Michiko Itatani Last updated September 26, 2025 Michiko Itatani (born 1948) is an American artist, based in Chicago , who was born in Osaka , Japan. After she received her BFA (1974) and MFA (1976) at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 1974 and 1976 respectively, she returned to her alma mater in 1979 to teach in the Painting and Drawing department. Through her work, Itatani explores identity, continuation, and finding one's way in the modern world. [ 1] [ 2] [ 3] Her work depicts nude figures in an expressionist style. Itatani has received the Illinois Arts Council Artist's Fellowship, the National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship and the John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship . Her work is collected in many museums, including the Art Institute of Chicago ; the Museum of Contemporary Art, Olympic Museum , Switzerland; Villa Haiss Museum , Germany; Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec , Canada; Museu D'art Contemporani (MACBA), Spain; and the National Museum of Contemporary Art , South Korea. [ 4] [ 5]
Exhibitions Solo & two person exhibitions 2016 Linda Warren Projects, Chicago, Illinois 9/9-10/22 2015 Bradley University Heuser Art Gallery, Peoria, Illinois "Personal Codes III". 8/1-9/17 2014 Sherry Leedy Contemporary, Kansas City, Missouri "Itatani & Borgenicht" South Bent Museum of Art, Indiana "Michiko Itatani and Jake Webster: Passages" 2013 Linda Warren Projects, Chicago Illinois, 9/6-10/19, "Cosmic Kaleidoscope" [ 6] 2012 Goshen College Art Gallery, Goshen, Indiana "Cosmic Wanderlust" Rockford College Art Gallery, Rockford, Illinois "Cosmic Wanderlust"* Printworks, Chicago, Illinois "CTRL-Home/Echo" Printworks, Inc. (also 2008, 05, 02, 1997, 93, 91) 2011 O"Cconor Gallery, Dominican University, Illinois "Cosmic Commentaries", with Cullen Washington Kendall Gallery, Ferris University, Grand Rapids, Michigan "Cosmic Theater" University Club, Chicago, Illinois "Visual Analogies and Inquiries: the Work of Michiko Itatani and Birgitta Weimer" Milwaukee Institute of Arts & Design, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, 2010 Olympia Centre (via Nixon Associate) Chicago, Illinois Handwerker Gallery, Ithaca College, New York "Personal Codes" Red Line, Denver, Colorado "Close Binary" Corbett vs Dempsey, Chicago, Illinois "Miniature Itatani – Cosmic Wanderlust" Illinois Wesleyan University , Bloomington, Illinois "Cosmic Wanderlust" Walsh Gallery, Chicago, Illinois "Personal Codes" 2009 Gaddis Geeslin Gallery, Sam Houston University, Texas, "Cosmic Theater" 2008 Flatfile Contemporary, Chicago, Illinois, "Cosmic Theater II" Printworks, Inc., Chicago, Illinois, HyperBaroque" 2007 Eastern Kentucky University, Richmond, Kentucky, "Michiko Itatani" 2006 Indiana State University Gallery, Terre Haute, Indiana "Michiko Itatani Flatfile Contemporary, Chicago, Illinois "Cosmic Theatre" Prudential Building, Chicago, Illinois "Michiko Itatani" 2005 H.F. Johnson Gallery, Carthage College, Kenosha, Wisconsin, "Virtual Signs / Witness" Shirley/Jones Gallery, Yellowsprings, Ohio 2004 Flatfile Contemporary, Chicago, Illinois Sherry Leedy Gallery, Kansas City, Missouri 2003 Daum Museum of Contemporary Art, Sedalia, Missouri Spartanburg Museum of Art, Spartanburg, South Carolina 2002 Fassbender/Stevens Gallery, Chicago, Illinois University of Wyoming Art Museum, Laramie, Wyoming 2001 Galerie Bhak, Seoul, Korea Fassbender Gallery, Chicago, Illinois (also 1999, 97, 95) Pittsburg State University, Pittsburg, Kansas 2000 University of Missouri, St. Louis, Missouri Frauen Museum, Bonn, Germany Kent State University, Kent, Ohio 1999 Elmhurst Museum, Elmhurst, Illinoiso 1998 Gallery 312, Chicago, Illinois (also 1994) Indianapolis Art Center, Indianapolis, Indiana Tokoha Museum, Shizuoka, Japano 1997 Charleston Heights Arts Center, Las Vegas, Nevada Galeria Senda, Barcelona, Spain 1996 Gallery 1, Shinjuku Park Tower, Tokyo, Japan Gallery B.A.I., New York City 1995 The John G. Blank Center, Michigan City, Indiana Nexus Contemporary Art Center, Atlanta, Georgia 1994 Wright Museum of Art, Beloit, Wisconsin, "Ed Paschke/Michiko Itatani" 1993 Deson-Saunders Gallery, Chicago (also1991, 90) 1992 University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee Art Museum, Wisconsin Muskegon Museum of