Biography
| 1936 | Born in Nishiwaki-cho, Taka-gun (now Nishiwaki City), Hyogo. |
| 1960 | Begins working at the Nippon Design Center in Tokyo (until 1964). |
| 1965 | Exhibition of Graphic Design in Tokyo 1965: Persona, Matsuya Ginza, Tokyo |
| 1967 |
Receives 12th Mainichi Industrial Design Award (1966). The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York acquires 15 of Yokoo’s posters. |
| 1969 |
Solo exhibition, Tokyo Gallery, Tokyo Awarded the Grand Prize for Prints at the 6th Paris Youth Biennale. |
| 1970 | Designs the Fiber Pavilion for the Japan World Exposition (Osaka Expo). |
| 1972 |
Solo exhibition, Museum of Modern Art, New York Receives the UNESCO Award at the 4th International Poster Biennale in Warsaw. Awarded special prize at the 5th International Graphic Design Biennale in Brno. |
| 1973 |
Receives Tokyo ADC’s top award. Solo exhibition, Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe Hamburg Receives the Judge’s Committee Prize for Contemporary Japan Prints (ICA, London). |
| 1974 |
Solo exhibition, Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam Solo exhibition, Nantenshi Gallery, Tokyo Wins gold prize at the 5th International Poster Biennale in Warsaw. Receives the Hyogo Prefectural Museum of Modern Art Prize at the 9th International Print Art Biennale in Tokyo (The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo / The National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto). |
| 1975 | Receives the 20th Mainichi Design Award (1974). |
| 1976 | The 37th Venice Biennale: 5 Graphic Designers |
| 1979 | Receives the 2000 Fmk Prize at the 3rd Lahti Poster Biennial. |
| 1981 | “Painter’s Declaration.” Shifts from graphic design to oil painting. |
| 1982 |
Solo exhibition, Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe Hamburg Solo exhibition, Nantenshi Gallery, Tokyo |
| 1983 |
Solo exhibition, Otani Memorial Art Museum, Nishinomiya City, Hyogo Solo exhibition, Musée de la Publicité, Paris |
| 1984 |
Oversees art direction and set design for the balletDionysus by Belgique 20th Century Ballet (produced by Maurice Béjart and La Scala Theatre, Milan, premiered in 1985). Appears in the American filmMishima: A Life in Four Chapters. Solo exhibition, Exhibition Center Otis/Parsons, Los Angeles |
| 1985 |
The 13th Paris Biennale Solo exhibition, Palazzo Bianco / Teatro del Falcone, Genoa Solo exhibition, Kunstlerhaus Bethanien, Berlin Solo exhibtion, Laforet Museum, Harajuku, Tokyo The 18th São Paulo International Biennale |
| 1986 |
Solo exhibition, Roberta English Gallery, San Francisco Solo exhibition, Israel Museum, Jerusalem Completion of atelier in Seijo, Setagaya, Tokyo. Solo exhibition, Roy Boyd Gallery, Los Angeles Japon des avant gardes 1910－1970, Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris |
| 1987 |
Solo exhibition, The Seibu Museum of Art, Tokyo, etc. Solo exhibition, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh Oversees stage design for a Chinese production of Mozart’sThe Magic Flute. Receives the Hyogo Prefecture Cultural Award. |
| 1988 |
Solo exhibition, Galerie Silvia Menzel, Berlin The Modern Poster, Museum of Modern Art, New York |
| 1989 | Receives Honorable Mention Prize at the 4th Asian Art Biennale, Bangladesh. |
| 1991 | Solo exhibition, Sagacho Exhibit Space, Tokyo |
| 1992 | Publication of a photo book by Kishin Shinoyama, Tadanori Yokoo： Retrospective Scenography (Kodansha Ltd.) |
| 1993 | The 45th Venice Biennale:Trans-Actions |
| 1994 |
Japanese Art after 1945: Scream against the Sky, Yokohama Museum of Art, Kanagawa / Guggenheim Museum SoHo, New York / San Francisco Museum of Modern Art Solo exhibition, Laforet Museum, Harajuku, Tokyo, etc. Japanese Design: A Survey Since 1950, Philadelphia Museum of Art The Pop Image: Prints and Multiples, Marlborough Gallery, New York Solo exhibition, Contemporary Art Center, New Orleans |
| 1995 | Receives the 36th Mainichi Fine Art Award. |
| 1996 | 1996 Solo exhibition, Nantenshi Gallery, Tokyo |
| 1997 |
Receives the gold prize at the 76th ADC Awards in New York. Solo exhibition, Hyogo Prefectural Museum of Modern Art / The Museum of Modern Art, Kamakura, Kanagawa |
| 2000 |
