CV
Mitsuko Brooks
b. Misawa Air Base, Aomori Prefecture, Japan
Lives and works in Lenapahoking (Brooklyn, New York)
Education
2021 MLIS & Certificate in Archives and Preservation of Cultural Materials, Queens College (CUNY), Flushing, NY
2017 MFA in Painting and Drawing, University of California Los Angeles (UCLA), CA
2005 BFA, Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art, New York, NY
2000 The Oxbow School, Napa Valley, CA
Solo and Two Person Exhibitions
2024 Page Gallery, Mail Art Paintings, New York, NY
2023 Brattleboro Museum & Art Center, Letters Mingle Souls, curated by David Rios Ferreira, Brattleboro, VT
2019 Steve Turner, Return to Sender, Los Angeles, CA
2017 UCLA New Wight Gallery, MFA Thesis, Los Angeles, CA
2012 Newhouse Center for Contemporary Art, Snug Harbor Cultural Center & Botanical Garden, SI, NY
2005 Cooper Union, Senior Thesis, New York, NY
Selected Group Exhibitions
2023 Sikkema Jenkins & Co., curated by Josephine Halvorson, New York, NY
The Hammer Museum, Break Room by Los Angeles Contemporary Archive, Los Angeles, CA
Sotheby’s Art Institute, Interwoven Souls: United in Loneliness, New York, NY
Westbeth Gallery, Westside Exposure: 2023 Whitney Staff Show, New York, NY
The Yard, CALL ME BY MY NAME, curated by Sika Foyer, Brooklyn, NY
Community School, Rhythm, curated by Jade Novarino, Milwaukee, OR
Allegheny College Gallery, Invented Archives, curated by Paula Burleigh, Meadville, PA
2022 NIAD Art Center, Feeling Language, curated by Kate Laster, Richmond, CA
Helen J Gallery, Books and Things, curated by Cameron Masters, Los Angeles, CA
Elizabeth Foundation for the Arts, between and within, curated by Claire Kim, New York, NY
MoMA PS1, LOVE POSITIVE WOMEN 2022, Presented by Visual AIDS, LIC, NY
Green Shutter House, curated by Matt Smoak, New Haven, CT
2021 Whitney Center for the Arts, Rites of Passage, Pittsfield, MA
2020 Printed Matter, We Live in Real Time: A Window Exhibition of Mail Art Made During the Pandemic, NY, NY
2020 Empty Set Gallery, Expect Some Discomfort, Bronx, NY
2020 Dream Farm Commons, How are you showing care?, Oakland, CA
2020 A.I.R. Gallery, Fe Mail Art, Brooklyn, NY
2019 Japanese American Museum of San Jose, Agarianaaa curated by AAWAA, San Jose, CA
2019 Art Salon Chinatown, Singing in the Dark: A Meditation on Migration, Los Angeles, CA
2019 Ochi Projects, Between Where We Were & Where We’re Headed, Los Angeles, CA
2019 SWIM Gallery, SHARKS, San Francisco, CA
2019 POST Gallery, Texts & Messages, Los Angeles, CA
2019 Field Projects, Show #55: NO PLACE LIKE, New York, NY
2019 ESMoA, 39: EAT, El Segundo, CA
2018 Steve Turner Gallery, Through-Line: Drawing & Weaving by 19 Artists, Los Angeles, CA
2018 Elizabeth Foundation for the Arts, Endless Editions Biennial, New York, NY
2018 341 FSN, Seeds of Our Grandmother’s Dreams curated by JAWS, Los Angeles, CA
2018 CUNSTHAUS & Tempus Projects, Migrant Mothers, Tampa, FL
2018 Makeroom LA, A Body of Her Own, Los Angeles, CA
2017 Smack Mellon, Race and Revolution: Still Separate-Still Unequal, Brooklyn, NY
2017 Chashama, Whitney Houston Biennial: The Greatest Love of All, New York, NY
2016 UCLA New Wight Gallery, MFA [Preview] 2017 Exhibition, Los Angeles, CA
2016 UCLA Sculpture Gallery, HYSTERICS, Los Angeles, CA
2015 Rush Arts Gallery, NY State of Mind, Curator: Larry Ossei-Mensah, New York, NY
2015 Pet Project Gallery, First Annual Headphone Festival, San Francisco, CA
2014 Materials for the Arts, Reuse Remixed Small Works Show, LIC, NY
2014 Kunsthalle Galapagos, (Un)Mediated, Brooklyn, NY
2014 California College of the Arts' Campus Center Gallery, Oxbow Alumni Exhibition, San Francisco, CA
2014 SOMArts Cultural Center, Eating Cultures, San Francisco, CA
2014 Minnesota Center for Book Arts, Fluxjob, Minneapolis, MN
2014 Artist Curated Projects (ACP), One Thing Then Another, Curator: Jacob Robichaux, Los Angeles, CA
2013 Richmond Art Gallery, Memory: International Mail Art Exhibition, B.C., Canada
2013 The Center for Strategic Art and Architecture, Bodega Night, Brooklyn, NY
2013 SOMArts Cultural Center, underCurrents & the Quest for Space with AAWAA, S.F., CA
2013 San Francisco Art Institute, Walter & McBean Galleries, GUTAI, S.F., CA
2012 Muriel Guepin Gallery, To Be Considered, Brooklyn, NY
2012 SOHO20 Gallery, BACKLASH/On women’s basic rights and freedoms, NYC
