Acclaimed for the singularity of her universe, blending melancholy and mystery, Japanese artist Chiharu Shiota, represented by Galerie Templon, takes over the Grand Palais with a major exhibition.
The Grand Palais (with a capital G)
Inaugurated in 1900 for the Paris Universal Exhibition, the Grand Palais has always been designed to host major cultural events. In partnership with Tokyo's Mori Art Museum, it marks its reopening with an exhibition by Chiharu Shiota, whose installations are installed under Europe's largest glass roof (17,500 m2 for over 460,000 cubic meters). Called Voyage incertain (Uncertain journey), the 1,200 sq. m. exhibition features a juxtaposition of monumental works and lesser-known pieces.
Chiharu Shiota drew her inspiration from a striking episode at the age of nine, when she witnessed a fire at her neighbors' house, where a piano burned to the ground. Through a complex structure of over 200 kilometers of wool yarn, the artist wraps the space in suspended networks and tangled vaults that seem to float in the air.
Chiharu Shiota, world-renowned for her woollen thread installations, transforms the majestic nave of the Grand Palais into a veritable labyrinth of red, black and white threads, criss-crossing endlessly in a poetic metaphor for our human relationships. Sculptures, photographs, drawings, filmed performances and archives also enrich the exhibition, which retraces some twenty years of the artist's career.
A Japanese artist between installations and performances
Born in Osaka on May 20, 1972, Chiharu Shiota studied at Kyoto's Seika University between 1992 and 1996, then discovered painting during a six-month stay at the National University of Canberra in Australia in 1993. In 1996, she joined the Hamburg School of Fine Arts, before continuing at the Brunswick University of the Arts the following year. In 1999, she joined the Berlin School of Fine Arts, where she has lived and worked ever since.
Her work combines artistic performances and spectacular installations, often using old objects (beds, windows, shoes, clothes, suitcases...) to weave a link between past and present. Using simple materials and leaving room for improvisation, Chiharu Shiota draws on the influence of artists such as Annette Messager, William Kentridge and Christian Boltanski (1944-2021).
The visual artist regularly infuses her works with a dreamlike atmosphere, thanks to the use of black and red threads and cords, meticulously interwoven like intriguing spider webs. One of the masterpieces at the Grand Palais, Voyage incertain (2016-2024), is one of her most emblematic creations.
Although her installations are ephemeral, Chiharu Shiota's main aim is to leave a lasting impression. Drawing on her own life experience, she tackles notions of temporality, movement and vulnerability through stagings imbued with emotion and reflection. A dress reflected in a mirror or a staircase of heaving suitcases suggest the instability of existence and the eternal question of becoming.
PRACTICAL INFORMATION
Chiharu Shiota exhibition - Grand Palais - 3 avenue du Général Eisenhower - Paris 8e
Open Tuesday to Sunday, 10am to 7:30pm (Friday night until 10pm).
Please note: exceptional closures on Tuesdays, January 28, February 11 and March 11, and early closure on February 5 at 6.30pm.
