Pictures of Belonging: Miki Hayakawa, Hisako Hibi, and Miné Okubo

a painting of an interment camp wtih rows of wood shacks leading into a gray desert there is a red, stormy sky above

February 24, 2024

June 30, 2024

Miki Hayakawa, Hisako Hibi, and Miné Okubo were three of the most active and visible female artists of Japanese descent of the pre-World War II generations. Their critically acclaimed careers spanned eight decades and four US states, yet the full extent of their work has been understudied in 20th-century American art history. Pictures of Belonging is an unprecedented (re)introduction that features more than 100 artworks by these trailblazers, with many on public display for the first time. By tracing their prewar, wartime, and postwar artistic production, Pictures of Belonging illuminates an expanded view of the “American experience” by women who used artmaking to “take up space,” to make their presence and existence visible, and to assert that they belonged.

painted self portraits of trehh women artists place side by side in one file — Images from left to right: Hisako Hibi, Study for a Self-Portrait, ca. 1944. Japanese American National Museum 99.63.1, Miki Hayakawa, Untitled (Woman with Blue Hair), ca. 1930s. Oil on canvas, 18 x 19.25 in. Collection of Richard Sakai, and Miné Okubo, Portrait Study, ca. 1937. Tempera on panel, 23.5 x 19.5 in. SAAM

Hibi and Okubo were unjustly imprisoned at Topaz near Delta, Utah, from 1942 until 1944/45. Their depictions of life in Utah during this time add special significance to this exhibition at the UMFA, the first venue to host Pictures of Belonging on its national tour.

For more information about and ticketing for the Pictures of Belonging Preview Party, see here.

A painting of a black man sitting and posing in a blue suit with a matching bow tie in front of a red background

An abstract painting of a street a person on a street at night, waiting for a bus. There are little, yellow lights lining the street and greenery and buildings in the background. There is a visible full moon in the sky

A painting of three people in warm clothing, standing in a huddle, bracing themselves from the wind. There are homes, power lines and a dark sky in the background.

A painting of a man laying on the ground on his stomach, propping himself up on his elbows. He is next to a pot with white lilies on his left. There is a stove in the background and a bowl of fruit on his left side.

A painting with a multi-colored, faded background and poems written in Japanese in black ink in the foreground

A bright, colorful painting of a boy in a bucket hat, holding grapes. There is a goat standing in front of him with a bowl of fruit balancing on its back. There are flowers in the foreground and leaves in the background on the side.

A portrait of a girl in a blue sweater with a necklace and long brown hair with a yellow ribbon tie around the top of her head

An abstract painting with a warm-tone background and basic shapes stacked on top of each other to create abstract formations in black, orange, white, yellow and red.

The traveling version of Pictures of Belonging is curated by Dr. ShiPu Wang and is organized by the Japanese American National Museum in Los Angeles, California. This exhibition is made possible through support from the Terra Foundation for American Art and is supported, in part, by the National Endowment for the Arts.

Terra Foundation and National Endowment for the Arts Logos in Black

PRESENTING SPONSOR:

Bank of America

CURATORIAL SPONSORS:

George S. and Dolores Dorè Eccles Foundation
Stephanie and Tim Harpst

INSTALLATION SPONSORS:

The Tozer Endowment for Special Exhibitions
The Dumke Endowment for Special Exhibitions

Image: Hisako Hibi, Eastern Sky 750 A.M., Feb. 25, 1945. Japanese American National Museum 96.601.47

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Image: Hisako Hibi, Eastern Sky 750 A.M., Feb. 25, 1945. Japanese American National Museum 96.601.47

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