A multidisciplinary artist (video, sculpture, installation and performance)
Lives and works in Gardena, California
Education
2014 Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture
2009 MFA Claremont Graduate University
2004 BFA magna cum laude California State University Long Beach
1994 BA magna cum laude University of California Los Angeles (Ancient Greek and Latin)
1994 BA University of California Los Angeles (Communication Studies)
Awards and Residencies
2022 Kohler Arts/Industry Artist-in-Residence (Foundry), Kohler, Wisconsin
2022 Bemis Contemporary Arts Center Artist-in-Residence, Omaha, Nebraska
2022 Marble House Project Artist Residency, Dorset, Vermont
2021-22 City of Los Angeles (COLA) Individual Artist Fellowship in Visual Arts
2022 Los Angeles Artadia Award Finalist
2021 Ali Youssefi Project WAL Residency, Sacramento, California
2021 Elizabeth Murray Artist Residency, Troy, New York
2021 Los Angeles Artadia Award Finalist, Los Angeles, California
2020 Joan Mitchell Foundation Painters and Sculptors Grant Nominee (Final Round), New York, New York
2019 Vermont Studio Center National Endowment for the Arts Creative Equity Fellowship, Johnson, Vermont
2018-2019 California State University Dominguez Hills Praxis Artist in Residence, Carson, California
2018 Foundation for Contemporary Arts Emergency Grant, New York, New York
2018 Peripheral Vision Press Salon 2018 Publication Fellow, Dallas, Texas
2018 bar-fund Artist Grant, Los Angeles, California
2017 4th National Louisiana Biennial Best of Show, Louisiana Tech University School of Design, Ruston, Louisiana
2016 ACRE Residency, Steuben, Wisconsin
2015 Antenna Open Call Winner, New Orleans, Louisiana
2015 Smack Mellon Hot Picks Program, Brooklyn, New York
2015 Third National Louisiana Biennial Honorable Mention, Louisianan Tech University School of Design, Ruston, Louisiana
2012 California Community Foundation for Visual Artists Emerging Artist Fellow, Los Angeles, California
2010 Mediars International Workshop, Rieti, Italy
2007-2008 Claremont Graduate Fellowship, Claremont, California
2007-2008 Claremont Graduate University, School of Humanities Art Fellow, Claremont, California
Solo Exhibitions
2024 KOKO’s Love: Transitions, Gloria’s, New York, New York (Upcoming TBD)
2023 Grandma Entertainment Franchise, Vincent Price Art Museum, Monterey Park, California (October 2023)
2019 KOKO’s Neighborhood, University Art Gallery, California State University Dominguez Hills, Carson, California
2018 KOKO’s Love: The Technicolor Unfairy Tale Ball, Verge Center for the Arts, Sacramento, California
2018 Yoshie Sakai, Online Solo Exhibition, DE : FORMAL (https://www.deformal.com/yoshie-sakai)
2018 We Interrupt Your Regularly Scheduled Programming To Bring You…KOKO’s Love, Moffett Gallery, Louisiana Tech University School of Design, Ruston, Louisiana
2017 KOKO’s Love: Screening and Performance, Torrance Shipman, Brooklyn, New York
2017 KOKO’s Love, Groundspace Project, Los Angeles, California
2016 KOKO’s Love: A Soap Opera Tale of One Family, Antenna, New Orleans, Louisiana
2012 The Dark Room presents Yoshie Sakai, Torrance Art Museum, Torrance, California
2009 That’s Amore, Deborah Martin Gallery, Los Angeles, California
2008 Time shoots because it is beautiful in the present, MFA Exhibition, East Gallery, Claremont Graduate University, Claremont, California
2008 Family Dinner Conversation, Claremont Graduate University, Claremont, California
2008 Weigh In, The Atrium, Claremont Graduate University, Claremont, California
Selected Group Exhibitions
2023 Love: What A Wonderful World, Munzón Gallery, Long Beach, California
2023 Bridging The Pacific—Los Angeles Art of the Japanese Diaspora, Torrance Art Museum, Torrance, California
2022 City of Los Angeles (COLA) Individual Artist Fellowship Exhibition, Los Angeles Municipal Arts Gallery, Los Angeles, California (July)
