Michiko Itatani

Michiko Itatani (b. 1948, Osaka, Japan) lives and works in Chicago, IL. Michiko Itatani’s paintings inspire a sense of grandeur by combining pictorial elements that refer to science, the cosmos, and cultural traditions. Over the course of her decades long career as both artist and educator, Itatani has developed a unique pictorial language focusing on the human desire to understand and apprehend the unknown. 

She received her BFA and MFA from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, studied at the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, and completed studies at the University of Chicago. She is Professor Emeritus at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Her work has been in shown in more than 100 one-person and group exhibitions nationally and internationally, including the University of Wyoming Art Museum, Laramie, WY (2022); Wright 659, Chicago, IL (2022); Illinois State Museum, Springfield, IL (2017); South Bend Museum of Art, IN (2014); Daum Museum of Contemporary Art, Sedalia, MO (2003); Frauen Museum, Bonn, Germany (2000); Tokoha Museum, Shizuoka, Japan (1998); Chicago Cultural Center, IL (1992); Musée du Quebec, Canada (1988); Rockford Art Museum, IL (1987); amongst others.

Itatani received a Lifetime Achievement Award from The Women’s Caucus of Art (2020); Grainger Foundation & Krems Residency Grant (2007); Illinois Arts Councils Artist’s Fellowship (1999); John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship (1990); National Endowments for the Arts Artist’s Fellowship (1980); amongst many others.

Her work is held by a number of institutions including the Olympic Museum, Lausanne, Switzerland; Museu d’Art Contemporani (MACBA), Barcelona Spain; Kemper Collection, IL; Harvard University Art Museum, Cambridge, MA; Hyogo Art Museum, Hyogo, Japan; American Embassy, Brasilia, Brazil; Illinois State Library, Springfield, IL; Cincinnati Art Museum, OH; Musée du Quebec, Quebec, Canada; Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, IL; De Paul University Museum of Art, Chicago, IL; amongst others.