Tomiyama Taeko

b. 1921, Kobe, Japan
d. 2021, Tokyo, Japan

Taeko Tomiyama (1921-2021) was a Japanese visual artist whose work explored war, gender, and the imperialist histories of Asia. Her early works powerfully depict the human costs of imperial expansion during the Sino-Japanese War and World War II, including transnational forced labour, and the military exploitation of “comfort women.” Her frequent collaborations involved a wide, inter-Asian network of progressive artists, writers, musicians and filmmakers. Across the span of her career, her scope gradually widened to accommodate the non-human and elemental costs of capitalist expansion, especially in the series Hiruko and the Puppeteers, and other works made following the 2011 tsunami and earthquake in Japan. Taeko Tomiyama’s singular contribution to Asia’s feminist and progressive art histories has recently been recognized with major presentations at the Yokohama Triennale (2024) and the AD&A Museum, University of California Santa Barbara (2025).

At the Bottom of the Pacific 1985.oilon Canvas162x130cm

Revelation From the Sea Tsunami 2011.oilmixedmediaoncanvas112 162cm

Theatre Beneath the Sea Splendid Banquet for the Empire 2008.oilon Canvas162x130.3cm