Makiko Kudo was born in 1978 in Aomori, Japan. In 2002, she graduated from the Oil Painting Department of Joshibi University of Art and Design. She currently lives and works in Kanagawa, Japan.
In 2002, she participated in a group exhibition curated by Tomio Koyama “Fragile Figures” (Palette Club, Tokyo) as well as a group exhibition curated by Takashi Murakami “Tokyo Girls Bravo 2” (NADiff, Tokyo). After 2004, she has presented her work in numerous exhibitions internationally and domestically.

In Makiko Kudo’s paintings, a mental image-landscape unfolds within which both things she encounters in daily life and the dream-like world of her imagination that have formed a single-harmonized entity. Her audacious compositions are over-brimmed with a sense of chaotic liveliness, dynamic yet detailed brushstrokes, balanced vibrant colors, and the multiple settings and perspectives which develop simultaneously within them.

Her major solo exhibitions were held at Tomio Koyama Gallery in 2016, Wilkinson Gallery, London in 2015 and 2012, Marc Foxx Gallery, LA in 2011 and Andersen’s Contemporary, Copenhagen in 2010. Her major group exhibitions include “The Way of Painting” (Tokyo Opera City Art Gallery, Tokyo, 2014), “The New International 2014” (Garage Museum of Contemporary Art, Moscow, 2014), “Towada Art Center 5th Anniversary Exhibition: flowers” (Towada Art Center, Aomori, 2013), “Body Language” (Saatchi Gallery, London, 2013), “Pathos and Small Narratives” (Gana Art Center, Seoul, 2011), “Pretty Baby” (Modern Art Museum, Modern Art museum, Fort Worth, TX, 2007), “MATRIX213: Some forgotten place” (Berkeley Art Museum & Pacific Film Archive, Berkeley, CA).

Kudo’s paintings have been acquired by the Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art, the Olbricht Collection (Germany), Saatchi Collection (London), Flowerman Collection, the Japan Foundation and the RyutaroTakahashi Collection (Tokyo). Her monograph “Turning” was published in 2012 from Tomio Koyama Gallery.