Open Ends, Museum of Modern Art, New York Elected to the ADC Hall of Fame, New York. |
| 2001 |
Museum of Modern Art Highlights, Museum of Modern Art, New York Century City, Tate Modern, London Teaches in the post-graduate program at Tama Art University (until 2004). Solo exhibition, The Museum of Modern Art, Toyama Solo exhibition, Hara Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo Receives the Purple Ribbon Medal from the Japanese government. |
| 2002 | Solo exhibition, Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo / Hiroshima City Museum of Contemporary Art |
| 2003 |
Solo exhibition, The National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto Solo exhibition, Entwistle Gallery, London |
| 2004 |
Solo exhibition, Miyazaki Prefectural Art Museum Solo exhibition, SCAI The Bathhouse, Tokyo Mirrorical Returns: Marcel Duchamp and 20th Century Art, The National Museum of Art, Osaka / Yokohama Museum of Art, Kanagawa |
| 2005 |
Solo exhibition, Contemporary Art Museum, Kumamoto Solo exhibition, Ikeda Museum of 20th Century Art, Shizuoka Issey Miyake Paris Collections 1977-1999: Invitations by Tadanori Yokoo, The Museum of Modern Art, Toyama Solo exhibition, Nantenshi Gallery, Tokyo Receives the Grand Prize at the 15th International Lahti Poster Biennial. |
| 2006 |
Tokyo - Berlin / Berlin - Tokyo, Mori Art Museum, Tokyo / Neue Nationalgalerie, Berlin Solo exhibition, Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain, Paris Receives the 28th Japan Inter-Design Award. |
| 2007 |
Receives the Hyogo Governor’s Award for Contribution to the Enhanced Perception of Hyogo Receives the City of Setagaya Special Award for Distinguished Cultural Service. |
| 2008 |
Solo exhibition, SCAI The Bathhouse, Tokyo Solo exhibition, Nishimura Gallery, Tokyo Solo exhibition, Setagaya Art Museum, Tokyo / Hyogo Prefectural Museum of Art Solo exhibition, Friedman Benda, New York Lectures at the Japan Society in New York. Receives the 36th Kyoka Izumi Prize for Literature for his novelBLUELAND. |
| 2009 |
Receives the 5th Enku Award. Solo exhibition, Arario Gallery, Seoul Solo exhibition, 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa, Ishikawa |
| 2010 |
Solo exhibition, Friedman Benda, New York Marcel Duchamp and the Forestay Waterfall, Galerie Davel 14, Cully, Switzerland Solo exhibition, The National Museum of Art, Osaka Uffizi Gallery (Florence) acquires a self-portrait, which is shown at the Church of San Pier Scheraggio (Florence) the following year. |
| 2011 |
Awarded the Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Rosette by the Japanese government. Solo exhibition, Okayama Prefectural Museum of Art / The Museum of Art, Kochi Yokohama Triennale 2011,Our Magic Hour: How much of the world can we know? Postmodernism: Style and Subversion, 1970-1990, Victoria and Albert Museum, London |
| 2012 |
Awarded the Asahi Prize. Seeking Shambhala, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston Double Vision: Contemporary Art from Japan, Moscow Museum of Modern Art / Haifa Museum of Art and Tikotin Museum of Japanese Art, Israel Solo exhibition, Friedman Benda, New York Histoires de voir: Show and Tell, Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain, Paris Century of the Child: Growing by Design, 1900-2000, Museum of Modern Art, New York Solo exhibition, SCAI The Bathhouse, Tokyo Yokoo Tadanori Museum of Contemporary Art opens in Kobe, Hyogo. Tokyo 1955-1970: A New Avant-Garde, Museum of Modern Art, New York |
| 2013 |
Solo exhibition, Iwate Museum of Art / Fukushima Prefectural Museum of Art Receives the 67th Kobe Shimbun Peace Prize. Awarded the title of first honorary citizen of Nishiwaki City. Teshima Yokoo House opens on Teshima island, Kagawa. Solo exhibition, Aomori Museum of Art / Yokoo Tadanori Museum of Contemporary Art, Hyogo Solo exhibition, Yokoo Tadanori Museum of Contemporary Art, Hyogo / Kawasaki City Museum, Kanagawa Solo exhibition, Hyogo Prefectural Museum of Art |
| 2014 |
