RESUMÉ
| RALPH S. IWAMOTO, PAINTERUpdated October 2019 | |
| Date of Birth: | September 13, 1927, Honolulu, Hawaii |
| Residence: | New York City, New York |
| Military: | United States Army 1946 - 1948 |
| Education: | Art Students League, New York, NY 1951-1953 |
| Community College, Brooklyn, NY 1949 - 1951 | |
| (NYC College of Technology, CUNY) | |
| Art Students League, New York, NY 1948 -1949 | |
| Worked: | Museum of Modern Art (Guard) 1957 - 1960 |
| SOLO SHOWS | |
| 2008 Jan-Feb | The Gallery at Sixth and Sixth, “Fifty Years of Abstraction”, Tucson, AZ |
| 2005 May | The Contemporary Museum at First Hawaiian Center, “Honolulu to New York”, Honolulu, HI |
| 2004 Sept | David Findlay Jr. Fine Art, “Works from the 50’s”, New York, NY |
| 2001 | Gallery Onetwentyeight, “Drawings and Paintings”, New York, NY |
| 1989 | The Gallery, St. Mary’s College, “The Concept Form”, St. Mary’s City, MD |
| 1986 | East/West Fusion Gallery, “8 Contemporary Asian-American Artists”, Sharon, CT |
| 1974 | Westbeth Gallery, “The Octagon Concept”, New York, NY |
| 1973 | Westbeth Gallery, “Shaped Canvases”, New York, NY |
| 1968 | Watson Gallery, “Shaped Canvases”, Elmira College, Elmira, NY |
| 1959 | Columbia Museum of Art, “Hawaii Artists Painting in New York”, Columbia, SC |
| 1956 | Gima Gallery, “Flora Figures”, Honolulu, HI |
| 1955 | Regina Gallery, “Fauna Figures”, New York, NY |
| GROUP SHOWS | |
| 9/17 - 1/18 | Honolulu Museum of Art: Abstract Expressionism, Honolulu, HI |
| 4/12 – 3/12 | Gallery Onetwentyeight, “25 Years” Anniversary Show, New York, NY |
| 1/2012 | Westbeth Gallery, “Winter Group Show”, New York, NY |
| 2011 | Westbeth Gallery, “Summer Light”, New York, NY |
| 8/11 | Gallery Onetwentyeight, “Planet Alert”, New York, NY |
| 2010 | Westbeth Gallery, “Westbeth Pioneers”, New York, NY |
| 2010 | David Findlay Jr. Fine Art, “Summer Set”, New York, NY |
| 2009 | Broome Street Gallery, “Holiday Invitational”, New York, NY |
| 2008 | Herbert Freedman Gallery, Interbonal, Inc., 1333 Lovern Ave., San Francisco, CA |
| 2008 Fall | Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco (deYoung Museum),
“Asian/American/Modern Art, Shifting Currents, 1900-1970”, San Francisco, CA |
| 2007-08 | Madison Museum of Contemporary Arts”, “LeWitt x 2, Sol LeWitt: Selections from the LeWitt Collection”, Madison; Miami Art Museum, Miami, FL; The University of North Carolina at Greensboro, NC; Austin Museum of Art, Austin, TX |
| 8/07 – 9/07 | Gallery Onetwentyeight, “Make Art Not War”, New York, NY |
| 2007 | Los Angeles County Museum, “Asian American Artists: 1900-1970, Los Angeles, CA |
| 2006-07 | First Hawaiian Center, The Contemporary Museum, “10th Anniversary; Artists of Hawaii”, Honolulu, HI |
| 2006 | Westbeth Gallery, “Annual Show”, New York, NY |
| 2006 | National Academy Museum, School of Fine Arts, “The 181st Annual: An Invitational Exhibition of Contemporary American Art”, New York, NY |
| 2006 | Gallery Onetwentyeight, “Four” (Drawings by Four Artists), New York, NY |
| 2005 | Tribes Gallery, “Other Dimensions of Abstract Art”, New York, NY |
| 2005 | Gallery Onetwentyeight, “Group Show”, New York, NY |
| 2005 | Westbeth Gallery, “Annual Group Show”, New York, NY |
