Download PDF (308 K)SHIRO KURAMATA
1934-1991
Born in Tokyo in 1934, Kuramata grew up during World War II and the American Occupation of Japan. In 1953 he graduated from Tokyo polytechnic high school, where he studied woodcraft, and went to work for a furniture company. Soon afterwards he enrolled at the Kuwasawa Design School in Tokyo, an institute that taught more Western concepts of interior design. This included the study of chairs, at a time in Japan when even designers maintained traditional Japanese homes where they sat on the floor on tatami mats.
In 1957 Kuramata was hired by the small department store San-Ai as a designer of showcases as well as floor and window displays. Then, after a brief stint as a freelance designer for the retail giant Matsuy he opened his own office in Tokyo in 1965.
Kuramata's revolutionary approach to the design of furniture and interiors reflects the tremendous dynamism and flowering of creativity in postwar Japan. He combined the Japanese concept of the unity of the arts with fascination with contemporary Western culture, both high and low. He delighted in the mischievous dislocations of Marcel Duchamp's readymades; in the Minimalist sculptures of Dan Flavin and Donald Judd, with their geometrical repetitions and incorporation of light; and in furniture designer Ettore Sottsass's playful spirit and love of bright color.
He was inspired by Ettore Sottsass's playful spirit and love of bright color and joined Sottsass's collective, the design group 'Memphis', based in Milan, at its founding in 1981 and considered the Italian designer to be his "maestro." Kuramata reassessed the relationship between form and function, imposing his own vision of surreal and minimalist ideals on everyday objects.
During the 1970s and 80s, Kuramata, alert to the numerous possibilities of new technologies and industrial materials, turned to acrylic, glass, aluminum, and steel mesh to create objects that appear to break free of gravity into airy realms of transparency and lightness. His furniture and interiors have been influential both in his native country and abroad.
SELECT EXHIBITIONS
2012 – 2010
The Essence of Things, Traveling exhibition: Grassi Museum,
Leipzig, Germany; Design Museum, Gent, Belgium; Museum August Kestner, Hannover, Germany; Vitra Design Museums, Weil am Rhein
2011
Postmodernism: Style and Subversion 1970-1990. Victoria and Albert Museum, London, England
Shiro Kuramata and Ettore Sottsass. 21_21 Design Sight, Tokyo, Japan
2010
Revisited. The Gallery Mourmans, Knokke-Heist, Belgium
2003
Moins et Plus. Musée d'art Moderne de Saint-Etienne Métropole, France
1999—1996
Shiro Kuramata 1934-1991, Traveling exhibition: Hara Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo, Japan, June-September
1999 Musée des Arts Decoratifs, Paris, France, October-December Österreichisches Museum fur Angewandte Kunst, Vienna, Austria January-March
National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto, Japan, June – August
1998 Grey Art Gallery, New York University, New York, NY, June-September
Musée des Arts Decoratifs, Montreal, Canada, October-December
1997 Centro Cultural, Mexico City, Mexico, April-June
Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, CA, August-December
1997
Designed for Delight. Alternative aspects of twentieth-century decorative arts. Canadian Museum of Civilization, Hull, Quebec, Canada; Cincinnati Art Museum, Cincinnati, OH; Montreal Museum of Decorative Arts, Montreal, Quebec, Canada; Musee des Arts Decoratifs, Paris, France
Muzeum Narodowe w Krakowie, Krakow, Poland; Die Neue Sammlung, Munich, Germany; J.B. Speed Art Museum, Louisville, KN; Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, VA
1995
Japan Today, Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Humlebaek, Denmark
1994
Collection: Chairs of the 20th Century, Museum of Modern Art, Toyama, Japan
Japanese Design—A Survey Since 1950, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, PA
Images du Futur—'94 Japon, Old Port of Montreal, Montreal, Canada
1993
Electronic Surface—Liquid Structure, O Art Museum, Tokyo, Japan
1991
Il Dolce Stilnovo della Casa, Palazzo Strozzi, Florence, Italy
Design Connection—Shiro Kuramata Memorial, Porte de Versailles, Paris, France
TAPIS, Galerie Yves Gastou, Paris, France
Sealing of Dreams, Gallery MA, Tokyo, Japan
1990
Salone del Mobile, Milan, Italy
Il Palazzo and Six Designers, Gallery MA, Tokyo, Japan