Post-Picasso: Contemporary Reactions, Picasso Museum, Barcelona Vivid Memories, Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain, Paris Receives the 2nd Ayao Yamana Award of the Japan Advertising Awards. Nostalgia and Fantasy: Imagination and Its Origins in Contemporary Art, The National Museum of Art, Osaka Solo exhibition, Kirishima Open-Air Museum, Kagoshima YOKOO by KISHIN, Yokoo Tadanori Museum of Contemporary Art, Hyogo Making Music Modern: Design for Ear and Eye, Museum of Modern Art, New York |
| 2015 |
International Pop, Walker Art Center, Minneapolis / Dallas Museum of Art / Philadelphia Museum of Art The World Goes Pop, Tate Modern, London Receives the 27th Praemium Imperiale Awards in Honor of Prince Takamatsu. Solo exhibition, Albertz Benda, New York |
| 2016 |
Solo exhibition, Poster Museum, Wilanów, Warsaw Solo exhibition, The Hakone Open-Air Museum, Kanagawa Receives the 32nd Kodansha Essay Award for his bookKotoba wo Hanareru. Pop Art, mon Amour, Maison d’Ailleurs, Yverdon-les-Bains, Switzerland Solo exhibition, State Museum of Oriental Art, Moscow |
| 2017 |
Solo exhibition, Machida City Museum of Graphic Arts, Tokyo / Yokoo Tadanori Museum of Contemporary Art, Hyogo Highlights: La Collection de la Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain, Seoul Museum of Art Solo exhibition, Towada Art Center, Aomori Japan-ness: Architecture and urbanism in Japan since 1945, Centre Pompidou-Metz Japanorama: A new vision on art since 1970, Centre Pompidou-Metz |
| 2018 |
Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain, A Beautiful Elsewhere, Power Station of Art, Shanghai Starting Points: Japanese Art of the ’80s, 21st Century Museum Contemporary Art, Kanazawa, Ishikawa / Takamatsu Art Museum / Shizuoka City Museum of Art New Wave: Japanese Contemporary Art of the 1980s, The National Museum of Art, Osaka |
| 2019 |
Solo exhibition, Nishiwaki Okanoyama Museum of Art, Hyogo Parergon: Japanese Art of the 1980s and 1990s, Blum & Poe, Los Angeles Solo exhibition, SCAI The Bathhouse, Tokyo Colorful Japan, Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam |
| 2020 |
The Poster: 200 Years of Art and History, Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe Hamburg Timeless Conversations 2020: Voices from Japanese Art of the Past and Present, The National Art Center, Tokyo Tantra: Enlightenment to Revolution, British Museum, London Receives the Tokyo Honorary Citizen Award. |
| 2021 |
Solo exhibition, Aichi Prefectural Museum of Art / Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo / Oita Prefectural Art Museum Solo exhibition, 21_21 Design Sight Gallery 3, Tokyo |
| 2022 | Publishes the novelGenkyo Forest (Bungeishunju Ltd.) |
| 2023 |
Elected as a member of the Japan Art Academy. Solo exhibition, Tokyo National Museum Hyokeikan / Yokoo Tadanori Museum of Contemporary Art, Hyogo Selected as a Person of Cultural Merit. |
| 2025 |
Receives the Setagaya Honorary Citizen Award. Solo exhibition, Setagaya Art Museum, Tokyo |
Public Collections
■ Overseas ■
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Art Sonje Center, Seoul IDEAS Students Committee, Canberra Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam The Library of Congress, Washington D.C. The Israel Museum, Jerusalem International Hokusai Research Center, Milan Victoria and Albert Museum, London Poster Museum at Wilanów, Warsaw Walker Art Center, Minneapolis Uffizi Gallery, Florence M＋, Hong Kong National Museum Cardiff Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh Library and Archives Canada, Ottawa School of the Arts and Architecture, University of California, Los Angeles Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain, Paris National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Seoul Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum, New York The Japan Foundation, Seoul The Japan Foundation, Toronto Kookmin University, Seoul Colorado State University, Fort Collins Santa Barbara Museum of Art Santa Rosa Junior College Art Gallery San Francisco Museum of Modern Art J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles The Museum of Modern Art, Genoa The Chicago Athenaeum Moderna Museet, Stockholm Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Madrid The British Museum, London Museo Dante, Rome Museum für Gestaltung Zürich Tate, London Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, Schools