| 2004 | Davis Museum and Cultural Center, “Infinite Possibilities: Serial Imagery in 20th Century Drawings”, Wellesley College, Wellesley, MA |
| 2004 | Real Art Ways, Connecticut Cultural Center, “Works from the LeWitt Collection”, Hartford, CT |
| 2004 | Westbeth Gallery, “Paintings, Drawings and Prints”, New York, NY |
| 2004 | Artists Equity, Broome Street Gallery, “Invitational”, New York, NY |
| 2003 | Pinkard Gallery, Maryland Institute College of Art, “Notebook”, Baltimore, MD |
| 2003 | New Britain Museum of American Art, “LeWitt Collection”, New Britain, CT |
| 2003 | Gallery Onetwentyeight, “Rivington Beach”, New York, NY |
| 2003 | Gallery Onetwentyeight, “ Mother-in-Law”, New York, NY |
| 2002 | Hawaii State Art Museum, “Enriched by Diversity, The Art of Hawaii”, Inaugural Exhibition of Artists from 1940 to the Present, Honolulu, HI |
| 2002 | The Contemporary Museum, “Recent Acquisitions”, Honolulu, HI |
| 6/02 – 8/02 | Gary Snyder Fine Art Gallery, “500 Works on Paper: 1922-2002, New York, NY |
| 2002 Spring | Gary Snyder Fine Art, “ Eastern Essence: Abstraction by Asian American Artists 1950 - 1970”, New York, NY |
| 2002 | Wynn Kramarsky, Private Showing, “Ad Infinitum Serial Works” New York, NY |
| 2002 | Gallery Onetwentyeight, “Summersault”, New York, NY |
| 2001 | Westbeth Gallery, “Paintings, Sculpture and Drawings”, New York, NY |
| 2001 | Gallery Onetwentyeight, “Altitude”, New York, NY |
| 2001 | Westbeth Gallery, “Paintings and Drawings”, New York, NY |
| 2000 | Japanese American Association, “Invitational Show”, New York, NY |
| 2000 | The Contemporary Museum, “Recent Acquisitions”, Honolulu, HI |
| 1999 | Zimmerli Museum of Art, “American and European Art from 1900 to the Present”, Rutgers State University, New Brunswick, NJ |
| 1999 | Wadsworth Atheneum, “Contemporary European and American Art”. Hartford, CT |
| 1999 | Senshu Museum of Art, “Asian Traditions/Modern Expressions”, Akita, Japan |
| 1999 | Fukuoka Asian Museum, “Asian Traditions/Modern Expressions”, Fukuoka City, Fukuoka, Japan |
| 1999 | Inokuma Museum of Contemporary Art, “Asian Traditions / Modern Expressions”, Kochi City, Shikoku, Japan |
| 1998 | Taipei Fine Arts Museum, “Asian Traditions / Modern Expressions”, Taipei, Taiwan |
| 1998 | Kaohsiung Museum of Art, “Asian Traditions / Modern Expressions”, Taipei, Taiwan |
| 1998 | Bedford Gallery Regional Center for the Arts, “Asian Traditions/ Modern Expressions”, Walnut Creek, CA |
| 1998 | Japanese American National Museum, “Two-venue Presentation: “Asian Traditions/Modern Expressions”, Los Angeles, CA |
| 1998 | Fisher Gallery, University of Southern California, “Asian Traditions/Modern Expressions”, Los Angeles, CA |
| 1997 | Taipei Gallery, Taiwanese Cultural Center, “Two-venue Presentation: “Asian Traditions/Modern Expressions”, New York, NY |
| 1997 | Chicago Cultural Center, “Asian Traditions / Modern Expressions”, Chicago, IL |
| 1997 | Jane Voorhees/Zimmerli Art Museum, “Asian Traditions / Modern Expressions”, Asian American Artists and Abstraction, 1945 - 1970, Rutgers State University, New Brunswick, NJ |
| 1996 | Ise Foundation, JASSI Group, “Invitational Show”, New York, NY |
| 1996 | Japanese American Association, “Invitational Show”, New York, NY |
| 1992 | Westbeth Gallery, “Columbus: Collision / Convergence of Cultures”, New York, NY |
