Chiharu Shiota. Dialogues

The New Art Gallery Walsall is delighted to be hosting a major solo exhibition by Japanese artist Chiharu Shiota. The exhibition will comprise two new site-specific installations as well as a selection of drawings and films.

Chiharu Shiota is renowned for her dramatic immersive installations which frequently utilise found objects such as clothing, shoes, old furniture, vintage suitcases and doors and windows from demolished and derelict buildings. Such items resonate with personal and emotional if elusive histories. Chiharu’s installations alter and energise the physical and architectural space, challenging our perceptions of the immediate environment and embracing the viewer as an integral part of the experience.

We are delighted that Chiharu has created two new site-specific installations for The New Art Gallery Walsall. The first, in Gallery 1, is comprised of around 400 vintage suitcases suspended from the ceiling with red rope. These battered and bruised suitcases evoke unknown yet powerful human stories; stories of journeys, of migration, of discoveries, of love and loss. The suitcases are hung low at one end of the gallery, becoming increasingly higher towards the other end, altering the usual orientation of the space and forcing the viewer to negotiate it in an entirely new way.

For the installation in Gallery 3, the artist employs her characteristic use of black wool which is woven across and through space, creating a dynamic and cavernous environment which envelopes the viewer within it. Encased within the woollen mesh are hundreds of hand-written letters of thanks sourced from Japan, each resonant with stories of love, absence, loss or gratitude. The installation tells of friends, families and lovers, all apart for a myriad of reasons. The installation is both nostalgic and romantic, recalling a lost age of letter-writing which has largely been eclipsed by emails, texts and social networking.

A selection of drawings and short films by the artist complete the exhibition. There is a ritualistic and performative element to both. The films show the artist’s engagement with “blood” and “earth”, both being elements associated with familial bonds and cultural origins. The drawings, realised using red oil pastel, testify to the movement of the artist’s body, particularly her hands as they sweep across the surface of the paper.

Chiharu Shiota was born in 1972 in Osaka, Japan. She now lives and works in Berlin, Germany. Her work is widely exhibited and collected. In 2013 alone, solo exhibitions were shown at the Towner Art Gallery, Eastbourne, UK; Carré Sainte-Anne, Montpellier, France; The Mattress Factory, Pittsburgh, USA; Museum of Art, Kochi, Japan; Manege, Moscow, Russia and the Sherman Contemporary Art Foundation, Sydney, Australia.

Chiharu Shiota: Dialogues is supported by The Henry Moore Foundation

The New Art Gallery
Gallery Square
Walsall WS2 8LG United Kingdom
Ph. +44 (0)19 22654400
info@thenewartgallerywalsall.org.uk
www.thenewartgallerywalsall.org.uk

Opening hours
Tuesday - Saturday from 10am to 5pm
Sunday from 12pm to 4pm

Related images