Shigeo TOYA

Biography

• 1947 Born in Kamiminochi-gun, Nagano Prefecture, Japan
• 1973 Graduated from Aichi Prefectural University of Fine Arts and Music, Department of Sculpture
• 1988 Participated in the 43rd Venice Biennale
  • Received the 1st Fumio Asakura Prize
• 1990 Received the 18th Nagano City Sculpture Award
• 1995 Received the 17th Denchu Hirakushi Award
• 2000 Participated in the 3rd Gwangju Biennale (Awarded the Asia Prize)
• 2002 Received the Enku Grand Prize and the Enku Award at the 2nd Enku Awards
• 2004 Received the Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology’s Art Encouragement Prize, Japan
• 2006–2018 Served as a Professor at Musashino Art University
• 2009 Awarded the Medal with Purple Ribbon by the Government of Japan
• 2015 Received the Teijiro Nakahara Prize
• 2022 Held the retrospective exhibition “Toya Shigeo: Sculpture” at the Nagano Prefectural Art Museum
• 2022–2023 The retrospective exhibition “Toya Shigeo: Sculpture” traveled from the Nagano Prefectural Art Museum to The Museum of Modern Art, Saitama.
• 2025　Awarded the Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Rosette by the Government of Japan.
  Held the solo exhibition “Body of the Gaze: Semi-Sculpture” at ShugoArts, Tokyo (October–November), which became his final solo exhibition during his lifetime.
• 2026　Passed away on April 15 at the age of 78.
  The memorial exhibition “In Memory of Shigeo Toya: The Sculptor” was held at ShugoArts, Tokyo (June).

From V, 1998
Wood, ash, and acrylic Total length approx. 21 m