2022 Companions in Misfortunes, Video Screening at LA Artcore, Los Angeles, California. June 10-11, 2022.
2021 Personal Histories: Work by 2021 AYP AIR Artists, Verge Center for the Arts, Sacramento, California
2020 Mixology, Video Shorts Screening (KOKO’s Love: Episode 3) for Undiscovered Works, December 13, 2020, New York, New York
2020 Package Nocturnes, ArtCenter DTLA Windows, Los Angeles, California
2020 Mixology, Video Shorts Screening (KOKO’s Love: Episode 2) for Undiscovered Works, October 11, 2020, New York, New York
2020 Apart or A Part: a compilation from LA Freewaves, August 11 - August 16, 2020, Oxy Arts, Los Angeles, California
2020 Mixology, Video Shorts Screening (KOKO’s Love: Episode 1) for Undiscovered Works, August 9, 2020, New York, New York
2020 Story Time with Hiroshi, Performance for the LADOT/DCA Transformation Through Transportation Virtual Telethon, June 27, 2020, Los Angeles, California
2020 Positive Pandemic Experiment (PPE), Instagram Group Exhibition (@positivepandemicexperiment)
2020 Art Virus 20 (JJARTMAP Traveling Exhibition), Gallery Giant’s Garden (Jeju, Korea), Space BANANA Project (Daegu, Korea), Gyeongmin Museum of Contemporary Art (Uijeongbu, Korea), Craft Art Museum Baunchen (Jeollanam-do, Korea)
2020 LOVE 2020: Perfect Vision, LeRoy Neiman Gallery, Columbia University, New York, New York
2019 Bad Habits as part of the The Wrong Biennale 2019/2020, online at Bad Habits presented by DE : FORMAL (November 1st 2019 to March 1st 2020)
2019 Layered Lenses, GP3, Irvine, California
2019 2019 Every Woman Biennial, Bendix Building, Los Angeles, California
2019 FEMMEBIT Fest 2019 (May 31-June 2, 2019), Civic Center Studios, Los Angeles, California
2019 Made in Asian America, Art Salon Chinatown, Los Angeles, California
2019 Fridge Show, Vermont Studio Center: Diney House, Johhson, Vermont(March 2019)
2019 The Autotopographers, John Michael Kohler Arts Center, Sheboygan, Wisconsin
2018 Parlor presents(December 9, 2018), Parlor, Los Angeles, California
2018 Totenpass, Visitor Welcome Center, Los Angeles, California
2018 Adultphobia as part of The Screening Project: Dongshi Sangyoung, Open Box, Seoul, Korea
2018 Juried Exhibition 2018, Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery, Los Angeles, California
2018 Mickey Mouse has grown up a Cow, University Art Mueseum, University at Albany, Albany, New York
2018 Between a rock and a hard place, wərkärtz, Los Angeles, California
2018 Dream small. Visitor Welcome Center, Los Angeles, California
2018 LOVE 2018 Purple Hearts, LeRoy Neiman Gallery, Columbia University, New York, New York
2018 Performance of KOKO’s Love: Episode 3 for Twin Engines, PØST, Los Angeles, California
2017 The Political Seducer’s Diary, Performance Art Houston, Houston, Texas
2017 Fair. Play, December 7, 2017, Brickell City Centre, Miami, Florida
2017 KOKO’s Love, Terminal, Austin Peay State University, Clarksville, Tennessee
2017 Bitter Candy, Gallery II, Vermont Studio Center, Johnson, Vermont
2017 Aliens with Extraordinary Abilities, Fellows of Contemporary Art (FOCA), Los Angeles, California
2017 4th National Louisiana Biennial, Louisiana Tech University School of Design, Ruston, Louisiana
2017 stARTup Art Fair Video Installation, January 27-29, 2017, Highland Gardens Hotel, Los Angeles, California
2016 LA x Kobe Exchange Exhibition, Kobe Design University, Kobe, Japan
2016 S E G U E I N G, Character Projects, Los Angeles, California
2016 Dada Here & Now, Fort Mason Center For Arts and Culture, San Francisco, California
