Yuki ONODERA

Yuki Onodera is an artist who approaches photography through the lens of contemporary art. She creates her works using techniques such as cutouts, repeated shooting, collages, darkroom processes, and even altering partial physical functions of the camera. She has placed a marble inside a camera to take photographs, constructed narratives based on events and legends, and traveled to the opposite side of the Earth to capture her subjects. To her, photographs are not merely materials but subjects that demand an exploration of their essence. By employing every conceivable method, she has created many experimental works that delve into questions like “What is photography?” and “What is the meaning of photography?”. Her distinctive series challenge the boundaries of traditional photography, offering a fresh perspective on the medium.

 

1962  Born in Tokyo, Japan
Lives and works in Paris, France

 

  • Selected Solo/Duo Exhibitions

    2024
    Parcours—Between pneumatic post and homing pigeon, WAITINGROOM, Tokyo, Japan

    2023
    Here, No Ballon, 2023 French May Arts Festival, Hong Kong, China

    2022
    La clairvoyance du hasard, Center of Photography of Mougins, France
    Here, No Ballon, Ricoh Art Gallery, Tokyo, Japan

    2020
    Burning with Desire, ICICLE Space, Shanghai, China
    From Where, THE GINZA SPACE, Tokyo, Japan
    To Where, Yumiko Chiba Associates, Tokyo, Japan
    Everywhere Photographs, Zeit-Foto Kunitachi, Tokyo, Japan

    2018
    The Bird Escaped From Camera Where to Go?, Vanguard Gallery, Shanghai, China
    Yuki Onodera Solo Exhibition, Kyoto Musum of Photography, Kyoto, Japan
    The Window as Device, Kido Press, Tokyo, Japan

    2017
    IMPROMPUTUS, Pierre-Yves Caër Gallery, Paris, France

    2016
    Art Basel Hong Kong (Vanguard Gallery), Hong Kong, China

    2015
    Muybridge’s Twist, Zeit-Foto Salon, Tokyo, Japan
    Maison Européenne de la Photographie (MEP), Paris, France

    2014
    Thousand mirrors in the forest, Maison d’Art Bernard Anthonioz, Nogent-sur-Marne, France
    2902 Gallery, Singapore
    Beaugeste Gallery, Shanghai, China

    2013
    Galerie Louis Gendre, Paris, France

    2012
    The World is Not Small, Vanguard Gallery, Shanghai, China

    2011
    Musée Nicéphore Niépce, Chalon-sur-Saône, France
    Yossi Milo Gallery, New York, USA

    2010
    The Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography, Tokyo, Japan
    The Museum of Photography, Seoul, Korea
    Zeit-Foto Salon, Tokyo, Japan

    2009
    Galerie RX, Paris, France
    KIDO Press, Tokyo, Japan

    2008
    Centre d’art Nei Liicht, Dudelange, Luxembourg
    Beijing Keumsan Gallery, Beijing, China
    Zeit-Foto Salon, Tokyo, Japan

    2007
    L’été Photographique de Lectoure 2007, Centre de Photographie de Lectoure, France
    Keumsan Gallery, Heyri Art Valley, Korea
    Gallery K, Seoul, Korea

    2006
    Shanghai Art Museum, Shanghai, China
    Galerie Conrads, Düsseldorf, Germany
    Zeit-Foto Salon, Tokyo, Japan
    Prix Niépce 2006, Quinzaine Photographique Nantaise, Médiathèque, Nantes, France
    Images du pôle, Orléans, France
    Galerie RX, Paris, France
    Chambre avec Vues, Paris, France

  • Selected Group Exhibitions

    2024
    FOCUS, Maui Art & Cultural Center, Hawaii, USA
    I’m so Happy You Are Here: Japanese Women Photographers from the 1950s to Now, Rencontre d’Arles, France
    Collection of Madeleine Millot Durrenberger—Japan week, Alliance Française, Strasbourg, France
    Vanguard Onwards, Vanguard Gallery, Shanghai, China
    Collection 078: World of Still life Painting, Art Gallery-Tokyo Opera City, Japan