I Spiritelli, Museo Alchimia, Milan, Italy
1989
Memphis & Transavanguardia, Touko Museum of Contemporary Art, Aoyama, Tokyo; Fukuyama Museum of Art, Tokyo, Japan
Uny Group. Bi ! Kujira, Yatai at World Design Exposition '89, Nagoya, Japan
Europalia 1989 Japan, Brussels, Belgium
Shiro Kuramata, Galerie Yves Gastou, Paris, France
1988
Petits Architectures Nomades (Little Nomad Architecture), Galerie Yves Gastou, Paris, France
KAGU Tokyo Designer's Week '88, Axis Gallery Annex, Tokyo, Japan
Image Up Project Exhibition for Furniture from Shizuoka. Axis Gallery, Tokyo; Shizuoka Isetan Department Store, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan
Craft Council, Sydney, Australia
In*Spiration Lighting Design Exhibition, Tokyo, Japan; Paris, France; Milan, Italy
1987
The 1987 Vitra International Exhibition, Musée Rath, Geneva, Switzerland
IDÉE Shiro Kuramata Exhibition, IDÉE Shop, Tokyo, Japan
Milano Furniture Salon Exhibition, Zeus Hall, Milan, Italy
Intellectual Interior, Shibuya PARCO Part 3, Space Part 3, Tokyo, Japan
Exhibition Commemorating the 80th Anniversary of the Establishment of the Tokyo High School for the Arts, Tokyo High School for the Arts, Tokyo, Japan
Memphis Vol. 8, Milan, Italy
Shiro Kuramata Exhibition, Gallery Gallery, Kyoto, Japan
1986
Kagu—Mobilier, The Royal Monastery of Fontainebleau, France
Chairs, San Francisco Airport Gallery, San Francisco, CA
1910—1970 Japon des Avant-Gardes, Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, France
Cappellini Presents the Furniture by Shiro Kuramata, Museum of Milan, Milan, Italy
Project K3, Axis Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
Tokyo: Form and Spirit, Axis Gallery (1985), Walker Arts Center and other cities in the USA
Shiro Kuramata, Galerie Yves Gastou, Paris, France
1985
Contemporary Landscape: From the Horizon of Postmodern Design, National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto; National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo, Japan
Tokyo: Its Shape and Substance Tokyo in Tokyo, A collaboration with Tadao Ando, Axis Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
Time Piece, Axis Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
Time Machine, Gallery 911, New York, NY
Prints by Twenty Top International Artists, Laforet Museum Akasaka, Tokyo and Kyoto International Conference Hall, Japan
A Panorama of Contemporary Art in Japan—Design of Daily Life, Museum of Modern Art, Toyama, Japan
Japan Creative Exhibition, Seibu Department Store, Tokyo, Japan
Clock: Five Artists, Tokyo, Japan and New York, NY
Shiro Kuramata Smal, Cassina Japan Showroom, Tokyo, Japan
1984
Japanese Designers—Tradition and the Present, Central Hall of the Soviet Artists Alliance, Moscow, Russia
Phoenix / New Attitudes in Design, Queen's Quay Terminal, Toronto, Canada
1983 From Spoons to Cities: One Hundred Designers at Work, Milan, Italy
Memphis Vol. 4, Milan, Italy
Tokyo International Lighting Design Competition 1983, Livina Yamagiwa, Tokyo, Japan
Design Gallery Exhibition No. 302 Terrazzo Shiro Kuramata, Matsuya Ginza Design Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
1982
Memphis Vol. 3, Milan, Italy
Casa Italia—Memphis Group Exhibition, Seibu Department Store, Ikeukuro, Tokyo, Japan
1981
Memphis Vol. 2, Milan, Italy
Small Small Exhibition, Ao Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
M.T.I. 'Furniture by Architects,' Cambridge, England
Three Designers Exhibition, Ina Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
Metal Sculpture Exhibition, Mikimoto Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
Design Forum '81, Matsuya Ginza, Tokyo, Japan
1981
Lighting Exhibition, Mikimoto Hall,Tokyo, Japan
System Monopoll, Matsuya Ginza Design Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
1978
Design and Art of Modern Chairs, The National Museum of Art, Osaka, Japan
MA Espace-Temps du Japon, Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris, France
1977
Isu (chair), Tokyo Designers Space, Tokyo, Japan
Small Small Exhibition, Ao Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
Art Today '77—Structure of Visuality, Seibu Museum of Art, Tokyo, Japan
1976
Wonderland, Ao Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
One Day One Show, Tokyo Designers Space, Tokyo, Japan
1975
Wall Paper Design by Ten Designers, Kawakichi, Tokyo, Japan
Negation of Form, Kirony Interior In, Tokyo, Japan
Akari (Light) Exhibition, Ao Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