2016 Eternal Telethon, Human Resources, Los Angeles, California
2016 Americanism, Durden and Ray, Los Angleles, California
2016 Tales That Must Be Told: Contemporary Narrative Art, Cypress College Art Gallery, Cypress, California
2016 SKIN, Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery, Los Angeles, California
2016 LOVE 2016, LeRoy Neiman Gallery, Columbia University, New York, New York
2016 Yoshie Sakai on Our Prime Property, Our Prime Property: www.ourprimeproperty.org/yoshie-sakai
2015 Biomythography: Secret Poetry and Hidden Angers, William Rolland Gallery of Art, California Lutheran University, Thousand Oaks, California
2015 Hyakka Ryouran: Riot Of Flowers, Eastside International, Los Angeles, California
2015 Kuwento Engkuwentro: Angeleno Folklore, Legends, & Sidewalk Stories, Pico House, El Pueblo de Los Angeles Historical Monument, Los Angeles, California
2015 Staking Claim, Last Projects, Los Angeles, California
2015 Gong Show, Eastside International, Los Angeles, California
2015 Homing Pigeon 4: Kyoto, Gallery Antenna, Kyoto, Japan
2015 Intervention, A Ship In The Woods, Del Mar, California
2015 Third National Louisiana Biennial, Louisiana Tech University School of Design, Ruston, Louisiana
2014 Something Within, DAC Gallery, Los Angeles, California
2014 Full Circle: 25 Years of First Street Gallery & CGU Art, First Street Gallery and CGU Peggy Phelps and East Gallery, Claremont, California
2014 Biomythography: Secret Poetry and Hidden Angers, East Gallery, Claremont Graduate University, Claremont, California
2014 Itch Scratch Scar, Fellows of Contemporary Art (FOCA), Los Angeles, California
2014 Transforming Feminisms, South Bay Contemporary, Rolling Hills Estates, California
2014 Summercamp’s ProjectProject presents “Thaumatrope”, First Street Gallery, Claremont, California
2014 Eating Cultures presented by the Asian American Women Artist Association and Asian Pacific Islander Cultural Center, SOMArts Cultural Center, San Francisco, California
2014 L.A. Heat: Taste Changing Condiments, Chinese American Museum, Los Angeles, California
2014 LA n CV, Coachella Valley Art Center, Indio, California
2014 #ImNotBuyingIt, The Arcade, Los Angeles, California
2014 Unruly, Wignall Museum of Contemporary Art, Chaffey College, Rancho Cucamonga, California
2013 POLARITY, LIFT Gallery, Greensboro College, Greensboro, North Carolina
2013 Compass, Orange County Center for Contemporary Art (OCCCA), Santa Ana, California
2013 Global Hybrid: HERo.e.S/HER open eyeS, Meta House, Phnom Penh, Cambodia
2013 FIREWORKS!, MUC Collaborative, Summercamp’s ProjectProject, Los Angeles, California
2013 underCurrents & the Quest for Space presented by the Asian American Women Artist Association and Asian Pacific Islander Cultural Center, SOMArts Cultural Center, San Francisco, California
2013 Have you seen my privacy?, Concord, Los Angeles, California
2013 Turbulent Times, Chime&Co., Los Angeles, California
2013 A Song of Soil and Wind, Crafton Hills College Art Gallery, Yucaipa, California
2013 Poor/Fancy, Upstairs at the Market Gallery, Los Angeles, California
2013 Hybrid Globalization 2013, Hancock University Gallery, Long Beach, California
2013 I Promise to Write More, Passerby Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California
2013 Doing Pennants, Fifth Floor Gallery, Los Angeles, California
2012 A Dinner for The End of The World, MUC Collaborative, Dutch Door, Los Angeles, California
2012 L.A. Road Concerts Mulholland Drive, MUC Collaborative, Los Angeles, California
