Chiharu Shiota
Courtesy of artist and SKIRA
Released March 25, this stunning new hardcover monograph is with internationally renowned female Japanese artist Chiharu Shiota ($55, 240 pages 150 color illustrations, published by SKIRA, dual-language English-French), in conjunction with the inaugural exhibition that just closed at the Grand Palais in Paris (which also served the launch of an exciting partnership between SKIRA and parent company Chargeurs Museum Studio with the newly opened venue). Spanning over 25 years of artistic practice, the book & exhibition features several large-scale installations alongside sculptures, performance videos, photographs, drawings, and documentary footage of her stage designs for dance and opera. Through her intricate installations and diverse mediums, Shiota reflects on the fragility of human existence and the tumultuous emotions that shape our lives, inviting readers & visitors to explore the depths of consciousness, relationships, and the essence of life itself.
Accumulation – Searching for the Destination, 2012, installation : valises anciennes, dimensions variables © ADAGP, Paris, 2024, et l’artiste / © Photo de Sunhi Mang
“I believe that everyone is connected if you are part of this society. People are connected to each other, but we are also linked to the universe. I feel like I have a universe inside of me and it is also connected to the outside universe that is why I paint this vast pattern. It is big and organic like the cells in our bodies, but it also resembles the universe that surrounds us.”
During Sleep, 2002, performance/installation : avec des personnes qui dorment pendant l’ouverture ; lits, laine noire, dimensions variables © ADAGP, Paris, 2024, et l’artiste / © Photo de Sunhi Mang
This extensive monograph documents the work of the Japanese artist Chiharu Shiota (born 1972 in Osaka, currently based in Berlin), who has created a distinctive and enthralling body of work – including drawings, sculptures and installations – rarely equaled for its depth and universality (among her career highlights is representing Japan in 2015 at the 56th Venice Biennale). More than a retrospective, this book is a comprehensive excursion into the daily life and work of this exceptional artist and provides a rare backstage glimpse at the mesmerizing, immersive installations and environments for which she is celebrated. Complete with abundant illustrations, an intimate interview and an insightful essay, this book explores the bold experimentation and rigorous critical thinking that lie behind Chiharu Shiota’s masterful works. In 2008, she received the Art Encouragement Prize from the Japanese Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology and her solo exhibitions across the world include Hammer Museum, Los Angeles (2023); Mori Art Museum, Tokyo (2019); Power Station of Art, Shanghai (2017); Smithsonian Institution Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Washington DC (2014); and the National Museum of Art, Osaka (2008).
Courtesy of artist and SKIRA
Produced in collaboration with the artist, the book features original interviews and text about the artist’s personal path, handwritten text, drawings and unpublished visual materials and photographs. Shiota’s inspiration often emerges from a personal experience or emotion which she expands into universal human concerns such as life, death and relationships. She has redefined the concept of memory and consciousness by collecting ordinary objects such as shoes, keys, beds, chairs and dresses, and engulfing them in immense thread structures. She explores this sensation of a "presence in the absence" with her installations, but also presents intangible emotions in her sculptures, drawings, performance videos, photographs and canvases.
Courtesy of artist and SKIRA
The book is edited under the direction of Denise Wendel-Poray, with texts by Andrea Jahn and Christelle Pélissier-Roy. Denise Wendel-Poray is a Canadian writer, editor and curator. She is the author of books and essays concerning the relationship between art, theatre and music. Her books with SKIRA include The Last Days of the Opera (2022) and Painting the Stage: Artists as Stage Designers (2019). German curator and writer Andrea Jahn gained recognition with exhibitions focusing on current positions in performance, video and installation art. Jahn organized Chiharu Shiota’s first institutional exhibition in 2003 at the Württembergische Kunstverein Stuttgart. Christelle Pélissier-Roy is an exhibition curator and writer. She is the initiator of a series of exhibitions by women artists at the Musée du Pavillon de Vendôme and the Musée des Tapisseries.
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