    2022
    Time Tunnel – Japan and the Jews, Tikotin Museum of Japanese Art, Haifa, Israel
    Warehouse Story VIII — On Your Mark!, Vanguard Gallery, Shanghai, China

    2021
    A Space Odyssey: Monolith_Memory as Virus-Beyond the New Dark Age, Gyre Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
    70th Anniversary of Photographic Society of Japan: Japanese Contemporary photograph 1985-2015, Tokyo Photographic Art Museum, Tokyo
    Photography Distance, Tochigi Prefectural Museum of Fine Arts, Utsunomiya, Japan
    Photos and Photos of Photos, Yumiko Chiba Associates, Tokyo, Japan

    2020
    SAGACHO Exhibit Space 1983-2000, The Museum of Modern Art, Gunma, Japan
    Pictures from Another Wall – The Collection of Huis Marseille, De Pont Museum, Tilburg, Netherlands
    Love Your Neighbours from the Terada Collection-069, Tokyo Opera City Art Gallery, Tokyo, Japan

    2019
    NMAO collection with Alberto Giacometti II, National Museum of Art, Osaka, Japan
    Fashion in Images, Tochigi Prefectural Museum of Fine Arts, Utsunomiya, Japan
    L’Antichambre, GeorgeV Art Centre, Beijing, China
    Contemporary Art II, The Museum of Modern Art, Gunma, Japan
    The Object’s Shadow-Sensory Spaces, Artisan Lofts Gallery, New York, USA
    Genealogy of Pop Art, Shizuoka Prefectural Museum of Art, Japan

    2018
    Incognito: Eye in Search, Singapore International Photography Festival, Japan Creative Centre, Singapore
    A Beautiful Moment/Japanese Photography, Huis Marseille Museum for Photography, Amsterdam, Netherlands
    The Myriad Forms of Visual Art: 196 Works with 19 Themes, The National Museum of Art, Osaka, Japan
    Come Back! Retour à la Photo, Galerie de l’Etrave- Espace d’art Contemporain, Thonon-les-Bains, France
    Paris c’est Elles, La Boîte 31 de Marie-Ange Guilleminot, Paris, France
    Tan /110th Anniversary: Memorial Exhibition, Art Gallery of Takashimaya, Tokyo, Japan

    2017
    Pieces, Vanguard Gallery, Shanghai, China
    Rodin, Muybridge and Yuki Onodera, Shizuoka Prefectural Museum of Art, Japan
    Communication and Solitude, Tokyo Photographic Art Museum, Tokyo, Japan
    Inframince, The Museum of Modern Art, Gunma, Japan
    Re: Collection II, Aichi Prefectural Museum of Art, Nagoya, Japan
    Forms of Light/Scenes of Light, Hiroshima City Museum of Contemporary Art, Japan
    From the Terada collection 058 Black & White: Colours, Tokyo Opera City Art Gallery, Tokyo, Japan

    2016
    Japanese Photography from Postwar to Now, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, USA
    The expert eyes, Musée Nicéphore Niépce, Chalon-sur-Saône, France
    Eyes of Six Women, Zeit-Foto Salon, Tokyo, Japan
    Ecce Homo: The Human Images in Contemporary Art, The National Museum of Art, Osaka, Japan
    Fashion for Children, Iwami Art Museum, Shimane, Kobe Fashion Museum, Hyogo, and Tokyo Metropolitan Teien Art Museum, Japan

    2015
    The Younger Generation: Contemporary Japanese Photography, J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, USA
    La lucidité des utopies, Chateau de Lunéville, Lorraine, France
    40th Anniversary of the Kimura Ihei Award, Kawasaki City Museum, Japan
    Impact of Photography: collection of Higashikawa, Asahikawa Museum of Art, Hokkaido, Japan
    Photographer’s eyes /Printmaker’s eyes, Six anthologies, Shizuoka Prefectural Museum of Art, Shizuoka, Japan
    Dessin, Zeit-Foto Salon, Tokyo, Japan
    Between Ceramics and Light, Takashimaya X Gallery, Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto, Yokohama, Japan