2012 8th Annual AiOP (Art in Odd Places): MODEL, MUC Collaborative, 14th Street, New York, New York
2012 Abject Deco, Zask Gallery, Rolling Hills Estates, California
2012 Case Study Los Angeles II: On The Perimeter, JAUS and Concrete Walls Projects, Los Angeles, California
2012 Fall Residency II: Welcome at Side Street Projects, Summercamp’s ProjectProject, Pasadena, California
2012 Carnival of Insecurities, MUC Collaborative, Raid Projects, Los Angeles, California
2012 Night Light Multimedia Garden Party, SOMArts Cultural Center, San Francisco, California
2011 Third Strike: 100 Performances for the Hole, MUC Collaborative, SOMArts Cultural Center, San Franciso, California
2011 Messy Aspirations, Riverside Arts Council, Riverside, California
2011 Start the ball rolling again, Summercamp’s ProjectProject, Los Angeles, California
2011 Housewarming, 2325 Merton Avenue Apt 3, Los Angeles, California
2011 No Dialogue at ArtpadSF, Phoenix Hotel, San Francisco, California
2011 Self-Help Yourself: “Karaoke Therapy”, MUC Collaborative, Raid Projects, Los Angeles, California
2011 The Quotidian World Video Art Exhibition, Cypress College Art Gallery, Cypress, California
2011 Love/Hate Exhibit 2011, Picture This Art Gallery, Long Beach, California
2010 Mediars 2010 Group Exhibition Shadows In A Cave, a collaborative interactive video installation by Anne Herlihy, Daniel Lint, - Paola Mileto, Yoshie Sakai, Rieti Sotteranea (Rieti Underground), Rieti, Italy
2010 Global Hybrid II: Artists from 3 Countries – Cambodia, Korea & United States, Hancock University, Long Beach, California
2010 Projections at the Mandrake, MUC Collaborative, Los Angeles, California
2010 That’s Amore (Part II), The Annex, Downtown Los Angeles February Art Walk, Los Angeles, California
2009 LA to OC – Emphasis: Extreme, Orange County Center for Contemporary Art (OCCCA), Santa Ana, California
2009 Global Hybrid, The Meta-House, Phnom Penh, Cambodia Girlie Show, Bordello, Los Angeles, California
2009 Transformations II Bringing Contemporary Khmer/American Art to Long Beach, 2nd City Council Art Gallery + Performance Space, Long Beach, California
2009 New Media Symposium, University of Texas at San Antonio, San Antonio, Texas
2009 Supersonic at the LA Art Show, Los Angeles Convention Center, West Hall, Los Angeles, California
2008 Gray Scale, Peggy Phelps and East Gallery, Claremont Graduate University, Claremont, California
2008 Here and Now, Peggy Phelps Gallery, Claremont Graduate University, Claremont, California
2008 MashUp, Arena 1, Santa Monica, California
2008 Greater Los Angeles Masters of Fine Arts Exhibition, California State University Long Beach, Long Beach, California
2008 Transformations, A Group Exhibition, The Meta House, Phnom Penh, Cambodia
2007 And Repeat, Claremont City Hall, Claremont, California
2007 The Fourth Leg, Peggy Phelps and East Gallery, Claremont Graduate University, Claremont, California
2007 California Open Exhibition, TAG Gallery, Santa Monica, California
2006 Coincidental Chemistry, Garage Gallery, Pasadena, California
2005 Horizon, The Gatov Gallery East, California State University Long Beach, Long Beach, California
2005 46,080 Inches2 of Skin, Flesh, Bones, The Gatov Gallery, California State University Long Beach, Long Beach, California
2004 Off The Wall, The Werby Gallery, California State University Long Beach, Long Beach, California
2004 Drawing and Painting Exhibition, The Gatov Gallery, California State University Long Beach, Long Beach, California
Screenings and Film Festivals
