Fujiko Shiraga

Fujiko Shiraga (白髪富士子 Shiraga Fujiko, born Uemura Fujiko, 1928–2015) was a Japanese avant-garde artist and one of the earliest female members of the Gutai Art Association. Active as an artist between the early 1950s and 1961, Shiraga was known for creating highly tactile artworks by pasting and creasing sheets of torn Japanese paper. She studied tsuzumi (Japanese hand drum) under the influence of her mother's interest in Noh music.

Around June 1955, together with other members of Zero Society, Shiraga joined Gutai Art Association. In July 1955, Shiraga created installation White Plank for the "Experimental Outdoor Exhibition of Modern Art to Challenge the Midsummer Sun" mounted by Gutai and Ashiya City Artists Association (Ashiya-shi Bijutsu Kyōkai) at a park on the bank of Ashiya River, Hyogo, Japan

Simultaneous to her artistic experiments, Shiraga published writings on her colleagues' and her own work in Gutai's journal, Gutai. In a 1955 article 'About Myself Before and After the Outdoor Exhibition, she reflected on her first-time experience of creating artworks in the outdoor space of a public park. Albeit no longer making art by herself, Shiraga remained close to the Gutai community and continued to support Kazuo by preparing paints for his signature foot paintings and advising him on colors and when to stop.

Work

White Plank (1955) In July 1955, Gutai held the "Experimental Outdoor Exhibition of Modern Art to Challenge the Midsummer Sun" in July 1955 at a public park on the bank of Ashiya River, Hyogo, Japan, in conjunction with Ashiya City Artists Association.

Selected exhibitions Work by Fujiko Shiraga has featured in: 1955 Experimental Outdoor Exhibition of Modern Art to Challenge the Midsummer Sun, Ashiya Park, Hyogo 1955 1st Gutai Art Exhibition, Ohara Hall, Tokyo 1956 Outdoor Gutai Art Exhibition, Ashiya Park, Hyogo 1956 2nd Gutai Art Exhibition, Ohara Hall, Tokyo 1957 3rd Gutai Art Exhibition, Kyoto Municipal Museum 1957 4th Gutai Art Exhibition, Ohara Hall, Tokyo 1958 5th Gutai Art Exhibition, Ohara Hall, Tokyo 1958 2nd Gutai Art on the Stage, Sankei Hall, Osaka 1958 6th Gutai Art Exhibition (Gutai New York Exhibition), Martha Jackson Gallery, New York and toured New England, Minneapolis, Oakland, and Huston 1959 8th Gutai Art Exhibition, Kyoto Municipal Museum; Ohara Hall, Tokyo 1960 9th Gutai Art Exhibition and International Sky Festival, Takashimaya Department Store, Osaka 1961 10th Gutai Art Exhibition, Takashimaya Department Store, Osaka; Takashimaya Department Store, Tokyo 1961 Continuité et avant-garde au Japan, International Center of Aesthetic Research, Turin 1985 Yoshihara and Gutai, 1954–1972, Ashiya Civic Centre 1985 Reconstructions: Avant-garde Art in Japan 1945–1965, Museum of Modern Art Oxford; toured to Fruitmarket Gallery, Edinburgh 1986 Japon des avant gardes, 1910–1970, Musée National d’Art Moderne, Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris 1992 Gutai I: 1954–1958, Ashiya City Museum of Art and History 1993 Gutai II: 1959–1965, Ashiya City Museum of Art and History 1994 Japanese Art After 1945: Scream Against the Sky, Yokohama Museum of Art, toured to Guggenheim Museum SoHo, New York 2010 Gutai : dipingere con il tempo e lo spazio, Museo Cantonale d’Arte, Lugano; Parco di Villa Ciani, Lugano, Switzerland 2013 Gutai: Splendid Playground, Guggenheim Museum, New York 2015 Kazuo Shiraga Memorial Room 6th Exhibition: Memorising Fujiko Shiraga, Amagasaki City Cultural Center, Amagasaki 2015 Kazuo and Fujiko Shiraga, Fergus McCaffrey Gallery, New York

Collections Fergus McCaffrey Gallery, New York The Art Institute of Chicago The Kazuo Shiraga Memorial Room, Amagasaki City Cultural Center, Amagasaki, Japan Nakanoshima Museum of Art, Osaka, Japan