Beginning his career as a painter, Umetsu Yoichi received great acclaim for his series of self-portraits that critically assessed the development of modern Japanese painting since the second half of the nineteenth century. In addition to painting, his prolific practice encompasses filmed performances and, in recent years, ceramic works. Moreover, he is also active as a curator and writer, and runs a collective called Parplume. His recent major solo exhibitions include floating pollen (Aichi Prefectural Museum of Art, Japan, 2017) and Yoichi Umetsu: Pollinator (Watari Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo, 2021), while his group shows include Weavers of Worlds—A Century of Flux in Japanese Modern / Contemporary Art (Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo, 2019) and Bubbles / Debris: Art of the Heisei Period 1989–2019 (Kyoto City KYOCERA Museum of Art, 2021).