2018 Nightly Film Screenings as part of Maiden LA, August 19, 2018, Creative Space For Lease, Los Angeles, California
2018 Adultphobia as part of “The Screening Project: Dongshi Sangyoung,” Open Box, Seoul, Korea
2018 Movie Night with Alan Nakagawa: KOKO’s Love: Episode 3, Visitor Welcome Center, Los Angeles, California
2017 Virago Video Screening, November 16, 2017, HILDE L.A., Los Angeles, California
2017 FEAST, Porn Festival Berlin, Berlin, Germany
2016 19th Annual Antimatter Film Festival, October 14 to 29, 2016, Open Space Arts Centre, Victoria, BC, Canada
2016 Divisions, Skowhegan HQ, New York, New York
2016 Femmes' Video Art Festival, Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions (LACE) and The Situation Room, Los Angeles, California
2015 Freewaves presents Long Live LA 2015, #FitInFitness Videos by Christina Pierson & Yoshie Sakai, Los Angeles, California
2015 The Situation Room Opening Video Screening, The Situation Room, Los Angeles, California
2014 Antimatter [media art] Film Festival No. 17, Open Space Arts Centre, Victoria, BC, Canada
2014 Videotag, thinhstudio, Hawthorne, California
2014 BYOBeamer, March 7, 2014, Common LBAC, Long Beach, California
2013 Open Video Night, Torrance Art Museum, Torrance, California
2013 Backyard Video Festival, 1924 Landis Street, Burbank, California
2011 Antimatter Film Festival No. 14, Open Space Arts Centre, Victoria, BC, Canada
2011 2nd Fridays Summer Film Series: July 8, 2011, Mark Moore Gallery, Culver City, California
2010 ARKUFF (Arkansas Underground Film Festival), Malco Theatre Complex, Hot Springs National Park, Arkansas
2009 Antimatter Film Festival No. 12, Open Space Arts Centre, Victoria, BC, Canada
2009 Assume Nothing: New Social Practice, Art Gallery of Greater Victoria, Victoria, BC, Canada
2008 A B(o)MB Artoconecto Exhibition 2008, The Bakehouse Art Complex, Miami, Florida
2008 Hollywould…Freewaves 11th Festival of Experimental Media Arts, On Hollywood Boulevard, Hollywood, California
2008 Antimatter Film Festival No. 11, Open Space Arts Centre, Victoria, BC, Canada
2008 Bearded Child Film Festival, Myles Reif Performing Arts Center, Grand Rapids and Minneapolis, Minnesota
2007 Antimatter Underground Film Festival No. 10, Open Space Arts Centre, Victoria, BC, Canada
Bibliography
J.K. Yamamoto, “Artist Sakai Among Recipients of Dept. of Cultural Affairs Fellowships,” January 6, 2022. https://rafu.com/2022/01/artist-sakai-among-recipients-of-dept-of-cultural-affairs-fellowships/
Steph Rodriguez, “Verge Center for the Arts is forging connections in Sacramento through ‘Personal Histories’,” December 31, 2021. https://sacramento.newsreview.com/2021/12/31/verge-center-for-the-arts-is-forging-connections-in-sacramento-through-personal-histories/
Catherine Wagley, The Every Woman Biennial Defies Critical Evaluation, June 11, 2019.
https://hyperallergic.com/504590/the-every-woman-biennial-defies-critical-evaluation/
Genie Davis, KOKO’s Neighborhood by Yoshie Sakai, March 16, 2019.
https://artandcakela.com/2019/03/16/kokos-neighborhood-by-yoshie-sakai/
J.K. Yamamoto, Meet the Sakimotos, March 14, 2019.
http://www.rafu.com/2019/03/meet-the-sakimotos/
Traci Rockefeller Cusack, Verge Center for the Arts to Debut Immersive Video Installation Titled “KOKO’s Love”, Sacramento Press, August 30, 2018. https://sacramentopress.com/2018/08/30/verge-center-for-the-arts-to-debut-immersive-video-installation-titled-kokos-love/
Jessica Heath, “KOKO’s Love: A Technicolor Unfairy Tale Ball,” Sactown, October/November 2018, p. 77
Interview with Voyage LA, Art & Life with Yoshie Sakai, October 24, 2018.