of Architecture, Design and Conservation, Copenhagen Designmuseum Danmark, Copenhagen The Museum of Modern Art, New York Ningbo Museum of Art The Haggerty Museum of Art, Milwaukee Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe, Hamburg Pinakothek der Moderne, Munich National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne Museum of Fine Arts, Houston La Fucina degli Angeli, Venezia Bradford District Museums and Galleries, West Yorkshire Fonds national d’art contemporain, France Chaumont City, France Brandenburg State Museum of Modern Art The Frederick R. Weisman Foundation, Los Angeles Poster House, New York Museum of Fine Arts, Boston National Museum in Poznań Centre Pompidou, Paris The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York Bienal Internacional del Cartel en México, Mexico City Moravian Gallery in Brno Galéria Jána Koniarka, Trnava Lahti Museum of Visual Arts Malva Museum moderner Kunst Stiftung Ludwig Wien Los Angeles County Museum of Art Long Museum, Shanghai |
■ Domestic ■
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Aichi Prefectural Museum of Art Aomori Museum of Art Notojima Glass Art Museum Ishikawa Prefectural Museum of Art The Museum of Modern Art, Ibaraki Iwaki City Art Museum Iwate Museum of Art Printing Museum, Tokyo Equine Museum of Japan Oita Prefectural Art Museum Okawa Museum of Art Nakanoshima Museum of Art, Osaka Enokojima Art, Culture and Creative Center, Osaka Prefecture Otemae Art Center Ohara Museum of Art, Kurashiki The World Children’s Art Museum in Okazaki The Okayama Prefectural Museum of Art Museum Haus Kasuya The Museum of Modern Art, Kamakura & Hayama 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa Taro Okamoto Museum of Art, Kawasaki Kawasaki City Museum Kanda Nissho Memorial Museum of Art Museum of Kyushu Sangyo University Museum and Archives, Kyoto Institute of Technology The National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto Kyoto City KYOCERA Museum of Art Institute for Research in Humanities, Kyoto University Kuki City Kumamoto Prefectural Museum of Art Contemporary Art Museum, Kumamoto Keio University Art Center Fondation Arc-en-Ciel / Hara Museum Collection The Museum of Art, Kochi National Film Archive of Japan, Tokyo The National Museum of Art, Osaka National Diet Library The National Noh Theatre The Gotoh Museum Kyoto Saga University of Arts Museum Suntory Poster Collection (deposited in Nakanoshima Museum of Art, Osaka) Shimane Art Museum Shimonoseki City Art Museum The Library of Living Sezon Museum of Modern Art Setagaya Art Museum Setagaya Literary Museum Takamatsu Art Museum Takushoku University Library Tama Art University Library, Shuzo Takiguchi Archives Tama Art University Museum Hikawa Shrine, Kawaguchi DNP Archives of Graphic Design The University Art Museum, Tokyo University of the Arts The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo Tokyo National Museum Tokyo Station Gallery Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo Tokyo Photographic Art Museum The Tokushima Modern Art Museum Tokushima Prefectural Museum of Literature and Calligraphy Tochigi Prefectural Museum of Fine Arts Toyama Prefectural Museum of Art and Design Toyama City Nishiwaki Earth Science Museum, Terra Dome Nishiwaki City Nishiwaki Okanoyama Museum of Art Ninohe City Ogaki Poster Museum, Japan Hakone Town Social Education Center The Himeji Chamber of Commerce and Industry Himeji City Museum of Art Hyogo House Hyogo Prefectural Library Hyogo Prefectural Museum of Art Hirano Museum of Art Hiroshima City Museum of Contemporary Art Fukuoka Art Museum Fukushima Prefectural Museum of Art Fukutake Foundation Fukuyama Museum of Art Fujisawa City Laboratory Butoh Japan Hokkaido Obihiro Museum of Art Hokkaido Museum of Modern Art Hori Art Museum Machida City Museum of Graphic Arts Shuji Terayama Museum Mishima Yukio Literary Museum Mitaka City The Miyagi Museum of Art Musashino Art University Museum & Library Yamanakako Museum of Art Yokoo Tadanori Museum of Contemporary Art Yokohama Museum of Art Yonago City Museum of Art The Museum of Modern Art, Wakayama The Tsubouchi Memorial Theatre Museum, Waseda University |