Art, Muskegon, Michigan Chicago Cultural Center, Chicago, "Michiko Itatani: Paintings since 1984" 1991 McIntosh Gallery(Museum), University of Western Ontario, Canada Second Street Gallery, Charlottesville, Virginia 1990 Gallery Sho, San Francisco, California Amano Gallery, Osaka, Japan (also 1988) Kyoni Gallery, Tokyo, Japan (also 1988) ABC (Asahi Broadcasting) Gallery, Osaka, Japan Anita Shapolsky Gallery, New York City 1989 University of Colorado Gallery, Bolder, Colorado 1988 Musée du Québec , Quebec City, Canada Marianne Deson Gallery, Chicago (also 1987, 84, 82, 80) 1987 Rockford Art Museum, Rockford, Illinois 1985 Alternative Museum, New York City Group Exhibitions 2015 "Roots" Linda Warren Projects, Chicago, Illinois, 6/19-8/17 2014 "Contemporary Painting", St. Francis University Gallery, Fort Wayne, Indiana, 11/8-12/20 "Nanjing International Art Festival-Exhibition", Nanjing, China "The Gift of Broken Tracking Devices: Thanking with our hands" -collaboration- Michiko Itatani / Judith A Kasen / Mt Coast, Experimental Sound Studio, Chicago, Illinois, 1/25-3/9 2013 "Through The Ages: 100 Years of RAM", Rockford Art Museum, Illinois "Inventory-EAM Collection", Elmhurst Art Museum, Illinois "ArtWork 6", Sullivan Galleries, SAIC, Chicago, Illinois 2012 " "Face Forward, The art of the Self-Portrait", Printworks Inc, Chicago Illinois 11/30-2/9, 2013 "Art on Paper: Prints, Drawings and Photographs" Block Museum, Evanston Illinois "Mutuality - Itatani / Krantz / Senseman" Ukrainian Institute of Modern Art, Chicago, Illinois "Itatani / Peltz / Rizzo / Rooney", Metropolitan Capital, Chicago, Illinois 2011 "The Object Transcended" Tory Folliard Gallery, Milwaukee, Wisconsin "International Paper Art Exhibition and Symposium", Chung Shan National Gallery, Taipei, Taiwan "40/40", Ukrainian Institute of Modern Art, Chicago, Illinois "Irritable Abstraction", Julius Caesar, Chicago, Illinois 2010 "Spaces Within" Rockford Art Museum, Rockford, Illinois "25th Anniversary Invitational", Sherry Leedy Contemporary, Missouri 2009 "New Realities", New Gallery, Houston, Texas "Faculty Projects", Betty Rymer Gallery, The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Illinois "Lipstick Traces", Daum Museum, Sedalia, Missouri "Arp's Atlas of Peculiar Galaxie", Schneider Museum of Art, Ashland, Oregon 2008 "Ahh…Decadance", Sallivan Galleries, The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Illinois 2007 "From Concept to Collection", Elmhurst Art Museum, Elmhurst, Illinois "Collector's Choices", Anita Shapolsky Gallery, New York, New York "Fragments of Change", Earnest Rubenstain Gallery, Educational Alliance, New York, New York 4 person show(Michiko Itatani, Carrie Moyer, Sheils Pepe, Christy Rupp) 2006 "Transfigure" GwendaJay/Addington Gallery, Chicago, Illinois "An Invitational Exhibition of Contemporary American Art", National Academy Museum, New York, New York 2005 " Sensuous Delights", LoPressionism Gallery, Melbourne, Florida "The Art of the Bookplate", Printworks, Chicago, Illinois 2004 "Michiko Itatani/Pavel Kraus - Monuments & Fragments" Oakton Community College, Des Plane, Illinois "That 70s Show: The Age of Pluralism in Chicago", Northern Indiana Arts Association, Munster, Indiana 2003 "Retrospective", Gallery 312, Chicago, Illinois 2002 "Artists to Artists", Marie Walsh Sharp Foundation, ACE Gallery, New York City, New York 2001 "synesthesia", Wood Street Gallery, Chicago, Illinois "Dialogue", (4 person show), Anita Shapolsky Gallery, New York City, New York 2000 "Generations", AIR Gallery, New York City, New York 1999 "Synergy -F a/e int : A Collaboration-", Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design, Milwaukee, Wisconsin "Chicago Subjects", West Virginia University, West Virginia 1998 "The Third Kind of Encounter", Taipei Gallery, New York City "98 Invitational Showcase", University of Bridgeport, Connecticut 1996 "Art in Chicago 1945-95", Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago "Second Sight: Printmaking in Chicago 1935-95" Mary & Leigh Block Museum, Northwestern University, Illinois "Tornado Warning", Muskegon Museum of Art, Michigan "Rapture", San Francisco State University, California 1994 "Object Lessons", DePaul University, Chicago 1993 "M’aidez/Mayday", Phyllis Kind Gallery , New York City 1992 "From America’s Studio: Drawing New