe New Mexican (USA) May 25, 2009 “Personal History” Carroll, Dennis
Santa Fe New Mexican (USA) May 24, 2009 “The Past Comes Alive” Grimm, Julie Ann
Pasatiempo (USA) May 22-28, 2009
Journal Santa Fe (USA) May 17, 2009 “NM’s Many Voices” Roberts, Kathaleen
Art Front Gallery Catalog (Japan) 2009
COOL Magazine (USA/Japan) 2008 Vol.16 pp. 16-21
ARTnews (USA) Summer 2008 p. 192 “Critic’s Pick” Landi, Ann
Chelsea Clinton News/The Westsider (USA) March 6, 2008 p. 9 “The Power of Nothing” Bendik, Joe
Inside Magazine (Bulgaria) Spring pp. 76-79
UVY Magazine (Mexico) Vol. 4 pp. 16-17 Mendoza, Manuel
UK Times (UK) August 6-12, 2005 p. 37
Kita-no-Machi (Japan) November 2004
Gekkan Abokku (Japan) October 2004
Kita-no-Machi (Japan) October 2004
Mainichi Shinbun (Japan) October 31, 2004 “Work Shop-Drawing” Muramatsu, Hiroshi
Asashi Shinbun (Japan) October 25, 2004 “Self portrait with the texture of wood and stone”
Mainichi Shinbun (Japan) October 23, 2004
Touou Daily (Japan) October 22, 2004
Aomori Wide (Japan) October 21, 2004
Kouhou Aomori (Japan) October 15, 2004
Milliyet Sanat (Turkey) March 2004 “Kadin ve Sfenks” pp. 52-53
Instituto de Arquitectura, Diseno y Arte (Mexico) March 2003″Esculturas de luz y sombra”
Art in America (USA) January 2003 p. 106 “Kumi Yamashita at Kent” Koplos, Janet
ARTL!ES (USA) Fall 2002 p. 77 “The Still Point : Kumi Yamashita” Hendrick, Becky
Containment/ Llanternam Grange Art Centre Catalog (UK) 2002
El Paso Scene (USA) September 2002 “Art Scene”
El Paso Inc. (USA) September 8-14, p. 16b 2002
El Paso Times (USA) -Living September 1, 2002 “New exhibit to feature paintings on bedsheets” Lorente, Jeany
El Paso Times (USA) Tiempo August 30, 2002 p. 29 “Exhibits”
BT (Japan) Vol.54 No. 824 August 2002 p. 213 “Yamashita Kumi” Usuki, Naoko
Tempyou (Japan)-Art Exhibition commentary 012 Issue Summer2002 pp. 6,21,22 Sibusawa, Kazuhiko
Studio Voice (Japan) Vol. 318 June 2002 p. 97 “Unexpected Images from Simple Methods”
Gallery May 2002 p. 37 “Kumi Yamashita-Extraordinary out of ordinary”
Voice Choices (USA) April 30,2002
New York Magazine (USA) April 22, 2002 p. 130 “Shadow play”
Clovis News Journal (USA) September 2, 2001 “Exhibit In Pane” Mitchell, Gary
Exploring Visual Design (USA) p. 49
JOUMOU (Japan) March19, 2001 ” A thought over human existence” Iijima, Tetsuya
Village News (USA) February 14, 2001 “A Procession of Obsession” Bratten, Dawna
Art Week (USA)April2001 Volume 32 Issue 4 “obsession” at the University Art Gallery, UC San Diego
The List (USA) October 5-19, 2001
Swivel (USA) Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts Winter 2000
The List (USA) October19-November 2, 2000
The Herald (UK) October 10, 2000 “Godot is not coming” Thompson, Robert
Evening Times (UK) October19, 2000 “Something there for all Beckett fans”
The Big Issue in Scotland (UK) October 12-18, 2000 “Puppetry and Shadows, would Beckett approve?” Eaton, Andrew
Visiting Arts (UK) Number43:Summer2000 issue “Beckett Time : Seeing the world differently with Samuel Beckett” Sharrocks, Lucy p.18-19
ZOO (UK) August2000:Sixth Edition pp. 208-209
Art Monthly (UK) November 1999/NO231 p. 34
The Liverpool Biennial of Contemporary Art 1999 Exhibition Catalogue (UK) pp. 158-159
Daily Post (UK) November 5, 1999 ” On Top Form” Key, Phillip
Daily Post (UK) September 28, 1999 “Exhibit of the Day”
The Independent (UK) September 28, 1999 “When bigger isn’t better” Lubbock, Tom
Liverpool City (UK) Issue 3, July 1999
Bay Guardian (UK) August 6, 1999 “Art – Kumi Yamashita, Cathy McClure” Coleman, Sarah
Where® San Francisco (USA) July 1999 p. 1
San Francisco Chronicle (USA) July 10, 1999 B1 B8 Col.1 ” Collaboration Ideas at Yerba Buena” Baker, Kenneth
San Francisco Examiner (USA) July 6, 1999 “Art as a team effort” Bonetti, Daniel
Gallery Guide National Edition (USA) June 1999 p56 “Cathy McClure and Kumi Yamashita at Yerba Buena”
Asian Week/San Francisco (USA) May 27, 1999 Vol.20, No.39 ” Door of Perception” Liu, Calvin
Hokubei Mainichi/San Francisco (USA) May 18, 1999 “Shadow Profile and Portrait at Yerba Buena”
Idaho Statesman (USA) May 3, 1998 “Play of Light” Flagg, Marienne
Artist Trust (USA) Vol.12 Number 2 Summer 1998 p. 1
International Examiner (USA) September 3-16, 1997 p. 17 “Kumi Yamashita:Shadow and truth” Santos, Owen
Documents Northwest/the PONCHO series August 1997 Seattle/Boise Art Museum Exhibition Catalogue (USA) Halper, Vicki
Hokubeihouchi (USA) August 25,1997 “Kumi Yamashita, an artist using light and shadow” Nakao
Seattle Post Intelligencer (USA) August 22, 1997 “Building blocks Become poetic when Kumi Yamashita casts shadows” Josslin, Victoria
Compass (USA) Fall 1997 ” Art of Seattle” pp. 32,52
The Stranger (USA) August 14, 1997 “Shadow Knows” Frederickson, Eric
International Examiner (USA) August 6-19, 1997 “Highlights” p. 20
International Examiner (USA) June 4-17, 1997 “ART ETC” Lau, Alan
North American Post (USA) May 30, 1997 “Shoe Prints Create “Someone Else’s Mess” p.10
Reflex (USA) August-September, 1994 “ROUNDUPS” Bryant, Elizabeth