February 23 – March 23, 2019
Steve Turner is pleased to present Return To Sender, a solo exhibition by Los Angeles-based Mitsuko Brooks that will feature collaged, typed or handwritten letters that Brooks sent to friends, colleagues and artist-heroes over the months leading up to the exhibition. The letters are written or typed on repurposed book covers that have a montage of postage stamps, labels and postal marks. Functioning as postcards, they relate to the rich history of mail art, collage and assemblage. Her communications, personal and candid, convey a sober and poignant self-portrait.
Mitsuko Brooks received an MFA in painting and drawing from UCLA (2017) and a BFA from Cooper Union (2005). Brooks is a member of The Asian American Women Artists Association and attended The Oxbow School in Napa Valley, California. Her work has been exhibited at The San Francisco Art Institute; California College of Arts, San Francisco; Smack Mellon, New York and Rush Arts Gallery, New York. This is her first solo exhibition at Steve Turner.
Born 1987 in Japan
Lives and works in New York and Los Angeles
Education
2017 MFA in Painting and Drawing, University of California Los Angeles
2005 BFA, Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art, New York, NY
2000 The Oxbow School, Napa Valley
Selected Solo and Two Person Exhibitions
2019
Steve Turner, Los Angeles
2018
Correspondence, Dread Lounge, Los Angeles
2018
Getting to know you, getting to know all about you, Nook Gallery, Oakland
2017
MFA Thesis, UCLA New Wight Gallery, Los Angeles
2016
Winter Quarter Office Install, UCLA Broad Art Center’s Dept. of Art Office, Los Angeles
2015
Who Cares About This Feeling?, Wayfarers Presented by Ferro Strouse Gallery, Brooklyn
2012
Newhouse Center for Contemporary Art, Snug Harbor Cultural Center & Botanical Garden
2009
Resuscitate La Mujer/Onna; Resuscitate Josei/La Hembra, Brick, Brooklyn
2005
Senior Thesis, Cooper Union, New York
2000
Postcards, Oxbow School, Napa Valley
Selected Group Exhibitions
2019
Agrarianna, curated by Asian American Women Artists Association, San Jose Japanese American
National Museum, San Jose
2018
Seeds of Our Grandmothers’ Dreams, curated by Japanese American Womxn Speak, 341 FSN, Los Angeles
A Body of Her Own, Makeroom LA, Los Angeles
Through-Lines: Drawing & Weaving by 19 Artists, Steve Turner, Los Angeles
Summer Juried Exhibition, curated by John Yau, Blue Mountain Gallery, New York
Migrant Mother, Tempus Projects, Tampa
2017
GRAND OPENING, The Artists Loft Museum of Los Angeles (ALMLA), Los Angeles
No Longer Negotiable, Nous Tous, Los Angeles
SALTY, 1748 Adams, Los Angeles
L.A. Woman, Saatchi Art, Santa Monica
Race and Revolution: Still Separate-Still Unequal, Smack Mellon, Brooklyn
Haunted Memories, Center for the Arts Eagle Rock, Los Angeles
Whitney Houston Biennial: The Greatest Love of All, Chashama, New York
2016
MFA [Preview] 2017 Exhibition, UCLA New Wight Gallery, Los Angeles
HYSTERICS, UCLA Sculpture Gallery, Los Angeles
2015
NY State of Mind, Curator: Larry Ossei-Mensah, Rush Arts Gallery, New York
First Annual Headphone Festival, Pet Project Gallery, San Francisco
2014
(Un)Mediated, Kunsthalle Galapagos, Brooklyn
Oxbow Alumni Exhibition, California College of the Arts’ Campus Center Gallery, San Francisco
Eating Cultures, SOMArts Cultural Center, San Francisco
Fluxjob, Minnesota Center for Book Arts, Minneapolis
One Thing Then Another, Artist Curated Projects (ACP), Los Angeles
2013
Memory: International Mail Art Exhibition, Richmond Art Gallery, British Columbia, Canada
Bodega Night, The Center for Strategic Art and Architecture, Brooklyn
underCurrents & the Quest for Space, AAWAA, SOMArts Cultural Center, San Francisco
GUTAI, San Francisco Art Institute, Walter & McBean Galleries, San Francisco
Grand Re-Opening, Recession Art, Brooklyn
2012
To Be Considered, Muriel Guepin Gallery, Brooklyn
BACKLASH/On women’s basic rights and freedoms, SOHO20 Gallery, New York
Flowers for You, Stephan Stoyanov Gallery, New York
Crossing Borders, Oakland Asian Cultural Center, Oakland
Hungry Ghost: Yearning for Fulfillment, AAWAA, Thoreau Center for Sustainability, San Francisco
Itsa Small, Small World, Family Business, New York
Grants, Awards & Residencies
2017
Field Grant, Common Field
Showcase Winner: Mixed Media, ArtSlant Prize
2016
Set on Freedom: A Retreat for Women, Trans and GNC Artists of Color, Queens Museum
2015
Lorser Feitelson and Helen Lundeberg Feitelson Arts Foundation Award
Alfredo Orselli Memorial Scholarship
2014
Bette Midler Scholarship
Resnick Scholarship
2013
Artist-in-Residence, Wassaic Artist Residency Program, New York
Artist-in-Residence, School of Making Thinking, New York
Curate NYC Selection by Larry Ossei-Mensah
2012
Edward & Sally Van Lier Fellowship
SHARP/Snug Harbor Artist Residency Program
February Short List Selection, BRIC Contemporary Artist Registry
Selected Bibliography
2018
Alessi, Andrea. “Mitsuko Brooks Answers Five Questions”. ArtSlant, October 21
MFA Annual #135, by Juror Anne Ellegood, New American Paintings
Ollman, Leah. “When the cover of a book becomes postcard art: Captivating messages in surprising packages”, Los Angeles Times, August 3
“Under the Radar”, ArtSlant
2017
“9 Art Events to Attend in New York City This Week”, ARTnews, June 19
“Best of 2017: Our Top 15 Brooklyn Art Shows”, Hyperallergic, December 17
McCarthy, Bonnie. “Art Shopping that Clicks”, Los Angeles Times, August 5
“Saatchi Art Presents its Invest In Art 2017 Report: Spring Edition”, New York Times, May 25
2016
Bentsman, Michelle, Aaron Finbloom, Mollie McKinley, and Sophie Traub. Play, Process, and the Unknown: Towards an embodiment of thought at The School of Making Thinking, Taylor & Francis online
Yu, Elena. #17, GRAPHITE Interdisciplinary Journal of the Arts, Hammer Student Association of Los Angeles
2015
“Photo Report: Spring UCLA Open Studios”, Artstlant, June 1
2013
Gereben, Janos. “Infinite variety of Asian artists”, San Francisco Examiner, May 15
Held, John. “Asian American Women Artists Association: undercurrents and the Quest for Space”, SFAQ
2012
Chibbaro, Julie.“Book art on display at Beacon library”, The Poughkeepsie Journal
Fuller, Christian. “February Short List Curator”, BRIC Contemporary Art
Rizzi, Nicholas. “Artists for Snug Harbor’s Fellowship Program to Exhibit Work”, DNAinfo.com
2011
Baez, Firelei. FRENZY: Connecting the dots and shifting away, exhibition catalog, Space 1950, Harlem
2009
Micchelli, Thomas. Rites of Passage: 1995-2009, exhibition catalog, Cooper Union
