Chi­haru Shiota

Born Osa­ka, Japan 1972
Lives and works in Berlin

Over the course of the past three decades, Chi­haru Shio­ta has built a stel­lar inter­na­tion­al career, exhibit­ing wide­ly in major muse­ums across Europe, Asia and Aus­tralia.

Chi­haru Shio­ta is best known for intri­cate and large-scale instal­la­tions that explore com­plex rela­tion­ships between body and mind. She maps elu­sive sen­sa­tions of emo­tion and mem­o­ry by weav­ing tan­gi­ble objects – cloth­ing, musi­cal instru­ments, fur­ni­ture, let­ters, and even an incin­er­at­ed piano – into exten­sive, tan­gled webs cre­at­ed with hun­dreds of metres of del­i­cate thread. By cap­tur­ing objects in this way, the artist cre­ates atmos­pher­ic, oth­er­world­ly envi­ron­ments that inspire reflec­tion on things past and med­i­ta­tion on future dreams.

Shio­ta has stud­ied in sev­er­al coun­tries includ­ing at Can­ber­ra School of Art, Aus­tralian Nation­al Uni­ver­si­ty in 1994, Kyoto Sei­ka Uni­ver­si­ty, Japan in 1996, Hochschule für Bildende Kün­ste, Braun­schweig, Ger­many in 1999 and at Uni­ver­sität der Kün­ste, Berlin in 2003.

The largest solo exhi­bi­tion of the artist’s work, The Soul Trem­bles, curat­ed by Mami Katao­ka, has been tour­ing Aus­trala­sia since its launch in 2019 at the Mori Art Muse­um, Tokyo, Japan. The Soul Trem­bles has been pre­sent­ed at Busan Muse­um of Art, Busan, South Korea; Taipei Fine Arts Muse­um, Taipei, Tai­wan; Long Muse­um, Shang­hai, Chi­na; Muse­um MACAN, Jakar­ta, Indone­sia; and Queens­land Art Gallery of Mod­ern Art (QAGo­MA), Bris­bane, Aus­tralia, where it is cur­rent­ly exhibit­ing. Chi­haru Shio­ta rep­re­sent­ed Japan at the 56^th Venice Bien­nale in 2015, pre­sent­ing The Key in the Hand in the Japan­ese Pavil­ion, curat­ed by Hitoshi Nakano. Exhi­bi­tions include: Sev­en Dress­es, Stadtgal­erie, Saar­brück­en (2015); Le Fil Rouge, Espace cul­turel Louis Vuit­ton, Paris (2015); Inhab­it­ing the World, Busan Bien­nale (2014); Progress and Hygiene, Zacheta Nation­al Gallery of Art, War­saw (2014); Over the Con­ti­nents, Smith­son­ian Insti­tu­tion, Wash­ing­ton D.C. (2014); Home of Memo­ry, La Mai­son Rouge, Paris (2011); Inner Voic­es, 21^st Cen­tu­ry Muse­um of Con­tem­po­rary Art, Kanaza­wa (2011); Walk­ing in My Mind, Hay­ward Gallery, Lon­don (2009); Breath of Spir­it, The Nation­al Muse­um of Art, Osa­ka (2008).

Pub­lic and pri­vate col­lec­tions include the 21^st Cen­tu­ry Muse­um of Con­tem­po­rary Art, Kanaza­wa; Art Gallery of South Aus­tralia, Ade­laide; Detached, Hobart; Muse­um für Neue Kun­st Freiburg, Ger­many; The Nation­al Muse­um of Mod­ern Art, Tokyo; The Nation­al Muse­um of Art, Osa­ka; Ömer Koc, Istan­bul; Cen­tre PasquArt, Switzer­land.

CV
Bib­li­og­ra­phy