2012 Stephan Stoyanov Gallery, Flowers for You, NYC
2012 Oakland Asian Cultural Center, Crossing Borders, Oakland, CA
2012 Thoreau Center for Sustainability, Hungry Ghost: Yearning for Fulfillment, AAWAA, SF, CA
2012 Family Business, Itsa Small, Small World, Curator: Hennessy Youngman, NYC
2012 C.A.G.E., PDF Release in collaboration with AGWF, NYC
Collections
Archives of American Art, Smithsonian, Washington, DC
Artexte Information Centre, Montreal, Canada
Cooper Union Library, New York, NY
Dream Farms Commons, Oakland, CA
Los Angeles Contemporary Archive, Los Angeles, CA
Printed Matter, New York, NY
Grants, Awards & Residencies
Artist-in-Residence, LMCC Arts Center, Governors Island, NY, 2023
Artist-in-Residence, Elizabeth Foundation for the Arts SHIFT, 2022
White Columns Curated Artist Registry, 2022
Smithsonian Artist Research Fellowship (SARF) Nomination, 2020-21
New American Paintings, #135 MFA Annual, 2018
Field Grant, Common Field, 2017
Artist-in-Residence, Wassaic Artist Residency Program, New York, 2013
Curate NYC Selection by Larry Ossei-Mensah, 2013
Edward & Sally Van Lier Fellowship, 2012
Artist-in-Residence, SHARP, Snug Harbor Cultural Center & Botanical Garden, 2012
February Short List Selection, BRIC Contemporary Artist Registry, 2012
Top-Ranked 150 Entries by the Curate NYC, 2011
Selected Bibliography
“9 Art Events to Attend in New York City This Week.” ARTnews. 19 June 2017.
Art Forum Artguide New York Must See 23 February 2024.
Chibbaro, Julie. The Poughkeepsie Journal. “Book art on display at Beacon library.” Poughkeepsie: 2012.
Contemporary Art Daily. “Mitsuko Brooks Mail Art Paintings.” 2024.
Aaron Finbloom(2016) Play, Process, and the Unknown, Performance Research, 21:6, 79-86, 2016.
Fressola, Michael J. Staten Island Advance. “Cutting edge art is showcased at Snug Harbor.” New York: 2012.
Fuller, Christian. “February Short List Curator.” BRIC Contemporary Art. New York: 2012.
Held, John. Asian American Women Artists Association: “undercurrents and the Quest for Space.” SF Arts Quarterly. San Francisco: May 2013.
Mousse Magazine. “Mitsuko Brooks ‘Mail Art Paintings’ at PAGE (NYC), New York.” 3 January 2024.
“Photo Report: Spring UCLA Open Studios.” Artslant. 1 June 2015.
“Shopping for Art in Bushwick Bodegas.” Ridgewood Times. Print, 19 September 2013. Web. 3 October 2014.
“Under the Radar: MITSUKO BROOKS/HUNTER HOGAN/MYRA FLORES ALVAREZ. Web. 3 August 2018.
Artist Lectures
Works on Paper course Visiting Artist, Kutztown University, Kutztown, PA, April 6, 2023
Invented Archives with Dr. Soledad Caballero, Allegheny College, Meadville, PA, February 13, 2023
Virtual Artist Talk + Curator Walkthrough, NIAD Art Center, Richmond, PA, Oct. 7, 2022
Guest Speaker, Amplify Responding in Context, San Diego State University (SDSU) Art + Design, San Diego, CA, September 9, 2021
Visiting Artist Lecture, UCLA Department of Art, Beginning Drawing with Patty Wickman, Los Angeles CA, May 6, 2021
Mood & Habit Tracker with Mitsuko Brooks, We RISE presented by Liberated Arts Collective, May 15, 2021
Slide Slam, Asian American Women Artist Association, San Francisco, CA, March 2021.
Artist Talk with YouthCAN, Wing Luke Museum of the Asian Pacific American Experience, Seattle, WA, November 2020.
Mail Art with Mitsuko Brooks, Printed Matter, April 2020.
Artist Presentation, Sustainable Little Tokyo Arts Action Committee, Japanese American Cultural & Community Center, Los Angeles, CA, July 2019.
Slide Slam with Margo Machida, Asian American Women Artists Association, San Francisco, CA, January 2018.
Visiting Alumni Artist Lecture, Oxbow School, Napa Valley, CA, April 2017.
Guest Artist Lecture, Mason Gross School of Arts Rutgers University, February 2015.
Smithsonian’s A DAY IN THE LIFE OF ASIAN PACIFIC AMERICAN Artist lecture, CineVision, May 2014.
Self-Published Artist Books & Zines
Who Cares About These Feelings? Mail Art 2015-2016, Los Angeles, CA 2016.
Who Cares About These Feelings? Mail Art 2009-2015, Los Angeles, CA, 2015.
Dissonances of the Diaspora, New York, NY, 2014.
Blackberry Scratches, New York, NY, 2003.
Cut Up Diary, collaboration with Michele Lee, New York, NY, 2002.
Taijin Kyoufu, New York, NY, 2001.
Why Am I So Scared: Distance Makes the Heart Grow Fonder, New York, NY, 2000
I Wish You Believe In Yourself More, Aviano, Italy, 1999.
Granny's Attic, 1996. Ultra Violet Q-tips, 1995.