    2014
    Dancing Light, Huis Marseille Museum for Photography, Amsterdam, Netherlands
    Silent Light, Takashimaya X Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
    Photographs by Five, Zeit-Foto Salon, Tokyo, Japan
    Elles Allument, Art Course/ Galerie Associative, Strasbourg, France
    Feel in Blank, Vanguard Gallery, Shanghai, China

    2013
    At the Window: The Photographer’s View, The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, USA
    Vignettes: Between Light & Dark, 2902 Gallery, Singapore
    The Aesthetics of Photography – Five Elements, The Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography, Tokyo, Japan

    2012
    View Point, Huis Marseille Museum for Photography, Amsterdam, Netherlands
    The 35th Anniversary / the Allure of the Collection, The National Museum of Art, Osaka, Japan
    Hundred Flowers Profuse Blooming / Scenes of the Women, Yokosuka Museum of Art, Yokosuka, Japan
    La ferme des animaux, Galerie Fraçoise Paviot, Paris, France

    2011
    Jamais le même fleuve, Maison d’art Bernard Anthonioz, Nogent-sur-Marne, France
    SH Contemporary, Shanghai Exhibition Center, Shanghai, China
    I’apparition, La Gare Saint Sauveur de Lille, Lille, France
    Higashikawa International Photo Festival, Culture Center, Higashikawa, Hokkaido, Japan
    The child within un / from the collection, The Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography, Tokyo, Japan

    2010
    8th Shanghai Biennale, Shanghai Art Museum, Shanghai, China
    Beyond the body, Museum of Contemporary Art, Shanghai, China
    Photography Now, The Museum of Modern Art, Gunma, Japan
    Collection of National Museum of Art, Osaka, Miyagi Museum of Art, Sendai, Japan
    Miyakonojo City Museum of Art, Miyazaki, Japan
    Rétrospective du Prix Niépce, Mois de la Photo, Musée du Monparnasse, Paris, France
    35th Anniversary of the Kimura Ihei Award, Kawasaki City Museum, Japan
    Semaine du Japon, Musée de Brou, Bourg-en-Bresse, France
    Beyond the Border, Tangram Art Center, Shanghai, China
    So+Zo Movement, The Museum of Bonkamura, Tokyo, Japan

    2009
    Elles@centrepompidou, Musée national d’art moderne, Centre Pompidou, Paris, France
    Paysages de la Conscience, International Photography Biennale, Museo de Arte Moderno de Bogotá, Colombia
    Ce qui est à voir est ce que vous voyez, Rencontres d’Arles, Arles, France
    Indizien, Galerie baer I raum f aktuelle kunst, Dresden, Germany
    Never Late Than Better, Elizabeth Foundation, New York, USA
    Warm up, Minsheng Art Museum, Shanghai, China
    The Photograph’s Enticements to the Brush, Ofoto Gallery, Shanghai, China
    Japan meets China, Tochigi Prefectural Museum of Fine Arts, Utsunomiya, Japan
    Face à Faces, organized by Culturesfrance, The State Museum of Contemporary Art, Thessaloníki, Greece
    Booth 67f, Van Zoetendaal collections, Amsterdam, Netherlands
    Be Quiet, M50 Creative Space, Shanghai, China
    Incheon Art Platform Opening Exhibition, Incheon Art Platform, Incheon, Korea