http://voyagela.com/interview/art-life-yoshie-sakai/
Shiva Aliabadi, One Giant Nervous Laugh: The Complex Work of Yoshie Sakai, October 4, 2017.
https://pulsestream.wordpress.com/2017/10/04/one-giant-nervous-laugh-the-complex-work-of-yoshie-sakai/
Victoria Ayala, Featured Event: “Aliens with Extraordinary Abilities” | Los Angeles, California, August 3, 2017.
http://emergentartspace.org/forum/48252
Anna Garner, To Sojourn Inside Yoshie Sakai’s Surreal Soap Opera, Koko’s Love, February 11, 2017.
https://artandcakela.com/2017/02/06/to-sojourn-inside-yoshie-sakais-surreal-soap-opera-kokos-love/
Charlie Xie, LA-artist Yoshie Sakai’s “Scenic Tour of Life”, December 14, 2016.
http://artzealous.com/la-artist-yoshie-sakais-scenic-tour-of-life/
Taylor Murrow, Too Much TV: An Interview with Yoshie Sakai, August 30, 2016.
http://pelicanbomb.com/art-review/2016/too-much-tv-an-interview-with-yoshie-sakai
D. Eric Bookhardt, Review: KOKO’s Love: A Soap Opera Tale of One Family and Summer Crush, July 25, 2016. http://www.bestofneworleans.com/gambit/review-kokos-love-a-soap-opera-tale-of-one-family-and-summer-crush/Content?oid=2996655
Abe Ahn, Crafting Alternative Histories Through Memory and Myth, October 10, 2015. http://hyperallergic.com/233973/crafting-alternative-histories-through-memory-and-myth/
Kio Griffith, Fresh Faces In Art: Eight LA Artists You Should Know: Yoshie Sakai, Fabrik: Contemporary Art & Design – Issue 28, pp. 98-99. https://issuu.com/fabrik/docs/fabrik28/99?e=1031955/3670505
A video by Elettra Fiumi and Lea Khayata, Granny Cart Productions, Protesting sexism in our backyard, MSNBC Originals Breaking Glass, 04:19, March 25, 2015.
http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/watch/protesting-sexism-in-her-backyard-418157635835
Andrea Serna, Transforming Feminisms, October 2, 2014.
http://www.randomlengthsnews.com/2014/10/transforming-feminisms/
Steven Cuevas, In “L.A. Heat’” Art Exhibit, Sriracha and Tapatio Form Holy Union of Hot Sauce, March 21-23, 2014. http://www.californiareport.org/archive/R201403211630/e
Priscilla Frank, An Art Show Dedicated Entirely To Hot Sauce Is Making Our Spicy Dreams Come True, March 16, 2014. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/03/16/hot-sauce-art-show_n_4958900.html
Podcasts/Television
Proenza, Javier. “What’s My Thesis.” December 18, 2018, Binge Watching, Insecurity and Tarot Card Readings Pt II - Yoshie Sakai
Proenza, Javier. “What’s My Thesis.” December 18, 2018, Binge Watching, Insecurity and Tarot Card Readings Pt I - Yoshie Sakai
“Yoshie Sakai: On the Verge of good art.” Interview with Mark S. Allen, ABC 10, Sacramento, September 5, 2018. https://www.abc10.com/video/entertainment/television/programs/morning-blend/on-the-verge-of-good-art/103-8241945
“Yoshie Sakai: KOKO’s Love.” Interview by Tina Macuha, “Good Day Sacramento”, August 30, 2018. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j4jEMItninA
Choate, Andrew. “The Unwrinkled Ear.” February 13, 2018, http://archive.kchungradio.org/2018-020-13/the_unwrinkled_ear_with_yoshie_sakai-02.13.2018.mp3
Adams, Carris. “Too Many Degrees.” April 8, 2017 (Episode 11), https://www.carrisadams.com/project--too-many-degrees-podcast.html