Mayumi Terada was born in Japan and lives in New York.
Terada originally trained as a sculptor and her photographs are not what they seem. Her subjects are familiar yet wholly artificial environments and objects.
These seemingly simple domestic spaces and intimate landscapes are a miniature world fashioned out of balsa wood and Styrofoam, clay and fabric, and then photographed using strikingly atmospheric lighting. As Terada has explained, these 'dollhouses' resonate with memories:
'I began to make many different kinds of objects for the house - stairs, windows, and curtains - that was how the Dollhouse series came about. The series is mainly based on my memories, which I wanted to share with the audience. I deliberately chose a minimal design, which made the images more universal, regardless of individual tastes in home furnishing... Ultimately everything is painted white. The images are all shot with natural light... I do not use a computer at all.... coming from sculpture and handling plaster, black and white is an obvious choice for me'.
Education:
1989
M.F.A Tsukuba University
Selected Solo Exhibitions:
2010
Mayumi Terada: Invisible Boundary, Robert Miller Gallery, New York
2009
New Works, Base Gallery, Tokyo
2008
in the bright room vol.3, Gallery Out of Place, Nara
2007
Robert Miller Gallery, New York
Monologue of Light, Takashimaya Art Gallery X, Tokyo
in the bright room vol.2, Gallery Out of Place, Nara
2005
In the Bright Room, White Room Gallery, West Hollywood
New Works. Base Gallery, Tokyo
In the bright room vol.1. Gallery Out of Place, Nara
2003
Base Gallery, Tokyo (dollhouse series)
2002
New works photographs and construction White Box, the Annex, New York (dollhouse series)
2001
Love affair, Gallery Saatchi & Saatchi, Tokyo (dollhouse series)
1991
Gallery K2, Tokyo (underwear series)
1989
Art Landscape, Heartland Gallery, Tokyo (underwear series)
1987
Gallery Natsuka, Tokyo (underwear series)
1985
Studio of Tsukuba University (Mr. Johns)
Selected Group Exhibitions:
2008
Geometry As Image, Robert Miller Gallery, New York
2007
Making a Home, Japan Society, New York
2006
Surrounding Matta-Clark, Carlos Carvalho Arte Contemporanea, Lisbon
Two persons show, Asian America Art Center, New York
Black and Blue, Robert Miller Gallery
2005
Almost, Robert Miller Gallery, New York
2003
Made in Woodstock II, The Center for Photography Woodstock
AIM 23, The Bronx Art Museum of the Arts
2002
20 Century - Art Recognized Virtual Image - Between Monnalisa and Mammon, The Hiratsuka Museum of Art
New Work Selection by Leah Koransky, Center for Photography Woodstock
2001
In Search of Form - Japanese Eleven Artists, Busan Metropolitan Art Museum, South Korea
1994
When the Body Becomes Art: The Organs and Body as Object, Itabashi Art Museum, Tokyo
1991
Contemporary Sculpture - Art in Nerima '91, Nerima Art Museum, Tokyo
1989
Japanese Artists in New York, Hosomi Gallery, Tokyo
1988
Contemporary Art in Japan: The Collection of the Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum, Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum
1987
Icons in Contemporary Art, The Museum of Modern Art, Saitama
1986
The 67th Sogetsu Exhibition, Gallery of Nihonbashi Takashimaya Department Store, Tokyo (awarded The Young Master Prize)
The 16th Tokyo Biannual Exhibition, Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum.
Hanging Art Exhibition, Tsukashin Hall, Hyogo / Seibu Art Museum, Tokyo
1985
The 17th Contemporary Art Exhibition of Japan, (awarded the Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum Prize)
Selected Publications:
2003
Goodman, Jonathan. Focus-Suspending Belief. Contemporary No. 49.
In the Bright Room, monograph, Tokyo: Kyuryduo Art Publishing Co., Ltd.
2002
Morgan, Robert C. Concept by Hand. Team celeste, no. 89. January-February
Morgan, Robert C. Reviews New York: Mayumi Terada. Annex by Art Press, no. 283, October
Nagoya, Satoru. Japanese Contemporary Art Exhibition in Busan, Korea. The Mainichi Shinbun News Paper, January 9
Photography Quarerly No. 84 Auction Catalog. Woodsctock: The Center for Photography at Woodstock.
2001
Mayumi Terada Exhibition by Takao Nakamura. Tenpyo Art Exhibition Contemporary issue, Summer no. 8.
Nagoya, Satoru. Review Tokyo: Mayumi Terada, Saatchi & Saatchi. Flash Art International, no. 219, July-Sept.
Selected Collections:
Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo
The Center for Photography at Woodstock
IVAM, Institut Valencia d'Art Modern