Chiharu Shiota

This extensive monograph documents the work of the Japanese artist Chiharu Shiota (born 1972), who has created a distinctive and enthralling body of work—including drawings, sculptures and installations—rarely equalled for its depth and universality. The book is published on the occasion of the inaugural exhibition at the Grand Palais in Paris and in conjunction with the new partnership between Skira and Chargeurs Museum Studio, its mother house, with the Grand Palais Immersif. 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 of 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 Shiota’s masterful works.

Japanese artist Chiharu Shiota (born 1972) has gained international renown following the presentation of her installation for the Japan Pavilion at the Biennale in Venice in 2015. Everyday objects, mementos and objets trouvés define the artist’s pictorial language and the themes of her oeuvre, in their evocations of memorialization, homesickness, migration, mortality and life. Her well-known installations with wool threads include such items as old suitcases and shoes, keys, pieces of clothing, furniture and letters, which she also integrates into her performances.

In this overview, photographs, film stills, drawings, prints and objects from the artist’s archive comprehensively document the developments in Shiota’s oeuvre and illustrate her (mostly site-specific, temporary) installations. The book is published on the occasion of the first retrospective of the Berlin-based artist and concentrates on her work of the last 20 years.