Chiharu Shiota and the threads of memory
The Japanese artist come to Barcelona with an installation full of mystery and brings the red threads of her works into contact with the symbolism of Antoni Tàpies.
The Fundació Antoni Tàpies is celebrating this year dedicated to the artist with various exhibitions, including some that bring the artist's world into contact with that of other artists of our time. One of these artists is Chiharu Shiota, who from 22 March to 23 June is the protagonist of the exhibition "Cadascú, un univers".
An artist dedicated to performance and installations, Chiharu Shiota was born in Osaka in 1972, but has lived and worked in Berlin since the nineteen-nineties. At times she has used her own body as an artistic material, but she is best known for her installations in which she uses red threads to talk about important themes such as death and human relationships.
Heiress of artists who are a reference in feminism, such as Ana Mendieta and Louise Bourgeois, the artist weaves red threads that reflect her feelings and which are combined with objects of all kinds (from old shoes to those chairs so typical of Tàpies's world, or keys without doors) that are allusions to stories seen and starred in by these objects, in a reference to memory, a concept that is also very present in the works of the Catalan artist.
Chiharu Shiota's installations have a red colour, the colour of blood, which is therefore related to concepts such as family or nationality and constitutes a point of connection between people. Others are black, a colour that represents something abstract, or a white colour that indicates an end (in Asia, in general, it is a colour of grief), but also a new beginning.
Thus, through his works, Shiota dialogues with the symbolism of Antoni Tàpies, creating a play of correspondences in a mirror effect that extends beyond space and time.
The earth, the past, memory and the contrast between presence and absence are elements common to both artists and are the basis of the rereading of the past from the evocation proposed by the Japanese artist, always with a contemporary viewpoint. The exhibition is curated by Imma Prieto, also director of the Fundació Antoni Tàpies.
If you would like to see Chiharu Shiota's creations, come to the Fundació Tàpies, but first consult the information on the website.