Experiment Work, Matsuya Ginza Design Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
1973
A Glimpse of Kuramata's Work, Matsuya Ginza Design Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
1972
The Modern Living Interior Exhibition, Maison du Meuble, Tokyo, Japan
Tokyo International Lighting Design Competition 1972, Matsuya Ginza, Tokyo, Japan
Acrylic Lamps, Gallery Fujie, Tokyo, Japan
1971
The 11th São Paulo International Biennale. São Paulo, Brazil
1970
Seibu New Form Interiro Show IE No. 2, Seibu Department Store, Tokyo, Japan
Good Design Exhibition '70, Matsuya Ginza, Tokyo, Japan
Shaggy Art Exhibition, Detzi Building, Tokyo, Japan
1968
DESIGN FOR LIVING, Matsuya Ginza, Tokyo, Japan
SELECT AWARDS
1990
Ordre des Arts et des Lettres
1981
Japan Cultural Design Award
1972
Mainichi Industrial Design Award
Select Museum and Public Collections
Centre National d’Art et de Culture Georges Pompidou, Paris, France
Fonds national d'art contemporain, France
High Museum of Art, Atlanta, GA
Israel Museum, Jerusalem, Israel
Kunstgewerbemuseum Preussischer Kulturbesitz, Berlin, Germany
Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, PA
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Musée des Arts Décoratifs de Montréal, Quebec, Canada
Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris, France
Museum für Angewandte Kunst, Frankfurt, Germany
Museum of Fine Art, Boston, MA
Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. TX
Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY
National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, CA
Toyama Prefectural Museum of Modern Art, Toyama City, Japan
Victoria and Albert Museum, London, UK
Vitra Design Museum, Basel, Switzerland
SELECT LITERATURE
Aikawa, Michikio, ed., Shiro Kuramata, exh. cat., Tokyo: Hara Museum of Contemporary Art, 1996. Illustrated pgs. 39-49, 187, 192
Adamson, Glenn. Postmodernism: Style and Subversion, 1970-1990, London: V&A
Publishing, 2011. Illustrated p.152
Gaillemin, Jean Louis Gaillemin. Design Contre Design. Paris: Galeries nationales di
Grand Palais, 2007. Illustrated pgs. 301, 353
Marcus, George H. Masters of Modern Design: A Critical Assessment, New York:
Monacelli Press, 2005. p. 155
Sottsass, Ettore. “An Exhibition Dedicated to Shiro Kuramata,” Domus, December,1996. pp. 53-56 (example illustrated)
Uyeda, Makoto. Shiro Kuramata 1943-1991. Tokyo: Kuramata Design Office for Hara Museum of Contemporary Art, 2000. Illustrated p. 74.
Von Vegesack, Alexander, Peter Dunas, Mathias Schwartz-Clauss, (eds). 100
Masterpieces from the Vitra Design Museum, Germany: Vitra Design Museum, 1996, pgs. 204-205, cat. no. 87.
Seki, Yasuko. Shiro Kuramata, Ettore Sottsass - 21_21 Design Sight Exhibition Book.
Japan: 21_21 Design Sight, ADP Co Ltd, 2010. Illustrated p. 76.
Shiro Kuramata 1943-1991. Exhibition Catalogue with essay by Andrea Branzi and Ettore Sottsass. Tokyo: Hara Museum of Contemporary Art, 1996.
Marcus, George. Masters of Modern Design. A Critical Assessment. New York: The Monacelli Press, 2005.
Baverey, Michel. Ed. Moins et Plus. Le Design dans la collection du fonds national d'art contemporain. Paris: Centre national des arts plastiques, 2002.
Fiell, Charlotte and Peter. Modern Chairs. Germany: Taschen, 1993.
Armer, Karl Michael, Albrecht Bangert and Ettore Sottsass. 80s Style. New York: Abbeville Press, 1990.
Brunhammer, Yvonne and Marie-Laure Perrin. Le Mobilier Français. 1960-1998. Paris: Éditions Massin, 1998.
Eidelberg, Martin. Designed for Delight. Alternative aspects of twentieth-century decorative arts. Canada: Montreal Museum of Decorative Arts, 1997.
SELECT PRESS
2009
Suzuki, Joe. "An Artist's Legacy." Clear, Vol. VIII, Issue 2, 2009.
2008
Mason, Brook. "Rising in the East. Shiro Kuramata Leads the Pack." The Art Newspaper, December, 2008.
2007
"Légères?" La Gazette de L'Hotel Drouot." December, 2007.
1999
Bassi, Alberto. "Shiro Kuramata: Il Design Transparente." Casabella, July-August, 1999.
1996
Sottsass, Ettore. "Una Mostra Dedicata a Shiro Kuramata." Domus, December, 1996.
______. "Kiyotomo Sushi Restaurant in Tokyo." Domus, No. 779, February, 1996.
1993
Polledri, Paolo. "Shiro Kuramata: A Design Poet Appraised." I.D., March—April, 1993.
1992
Reif, Rita. "Squaring Off with Aesthetic Connections." International Herald Tribune, June 6—7, 1992.
Morozzi, Cristina. "Parole fortie e immagini deboli." Modo, March, 1992.
