Chiharu Shiota
Beyond Consciousness – Biennale d’Aix
On the occasion of the second edition of the Biennale d’Aix, Chiharu Shiota takes over three of Aix-en-Provence’s heritage sites.
From May 18 to October 6, 2024
Chiharu Shiota’s works are ephemeral, but they aim to leave a lasting impression. The artist creates immersive installations in which an entire space is crossed with threads of generally black or red color, colors which according to the artist can be associated with the night sky or the cosmos for the first, with blood or the red thread of destiny in the Asian mentality for the second. The exhibition spaces welcome existing works and new creations produced on site which come into dialogue with the architecture and history of the place invested.
“This exhibition explores the human condition and what lies beneath. In my work, I try to find meaning in life, connection and death. I draw inspiration from my emotions and experiences, but it’s not just about me. Our memories are a crucial part of our identity It’s the importance of memory that tells us who we are, what we did with our lives and who we were connected to. While our brain holds a personal and intimate collection of memories, this collection is unknown to others until you share your experience and feelings with them. —Chiharu Shiota
An exceptional exhibition produced in partnership with Galerie Templon, representing the artist in France and New York. Programming of the Department of Art and History Museums of the City of Aix-en-Provence.
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State of Being (Chairs)
The artist
Born in 1972 in the Japanese city of Osaka, Chiharu Shiota has been living and working in Berlin since 1997. Using woven yarn, the artist combines performance, body art and installations in a process that places at its center the body. Her protean artistic approach plays with the notions of temporality, movement and dreams, and demands a dual engagement from the viewer, both physical and emotional. In recent years, Chiharu Shiota has been widely exhibited around the world, including at the P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center, New York (2003), the New Museum of Jakarta and the SCAD Museum of Art, USA (2017), the K21 Kunstsammlung NRW, Düsseldorf (2014), the Smithsonian, Washington DC (2014) and Japan’s Kochi Museum of Art (2013). In 2015 Chiharu Shiota represented Japan at the Venice Biennale with her installation The Key in the Hand. In 2018, she is exhibiting at the Museum of Kyoto; and in 2019 she exhibited at Mori Art Museum in Tokyo throught a exhibition illuminating the artist's entire works.
