Ron Miyashiro
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Ronald Yoshiaki Miyashiro (born 1937) is an American artist who works in painting, jewelry making, and assemblage art. Miyashiro, a Japanese American born in Honolulu, Hawaii, first came to prominence in 1961 while still a student at Chouinard Art Institute in Los Angeles, when he appeared on the controversial poster for "War Babies," an influential exhibition[1] at Henry Hopkins' Huysman Gallery in Los Angeles, along with his friends and contemporaries Larry Bell, Ed Bereal, and Joe Goode. Miyashiro later moved from Los Angeles to New York City where he continues to make work in multiple media. His early work has enjoyed a resurgence in recent years, and has been included in a number of high-profile museum exhibitions devoted to art from the 1960s.
Miyashiro moved to Los Angeles, California in 1957, at the age of 19 to attend Chouinard, at the instigation of a cousin. Without a portfolio or any prior training in visual art,[2] Miyashiro was forced to take private lessons in order to create a portfolio so that he could get into Chouinard's program. While there, he studied painting with Robert Irwin, who introduced Miyashiro to the use of inexpensive house paints and strategies of assemblage. Irwin's influence[3] led directly to Miyashiro's major works of the early 1960s, wall-mounted small-scale assemblages consisting of found objects and dark, thick paint.[4] Richards Ruben, who was a major exponent of abstract expressionism in southern California, was also teaching at the time at Chouinard and was another important influence.[5] The postwar period at Chouinard was a high point for the institution, which became a seedbed for abstract expressionist practice in California, a key context for Miyashiro's work in the early 1960s.