Barberis, Maurizio. "L'oggetto Tessuto, The Woven Object." Annual Tessuti, 1992.
1991
"L'Objet du Mois: Le Siege de Tokyo." Vogue, December, 1991.
"From 1960 to 1990 Interior Design in Japan: Shiro Kuramata." Ottagono, August, 1991.
Boisi, Antonella. "Giappone—Shiro Kuramata." Interni, July—August 1991.
"Designet med faryenes lyde." Politiken, July 20, 1991.
"Hommage à Shiro Kuramata." Marie Claire Maison, May 1991.
Pawson, John. "Shiro Kuramata." Blue Print, April, 1991.
"Intermezzo." Abitare con Arte, March, 1991.
"I Segni Della Superficie." Modo, March, 1991.
Richard, Christine. "Mort d'un maitre." Le Quotidien de Paris, February 18, 1990.
"Mort du designer Shiro Kuramata." Le Figaro, February 13, 1990.
Benaïm, Laurence. "Mort du un designer japonais Shiro Kuramata." Le Monde, February
7, 1991.
"Conversazione fra Shiro Kuramata e Andrea Branzi." La Nazione, January 29, 1991.
"Den Evige Jagt på det Perfecte." Bo Bedre, 1991.
Pearlman, Chee. "Shiro Kuramata 1934—1991." Architectural Review, 1991.
"Shiro Kuramata." Connaissance des Arts, 1991.
Fitoussi, Brigitte. "Hommage à Shiro Kuramata." L'Architecture d'Aujourd hui, 1991.
1990
"Shiro Kuramata, Designer Poète Allégresse et Transparence." Le grand cahier, July—August, 1990.
"Kuramata, Images du Monde Flottant." Connaisance des Arts, February, 1990.
"Shiro Kuramata, Dans un Fauteuil." Marie-France, February, 1990.
1989
Benaïm, Laurence. "Plexi trouble." Le Monde, November 28, 1989.
Branzi, Andrea. "Purple Shadows." Terazzo, November 3, 1989.
Dings, Matt. "Ontwerpen Tegen de Stress Kuramata." De Tijd, April 7, 1989.
"Shiro Kuramata 1967—1987." Interior Design, 1989.
1988
"Breaking the Bonds." Progressive Architecture, September, 1988.
Popham, Peter. "Chairs to the World." Sunday Times Magazine, September, 1988.
"Deux cafés Kyoto et Tokko." L'Architecture d'Aujourd hui, February, 1988.
Kicherer, Sybille. "Heister eines neuen japanischen design." Form, 1988.
"Shiro Kuramata Designer." Marie Claire, January, 1988.
"Intervista a Shiro Kuramata." L'Uomo Vogue, January, 1988.
Kazuko, Saito. "La Leggerezza Dell'Architettura." Interni, 1988.
Y. Shiratori. "Mon Petit Chou." Abitare, 1988.
"De Wetien van de Leegte." De Tijd, 1988.
1987
"Shiro Kuramata." I.D., September—October, 1987.
"Popham, Peter. "The Toast of Modernism." Sunday Times Magazine, October 16, 1987.
Japan is on the Go." Time, September 21, 1987.
"Edizioni in grande Serie: XO vuole imporsi." Modo, March, 1987.
1986
Fitoussi, Brigitte. "Les tiroirs secrets de Kuramata." Maison Française, December, 1986.
______. "Le salon du meuble." L'Architecture d'Aujourd hui, December, 1986.
"Shiro Kuramata Designer." Casa Vogue. November, 1986.
Colin, Christine. "L'Ultima Generazione del Design Giapponese." Casa Vogue, January, 1986.
Taki, Koji. "Kuramata à Paris" "Shiro chez liu" "L'espirit Kuramata." L'Atelier, 1986.
"Shiro Kuramata s'installe chez Yves Gastou." Techniques & Architecture, 1986.
"Samouraïs du design." City, 1986.
1985
Zanini, Marco. "Al Confine tra Design e Architettura." Casa Vogue, 1985.
"Shiro Kuramata: I Mobili Trasparenti." Domus, No. 664, September, 1985.
"People and Projects." I.D., January—February, 1985.
1982
Smetana, Donatella. "Il Colore del Bianco e Nero e il Colore del Suono." Casa Vogue, August, 1982.
"Shiro Kuramata." An interview by Kazuko Sato in Domus, April, 1984.
1981
"Japan Points to the Future: Shiro Kuramata Interior Angles." G.Q., August, 1981.
1979
Contribution by Shiro Kuramata, Erco, April, 1979.
1977
"Il Vetro Incollato." Domus, No. 572, July, 1977.
1972
"Tokyo: Closed Box." Domus, No. 509, April, 1972.
1970
"Shiro Kuramata: Two Stores in Tokyo." Domus, No. 493, December, 1970.