| 1992 | Wadsworth Atheneum, “Susann Morse Hilles Gallery of 20th Century Art”, Hartford, CT |
| 1991 - ‘92 | Wadsworth Atheneum, “Open Mind: The Sol LeWitt Collection”, Hartford, CT |
| 1990 | The Contemporary Museum, “25th Anniversary Exhibition”, Honolulu, HI |
| 1986 | General Service Administration Gallery, Contemporary Artists Guild, New York, NY |
| 1986 | Firehouse Gallery, Nassau Community College, “Modern Japanese Abstracts”, Garden City, NY |
| 1985 | Kenkeleba Gallery, “Gathering of the Avant-Garde, the Lower East Side 1948 to 1970”, New York, NY; also at St. Marks and Henry Street Settlement, New York, NY |
| 1985 | Isetan Gallery, “Expo-85” Tokyo, Japan |
| 1984 | Haragiku Museum, “Invitational Show”, Tokyo, Japan |
| 1984 | Bloomingdale Gallery, Invitational, Contemporary Japanese American Artists, Stamford, CT |
| 1983 | Newark Museum, “New Direction: Ten Japanese-American Artists in Conjunction with the Enduring Heritage” Exhibit, Newark, NJ |
| 1983 | Bergen County Museum of Art and Science, “Tradition and Today”, Paramus, NJ |
| 1981 | Westbeth Gallery, “Voices Expressing What Is”, New York, NY |
| 1980 | 60 Washington Square East Gallery, New York University, “Small Works”, New York, NY |
| 1978 | PS 1, Project Studio, “Small Works”, Long Island City, NY |
| 1976 | Paterson State College, Ben Shahn Museum, “American Abstract Artists”, Paterson, NJ |
| 1976 | Westbeth Gallery, “40th Anniversary Show”, American Abstract Artists, New York, NY |
| 1971 | Butler Institute of American Art, “35 Years in Retrospect”, Youngstown, OH |
| 1970 | Westbeth Gallery, “Annual Group Show”, New York, NY |
| 1967 -1969 | Clara Josephs Gallery, “Group Shows”, New York, NY |
| 1966 | Western Michigan University, “And Another”, 2nd National Print and Drawing Exhibition, Kalamazoo, MI |
| 1964 | Kaymar Gallery, “Group Show”, New York, NY |
| 1962 | Butler Institute of American Art, “27th Annual”, Youngstown, OH |
| 1958 - 1959 | Whitney Museum of American Art, “Whitney Annual”, New York, NY |
| 1958 | Madison Square Garden, “Art USA”, New York |
| 1958 | Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, “153rd Annual”, Philadelphia, PA |
| 1958 | Detroit Institute of Arts, “Annual Exhibition”, Detroit, MI |
| 1958 | Allegheny College, “Drawings and Prints”, Meadville, PA |
| 1958 | Chrysler Museum of Art, “American Art of Our Time”, Provincetown, MA |
| 1957 | Butler Institute of American Art, “22nd Annual”, Youngstown, OH |
| 1956 | Riverside Museum, “56 Annual”, New York, NY |
| 1955 | Contemporary Arts Gallery, “Group Show”, New York, NY |
| 1954 | City Center Gallery, “Group Show”, New York, NY |
| 1953 | Creative Gallery, “4th Annual”, New York, NY |
| 1948 | Honolulu Academy of Arts, “Artists of Hawaii Group Show”, Honolulu, HI |
| 1948 | Hale House, Honolulu Art Association, “Group Show”, Honolulu, HI |
| 1948 | Hale House, Hui Nani Artists, “Group Show”, Honolulu, HI |
| AWARDS | |
| 2002 | Pollock-Krasner Foundation, Grant, New York, NY |
| 1987 | Adolph & Esther Gottlieb Foundation, Grant, New York, NY |
| 1958 | John Hay Whitney Foundation, Fellowship, New York, NY |
| 1957 | Purchase Prize, Butler Institute of American Art, Youngstown, OH |
