NOWHERE VANGUARDS
Toshihisa Yoda
b. 1940, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan
Toshihisa Yoda is a Japanese painter who has lived and worked in New York since the late 1960s. After relocating from Japan, he became part of the city’s vibrant downtown art scene, developing a body of work that bridges Eastern sensibility with Western abstraction. His paintings are marked by gentle layers of color, rhythmic brushwork, and a meditative sense of space—qualities that evoke natural phenomena as well as the quiet passage of time. For more than five decades, Yoda has continued to evolve his practice from his SoHo studio, quietly contributing to the rich history of Japanese artists in New York.
Toshihisa Yoda in his studio, 2025. Photographed by Miki Yamato
“Since arriving in New York in 1967, I have been working in the world of abstract painting, always exploring new methods to create my unique style of works. Upon arriving, I was mesmerized by the sheer power of New York City’s Iron Age architecture, specifically the colors of paint peeling off the dilapidated bridges, EL (elevated trains), subway, cast iron buildings, and streetlights.
Early in my career, I focused on line paintings, creating geometric shapes using masking tape. New York City during the early 1970s was a very exciting period for the art world. I am glad that I was able to be a part of the various movements in art. Even when most artists switched from abstraction to figurative painting, I stubbornly stuck to my abstract paintings.
Sometime in the early 2000s, while driving in the outskirts of Coney Island, my wife spotted umbrella plants growing in a desolate field. When I got out of the car and looked at it, she told me that the plant had a triangular shaped stem. When I cut the stem, I saw a beautiful light green triangular shape. Suddenly everything made sense to me. Even though I had been using triangular shapes since the early days of my career, it wasn’t until that moment when I realized that I could work with this shape as my main theme—it was like getting confirmation from nature.
I am happy that I was able to work as an abstract painter for the last 60 years without making any compromises. I feel that there are still so many possibilities waiting to be discovered in my paintings.”
— Toshihisa Yoda
Untitled #67-5 (1967)
Oil on canvas
43” x 43”
Untitled #79-12 (1979)
Acrylic on canvas
54” x 72”
Untitled #98-01 (1998)
Oil on canvas
72” x 132”
Umbrella Plant #11 (2010)
Oil on canvas
50” x 40”
Untitled #70-11 (1970)
Acrylic on canvas
48” x 72”
Untitled #80-10 (1980)
Acrylic on canvas
54” x 72”
Untitled #02-15 (2002)
Oil on canvas
72” x 132”
Triangles #23-01 (2023)
Oil on canvas
36” x 30”
Untitled #67-5 (1967)
Oil on canvas
43” x 43”
Untitled #90-02 (1990)
Oil on canvas
93” x 70 1/2”
Untitled #04-01 (2004)
Oil on canvas
90” x 144”
Untitled #24-02 (2024)
Oil on canvas
60” x 48”
Toshihisa Yoda was born in Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan in 1940. He attended Musashino Fine Art University in Tokyo from (1962-65) before moving to New York in 1966. From 1967-69 he studied at the Brooklyn Museum Art School at Brooklyn Museum, and the Art Students League New York in 1970.
Solo Exhibitions:
1975 Lotus Gallery, New York
1983 Just Above Midtown/Downtown Gallery, New York
1987 The Community Gallery, Shizuoka Prefectural Museum of Art, Shizuoka, Japan
1987 Gallery Okazaki, Kyoto, Japan
1988 Nantenshi Gallery, Tokyo Japan
1992 Nantenshi Gallery SOKO, Shinkiba, Tokyo, Japan
1994 Nantenshi Gallery SOKO, Shinkiba, Tokyo, Japan
1998 Nantenshi Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
2006 Facial Index New York, New York
2011 "Umbrella Plants" Gallery MC New York
2014 "Triangles" Gallery MC, New York
Group Exhibitions:
1972 “Contemporary Japanese Art,” Union Carbide Building, New York
1976-77 “Contemporary Reflections,” Aldrich Museum of Contemporary Arts, Connecticut
1979 “Windows on the East,” A Survey of Contemporary Japanese Art at World Trade Center, New York
1980 “Art Today 80,” SEIBU Museum of Art, Tokyo, Japan
1987 “The Tenth Anniversary Exhibition, Painting 1977-87,” The National Museum of Art, Osaka, Japan
1991 “90 Fukuyama Art Project,” Fukuyama Museum of Art, Hiroshima, Japan
1992 “NICAF Yokohama ’92,” Kanagawa, Japan
1994 “Betrayal/Empowerment” by Asian American Centre at Columbia University, New York
1995 “Modern Art of Japan,” The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo, Japan
1996 “New Acquisitions Show,” The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo, Japan
1998 “Aspects of Line,” The National Museum of Art, Osaka, Japan
2001 “Japanese Artists in New York,” Takamatsu City Museum of Art, Japan
2002 “New Acquisitions and Study for Contemporary Art” Hiroshima City Museum of Contemporary Art, Japan
2005 “Assemblage” Takamatsu City Museum of Art, Japan
2006 “Seeing/Creating Continuum” Postmodernism Art, curated by Teruo Fujieda at Musashino Art University, Tokyo, Japan
2006 “Black & White,” Holland Tunnel, New York
2007 “Making A Home: Japanese Contemporary Artists in New York,” curated by Eric C. Shiner
2008 “Yasuo Ihara, Toshihisa Yoda, Robert Dandarov, Predrag Dimitrijevic,” Gallery MC, curated by Gorazd Poposki
2009 “GRAND TOUR 2,” Gallery MC, organized by Gorazd Poposki
2013 “Abstraction” Toshihisa Yoda / “Welcome Aboard” Junko Yoda, Gallery MC, New York, curated by Gorazd Poposki
2014 “An Homage to Takashi Tsujii / Seiji Tsutsumi” Exhibition 2014, Sezon Museum of Modern Art, Karuizawa, Nagano, Japan