Originally from Japan, Michiko Itatani asserts that she is a “made in America” artist.  Her paintings reflect her lifelong interest in science fiction and the cosmic and are inhabited by hovering circles of light that suggest a spirit, a possibility, a place to go, Infinite Hope.

Based in Chicago, Itatani received her MFA from the Art Institute of Chicago and subsequently taught Painting and Drawing at her alma mater until her retirement in 2019.  Always prolific, Itatani’s focus continues to be on her studio practice.

Michiko Itatani’s work has been seen in more than a hundred solo and group exhibitions nationally and internationally since 1973. Her works are in many corporate, public, and private collections, including those of The Art Institute of Chicago; Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago; Olympic Museum, Switzerland; Villa Haiss Museum, Germany; Musèe du Quebec, Canada; Museu D’art Contemporani (MACBA), Barcelona; Hyogo Art Museum, Kobe, Japan; National Museum of Contemporary Art, Seoul, Korea.

Michiko Itatani has received Illinois Arts Council Artist’s Fellowships, a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship, a Marie Sharp Walsh New York Studio Grant and a John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship. She received the 2020 Lifetime Achievement Award from the Woman’s Caucus for Art together with Joyce Fernandes, Judy Onofrio, Alison Saar and Judith Stein.