| 2011 | Congressional Gold Medal Award, Washington, D.C. |
| COLLECTIONS |
| Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA |
| Herb & Nancy Conley, Honolulu, HI |
| Department of Fine Arts, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ |
| New Mexico Museum of Art, Santa Fe, NM |
| Anonymous, South Carolina |
| Robert Cole, Wilmington, NC |
| Japanese Cultural Center of Hawaii, Heritage Room, Honolulu, HI |
| Jane Voorhees/Zimmerli Museum, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ |
| Werner (Wynn) Kramarsky Collection, New York, NY |
| Elena Coon Prentice, New York, NY |
| Masao Katagami, New York, NY |
| Yoshito Yoshioka, New York, NY |
| Katsumi & Mildred Hosokawa, Waialua, HI |
| Donald & Roberta Gratz, New York, NY |
| Franklyn Furnace Archives, New York, NY |
| The Contemporary Museum, Honolulu, Hi |
| Tadashi & Kiyoko Sato, Lahaina, Maui, HI |
| Adrienne Hosokawa, Aiea, HI |
| Charmion Von Weigand Collection, Tibetan Buddhist Institute, New York, NY |
| Joanna Miles & Michael Brandman, Los Angeles, CA |
| Mr. & Mrs. Haruo Miyauchi, Tokyo, Japan |
| Dr. Robert & Violette Moteki, Brooklyn, NY |
| James & Mimi Rosenquist, Aripeka, Tampa, FL |
| Nancy and Herb Conley Collection, Honolulu, HI |
| Steve Wada and Takako Kusunoki, New York, NY |
| Warner and Jessie Wada, New York, NY |
| Dorothy & Herbert Vogel Collection, New York, NY |
| Wadsworth Atheneum, Hartford, CT |
| Sol LeWitt Collection, Chester, CT |
| St. Mary’s College, St. Mary’s City, MD |
| Honolulu Advertiser Publication Collection, Honolulu, HI |
| Thurston Twigg-Smith Collection, The Contemporary Museum, Honolulu, HI |
| State Foundation of Culture and the Arts, Honolulu, HI |
| Herbert Johnson Museum, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY |
| Sheldon Swope Art Gallery, Terre Haute, IN |
| Butler Institute of American Art, Youngstown, OH |
| Robert Ryman, New York City, NY |
| Tobias Schneebaum, New York City, NY |
| Bjorn Reselle Fine Art, New York, NY |
| Karen and Joe Berlekamp, Ovwerland Park, Kansas |
| Reynold and Kay Iwamoto, Lawrence, Kansas |
| A. Miya Maysent, Dallas, TX |
| R. Gregory Buxbaum, St. Helena, CA |
| Bernice M. Buxbaum, San Antonio, CA |
| Robert A. Iwamoto, Honolulu, HI |
| Ross Iwamoto, Huntington Beach, CA |
| Elynne Chung, Honolulu, HI |
| REVIEWS |
| Margaret Regan: “Minimalism and Modernists”, Tucson Weekly Print Friendly, Tucson, AZ, January 17, 2008 |
| Pomegranate: “Asian/American/Modern Art, Shifting Currents, 1900-1970”, Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco (deYoung Museum), San Francisco, CA |
| Mark Pomilio: Assistant Professor of Painting and Drawing, The School ofArt at the Herberger College of the Arts, Arizona State University. Essay: “The Elegance of Simplicity: The Paintings of Ralph Iwamoto”, Catalogue for exhibition at the Gallery at Sixth and Sixth, January-February 2008 Tucson, AZ, |
| Press Release: Background of 4 exhibitors: “Four”, Gallery Onetwentyeight, New York, NY |
| Mario Naves: Reviewer. “Currently Hanging: Un-Hyped Academy AnnualQuietly Takes the Long View”, The 181st Annual: An Invitational Exhibition of Contemporary Art, New York Observer, June 1, 2006, New York, NY |
| Elisa Decker, Writer, Art Reviewer. “Works from the 50’s”, Article, Ralph Iwamoto at David Findlay, Jr. - Art in America, January 2005 |