Conclusions", Betty Rymer Gallery, Chicago 1991 "Burning in Hell", Franklin Furnace, New York City "Outspoken Women", Intermedia Arts, Minneapolis 1990 "Osaka Triennale ‘90", Osaka, Japan "Locations of Desire" (Bramson/ Itatani/ Klement), State of Illinois Gallery, Chicago travelled to Illinois State Museum, Springfield, Illinois "Locations of Desire" (Bramson/ Itatani/ Klement), Brody’s Gallery, Washington D.C. 1989 "Chicago", Maier Museum, Virginia "aja V", Japan American Center, Los Angeles "Chicago Work", Erie Museum, Erie, Pennsylvania 1988 "Focus", Aspen Museum, Aspen, Colorado 1987 "Silverpoint", Leslie Cecile Gallery, New York City "Chicago Contrast", Amerika Haus, Berlin, Stuttgart, Munchen "Two Decades of Painting in Chicago", Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago 1986 "Painting/Sculpture Today ‘86", Indianapolis Museum, Indianapolis, Indiana 1985 "Chicago & Vicinity", Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago "Fine Line: Drawing with Silver in America", Norton Museum, Florida 1984 "Alternative Spaces", Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago Collections Olympic Museum, Lausanne, Switzerland McIntosh Gallery, University of Western Ontario, London, Canada American Embassy Permanent Collection, Brasilia, Brazil Museu D’art Contemporani (MACBA), Barcelona, Spain Villa-Haiss-Museum, Zell am Harmersback, Germany Frauen Museum, Bonn, Germany Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec , Quebec, Canada Tokoha Museum, Shizuoka, Japan Shizuoka University of Art & Culture, Shizuoka, Japan National Museum of Contemporary Art, Seoul, Korea Art Institute of Chicago , Chicago, Illinois [ 7] Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, Illinois Illinois State Museum, Springfield, Illinois Koehnline Museum of Art, Des Plaines, Illinois Elmhurst Art Museum, Elmhurst, Illinois Mary & Leigh Block Museum, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois Crocker Art Museum, Sacramento, California Schneider Museum of Art, Ashland, Oregon Nevada Museum of Art , Reno, Nevada Muskegon Museum of Art, Muskegon, Michigan Kresge Art Museum, Michigan State University, Michigan Cincinnati Art Museum, Ohio Wright Museum, Beloit, Wisconsin Daum Museum, Sedalia, Missouri Maier Museum of Art, Charlottesville, Virginia Erie Art Museum, Erie, Pennsylvania Harold Washington Library, Chicago, Illinois University of Colorado CU Art Museum, Boulder, Colorado [ 8] Union League Club of Chicago, Illinois University Club of Chicago, Illinois Loyola University Museum of Art, Illinois Works and publications James Yood, Michiko Itatani: "Cosmic Kaleidoscope" at Linda Warren Projects, Art Ltd, Nov/Dec 2013 Victor Cassidy, Coming to Terms-Personal Codes, Feb, 2010 [ 9] Robin Dluzen, Michiko Itatani at Walsh, Feb 22, 2010 [ 10] Jinny Berg, Michiko Itatani, New Series at Walsh Gallery, Feb., 2010 [ 11] Darrel Robert, ArtStyle, Michiko Itatani: Lyrical Works on Paper, March 3, 2008 [ 12] Margaret Howkins, "Michiko Itatani/Flatfile", ARTnews, June 2006, p. 160 Garret Holg, "Michiko Itatani/Flatfile", ARTnews, Feb. 2005, pp. 134–5 "Looking Forward - Michiko Itatani - Daum Museum of Contemporary Art", Dialogue Oct. 2003 Kristen Brooke Schleifer, Art on Paper, July–August, 2002 Claire Wolf Krantz, Manhattan Arts International, 2002 Lisa Stein, Chicago Trubune, September 6, 2002 Von Heldrun Wirth, "Das Ende der Kindheit", Kölnische/Bonner Rundschau, May 31, 2000 Alan Artner, "Friday Guide", Chicago Tribune, September 18, 1998 James Yood, "Michiko Itatani", Artforum, March 1994 Gerret Holg, "Michiko Itatani", Art News, April 1992 Katherine Cook, "In Search of a New Cosmology", Artweek, October 4, 1990 Michael Weizenback, "Debut with a Difference", Washington Post, September 22, 1990 Kathryn Hixson, "Michiko Itatani", Arts Magazine, 1990 Paul Krainak, "Itatani’s Mortal Apologue", Artpapers, 1989 Haruo Sanda, Mainichi Shinbun, August 23, 1988 Buzz Spector, "Michiko Itatani", Artforum, May, 1987 Kim Levin, "ARTWALK, Michiko Itatani, Alternative Museum", Village Voice, December 3, 1985 Michael Bonesteel, "Michiko Itatani & Michael Brakke", Art in America, May, 1986 Judith Russi Kirshner, "Michiko Itatani", Artforum, March, 1985 Charlotte Moser, "Michiko Itatani", Art News, March, 1985 References
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