IMAGINATION WITHOUT BORDERS introduces the work of Japanese visual artist TOMIYAMA Taeko and, to a lesser extent, the paintings and prints of MARUKI Toshi & MARUKI Iri and Eleanor RUBIN. All four think of themselves as political artists and see their work as a protest against social injustice and the suffering such injustice causes. All four were deeply affected by World War II and their art reflects their shared belief that war is a disaster for everyone.
Artists
Tomiyama Taeko
1921 Born in Kobe. Spends youth in Dalian and Harbin in Manchuria. 1938-45 Studied at Joshibi Women’s School of Art and Design; studies interrupted by war. 1950s Works in the Chikuho mining region of Kyushu, producing drawings and lithographs expressing the artist’s social commitment. Exhibit at Shiseidō Gallery in Ginza September 26-October 1, 1954. 1960s…
Maruki Toshi and Iri
1901 Maruki Iri born in Hiroshima. 1912 Akamatsu Toshiko born in Hokkaido. 1922 Iri moves to Tokyo to study ink painting. 1929 Toshi enters Joshibi Women’s School of Art and Design to study oil painting. 1933 Toshi becomes an elementary school teacher and exhibits in the Nika Show in Tokyo. 1935-1936 Iri exhibits his work…
Eleanor Rubin
1940 Born in Hollywood California. 1962 B.A. Brandeis University. 1963 M.Ed. Harvard University, 1978-2002 Coordinator of Access at Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. 1994 Joy Weeping, Fighting and Fear, 25 years of prints by Eleanor Rubin, Montserrat College of Art. 1995 A Falcon, A Storm or a Great Song: Prints, Drawings and Watercolors, Newton Public…