NYAB Event - Akira Shimizu “Scattering Scale”

Akira Shimizu “Scattering Scale”

Pavel Zoubok Gallery

This event has ended.

The important Japanese modernist AKIRA SHIMIZU (b. 1936) is well known in his homeland for mysterious, imaginatively composed collages and mixed-media sculptures. Scattering Scale, Shimizu’s first solo exhibition in the United States, includes pieces from the early 1960s to the present representing four distinct bodies of work. Adorned with chains and fishing tackle, Shimizu’s “Guidebook” collages from 1962-72 juxtapose the scientific and the sensual with nude female figures springing from topographical maps of small islands and coastlines. Black, sword-like forms characterize the architectonic assemblages of the decade-long series “From the Darkness.” Ranging from colossal constructions to intimate talismans, these works evoke a state of unconsciousness in their exploration of darkness itself. Scattering Scale, a motley assemblage from 1997-99 from the “Nucleus of Flowers” series, represents an exuberant emergence into the light, a world of reproduction and revelry. Finally, an untitled, ongoing series of collages inspired by avant-garde Butoh dance performance features kimono-clad women, insects, sea creatures, ocean vistas and dramatic skies, reflecting the artist’s childhood memories of his native region.

Born in Toyama, on the western coast of Japan, Shimizu grew up during wartime. Many of the central themes and the overall mood of his art are rooted in his earliest formative experiences. After graduating from Kanazawa College of Art, Shimizu moved to Tokyo. Early in his career, he created installations, assemblages and happenings that were associated with the “anti-art” movement, although, unlike many Japanese artists of his generation, Shimizu never formally joined an established artists’ association. Consequently, his distinctly individual style both reflects and breaks with the aesthetic traditions from which it emerged.

Akira Shimizu’s work has been exhibited internationally since the late 1950s, with recent exhibitions at the Ashikaga Museum of Art, Japan; Tate Liverpool, England; the Schirn Kunsthalle, Germany; the Kunsthalle Wien, Austria; and the Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo, Japan. His work is in numerous private and public collections, including the Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo; The National Museum of Art, Osaka; Takamatsu City Museum of Art; the 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa; Mitaka City Gallery of Art; and the Ashikaga Museum of Art.

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