| Jeffrey Wechsler, Author. Senior Curator, Jane Voorhees Zimmerli Art Museum, Rutgers The State University of New Jersey. Essay: “NatureTransformed, Nature Abstracted”. Ralph Iwamoto “Works from the ‘50’s”. David Findlay Jr. Fine Art, September 1-23, 2004, New York, NY |
| Hedy O’Beil, Reviewer. “Westbeth News Notes on Exhibitions”, 2004, New York, NY |
| Regina Steward, “Members Press Review”, The Artists Proof, Artists EquityAssociation Publication, 2004, New York, NY |
| David Mickenberg, Director/Anja Chavez Curator. Book: “Infinite Possibilities:Serial Imagery in 20th Century Drawings” Davis Museum and Cultural Center, Wellesley College, Wellesley, MA |
| Benjamin Genocchio: Writer. Article, LeWitt The Collector Filling Up A Warehouse. Angel Franco: Photographer. 2 geometric paintings are shown in the upper left corner of his photograph. New York Times, January 1, 2004, New York City, NY |
| Fred Camper: Critic/Reviewer. “Precision Abstraction”, Article, Chicago Reader, Chicago, IL, October 17, 1997 |
| William Zimmer: Critic/Reviewer. “Asian Americans Bold Expressions of of Tradition Meeting Modernism”, New York Times/New Jersey Edition, Saturday, May 4, 1997 |
| Jeffrey Wechsler: Author. Senior Curator, Jane Voorhees Zimmerli Art Museum, Rutgers The State University of New Jersey, New Brunswick, NJ. Book: “Asian Traditions/Modern Expressions - Asian American Artists and Abstraction 1945 - 1970”, Harry N. Abrams, Inc., Publication, March 1977 |
| Holland Cotter: Critic/Reviewer. “Of Asians Among the Abstractionists”, New York Times, Friday, April 4, 1997 |
| Michael Brenson: Critic/Reviewer. “In Connecticut, A Conceptualist’s Nonconceptual Collection”, A review of “Open Mind: The Sol LeWitt Collection”, at the Wadsworth Atheneum, Hartford, CT, August 9, 1991 to February 1992 |
| Helen A. Harrison: Critic/Reviewer. Article, “Japanese Abstraction - Looking West”, New York Times, Long Island Edition, December 29, 1985 |
| Eileen Watkins: Critic/Reviewer. “Newark Museum Exhibits Contrast Traditional, Contemporary Japan Art" , Sunday Star Ledger, October 22, 1983 |
| Koji Ichida: Writer/Author. “Article”, Ichimai No Eh Magazine, December 1980, Book: “History and Development of American Art”, Ichimai No Eh Publication 1982, Book: “Art Letters from New York”, 1984, Tokyo, Japan |
| Jean Kondo Weigl: Author. “Works of Japanese-American Visual Artists and Craftsmen, Notes and Statements by the Artists”, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, July 1978 |
| Takako Kusunoki: Editor. Article, “Bold Paintings”, New York Nichibei, February 17, 1974 |
| James Mellow: Author/Critic. New York Times Art Review. February 17, 1973 |
| James Goldsworthy: Author/Critic. “Art of the 60’s, New Forms, New Materials, Neo Dada and Otherwise”, Columbia University, New York, NY |
| Howard Devree: Critic/Reviewer. “Whitney Museum’s Annual”, Review, New York Times, October 1958 |
| A.N.: Art Review, Art Digest, October 1955 |
| Howard Devree: Critic/Reviewer. “About Art and Artists”, New York Times Review, November 1954 |
| Carlyle Burrows: Reviewer. “Art: Two Museums, Two Themes”, New York Herald-Tribune, October 1954 |
| N.B.: Art Review, Art Digest, May, 1954 |
No. 503