Tomoe Yokoi (b1942)
Born in Nagoya, Japan, in 1942, Yokoi studied art in Tokyo where she was taught traditional compositions of the realistic everyday images of fruits, musical instruments, and flowers.
She later moved to Paris in 1964 to study under the great master of intaglio printing, Stanley Hayter at Atelier 17. By the time Yokoi moved to New York City in 1971, she had perfected the lessons of mezzotint, expanding its parameters to include complex multi-plate images of subtle colour nuances.
Combining European beaux-art subject matters with an oriental emphasis on asymmetry and elegant design, the mezzotints of Tomoe Yokoi have been exhibited throughout Europe and the United States at some of the most important print invitationals:
Norwegian International Print Biennial, Oslo (1972-4) Paris International Print Biennial (1972) 52nd SAGA National Print Exhibition, NY (1973) IKI International Art Fair, Desseldorf (1973) 4th British Intern. Print Biennial, Bradford (1974) Ljubljana Intern. Print Biennial, Yugoslavia (1976-81)
Yokoi’s prints are included in the museum collections of the National gallery (Oslo), the Musee d’Art Moderne (Paris), the Bibliotheque Nationale (Paris), Brooklyn Museum (New York), the New York Public Library, the Free Library (Philadelphia).