    2008
    Collection 3/ Aspects of Portrait, National Museum of Art, Osaka, Japan
    Indefinite Beauty, White Factory, Shanghai, China
    Verticals, Van Zoetendaal collections, Amsterdam, Netherlands
    Face à Faces, organized by Culturesfrance, la Silom Galleria, Bangkok, Thailand
    The History of Arts and Cities-Paris, New York, Tokyo and Shanghai, Sendai Mediatheque, Japan
    Chasseurs de beauté, Gallery 21, Tokyo, Japan
    7 Views Toward the World, Gallery Touchart, Heyri Art Valley, Korea

    2007
    Japan Caught by Camera, Shanghai Art Museum, Shanghai, China
    Convection, Three Shadows Photography Art Centre, Beijing, China
    Photographie: Détrônera la Peinture, Musée Nicéphore Niépce, Chalon-sur-Saône, France
    Face à Faces, organized by Culturesfrance, Akureyri Art Museum, Reykjavik, Iceland
    7ème Biennale d’art contemporain, Issy-les-Molineaux, France
    Japanese Contemporary Art Festival, Heyri Art Valley, Korea
    Die Liebe zum Licht, Museum Bochum, Bochum, Germany
    Paris du Monde Entier, Artistes étrangers à Paris 1900-2005/ Collection de Centre Pompidou, The National Art Center, Tokyo, Japan
    Figures of Thinking, Chicago Cultural Center, Chicago, Illinois, USA
    Winter, Galerie RX, Paris, France
    Fascination, Takashimaya X Gallery, Tokyo, Japan

    2006
    Les Peintres de la Vie Moderne, Centre Pompidou, Paris, France
    Die Liebe zum Licht, Kunstmuseum Celle, Celle, Germany
    Out of Ordinary / Extraordinary, Centre de la Imagen, Mexico
    Collection four, The Museum of Modern Art, Gunma, Japan
    Die Liebe zum Licht, Städtische Galerie Delmenhorst, Delmenhorst, Germany
    Figures of Thinking, McDonough Museum of Art, Youngstown, OH, USA
    Seeing the Light, Carl Solway Gallery, Cincinnati, OH, USA
    Face à Faces, organized by Culturesfrance, City Art Center, Edinburgh, UK
    Taille Humaine, Sénat et Orangerie su Luxembourg, Paris, France
    Face à Faces, organized by Culturesfrance, Fotografins Hus, Stockholm, Sweden
    Quintessence, I’Ecole des Beaux-Art de Nîme, Nîme, France

  • Awards

    2011   Received “Award of Ministry of Education and Culture”, Japan

    2011   Received “The Higashikawa Award- grand prix”, Japan

    2006   Received “Prix Niépce “, France

    2003   Received “Ihei KIMURA Prize “, Japan

    2002   Received “Photographic Society of Japan “, Japan

    2001   Received “The Higashikawa Award- young artist award”, Japan

    1996   Received “The 21st Kodak Prize of Critical Photography”, France

    1991   Received “The 1st New Cosmos of Photography Award”, Japan

  • Public Collections

    J.Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, USA

    Musée National d’Art Moderne, Centre Pompidou, France

    Musée Nicéphore Niépce, Chalon-sur-Saône, France

    Le Fonds National d’Art Contemporain, France

    Le Fonds Municipal d’Art Contemporain, France

    Bibliothèque Nationale de France, Paris, France

    Huis Marseille/ Museum for Photography, Amsterdam, Netherlands

    La ville de Dudelange / Centre d’art Nei Liicht, Dudelange, Luxembourg

    The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Texas, U.S.A.

    San Francisco Museum of Modern Arts, California, U.S.A.

    The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, U.S.A.

    Van den Ende Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands

    Foundation Daniel et Florence Guerlain, France

    Shanghai Art Museum, Shanghai, China

    Three Shadows Photography Art Centre, Beijing, China

    The Museum of Photography, Seoul, Korea

    The Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography, Tokyo, Japan

    The National Museum of Art, Osaka, Japan

    Tochigi Prefectural Museum of Fine Arts, Utsunomiya, Japan

    The Museum of Modern Art, Gunma, Japan

Featured Artworks

Fairs