Flavio-Shiró (born August 27, 1928) is a Japanese-Brazilian

visual artist The visual arts are art forms such as painting, drawing, printmaking, sculpture, ceramics (art), ceramics, photography, video, image, filmmaking, design, crafts, and architecture. Many artistic disciplines such as performing arts, conceptual a ...

. Regarded as an influential postwar Brazilian painter, he is known for his dark and disturbing paintings that merge elements of abstract expressionism and surrealism. He is one of the main representatives of

abstract expressionism Abstract expressionism in the United States emerged as a distinct art movement in the aftermath of World War II and gained mainstream acceptance in the 1950s, a shift from the American social realism of the 1930s influenced by the Great Depressi ...

in Brazil. Born in

Hokkaido is the list of islands of Japan by area, second-largest island of Japan and comprises the largest and northernmost prefectures of Japan, prefecture, making up its own list of regions of Japan, region. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaidō fr ...

, Japan and raised in the

Amazon Amazon most often refers to: * Amazon River, in South America * Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin * Amazon (company), an American multinational technology company * Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek myth ...

, Flavio-Shiró spent his adult life working in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

and

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...

. His work has been exhibited in many countries, including Brazil, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and the United States. His paintings are also included in the permanent collections of notable museums including the Hara Museum of Contemporary Art, the São Paulo Museum of Modern Art, and the Fonds national d'art contemporain. In 2019, Flavio-Shiró received the

Order of the Rising Sun The is a Japanese honors system, Japanese order, established in 1875 by Emperor Meiji. The Order was the first national decoration awarded by the Japanese government, created on 10 April 1875 by decree of the Council of State. The badge feat ...

from the Emperor of Japan, the highest award conferred by the Japanese government to non-politicians, in recognition of his cultural contributions.

Biography

Flavio-Shiró was born in 1928 in

Sapporo is a Cities designated by government ordinance of Japan, designated city in Hokkaido, Japan. Located in the southwest of Hokkaido, it lies within the alluvial fan of the Toyohira River, a tributary of the Ishikari River. Sapporo is the capital ...

, on the northern Japanese island of

. In 1932, he emigrated to

Tomé-Açu Tomé-Açu is a Municipalities of Brazil, municipality in the states of Brazil, state of Pará in the Northern Region, Brazil, Northern region of Brazil. History The first inhabitants near the Rio Acará-Mirim are the Tembé Indians. Years later ...

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

with his family as part of a settler agricultural mission. Flavio-Shiró’s formative years were spent in the Amazon jungle, an experience that had a lasting influence on his artistic style and worldview. In 1939, he moved with his family to

São Paulo São Paulo (; ; Portuguese for 'Paul the Apostle, Saint Paul') is the capital of the São Paulo (state), state of São Paulo, as well as the List of cities in Brazil by population, most populous city in Brazil, the List of largest cities in the ...

, Brazil in search of a better education and economic opportunity. In São Paulo, Flavio-Shiró began his artistic training, studying at an arts and crafts school and painting movie posters for

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. (also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures, commonly shortened to MGM or MGM Studios) is an American Film production, film and television production and film distribution, distribution company headquartered ...

. He also began to participate in group shows, joining the São Paulo Artists’ Union and the Grupo Santa Helena, a movement of working-class modern painters. In the early 1950s, Flavio-Shiró held his first solo exhibition in Rio de Janeiro and exhibited paintings in the first

São Paulo Art Biennial The São Paulo Art Biennial ( Portuguese: ''Bienal de São Paulo'') was founded in 1951 and has been held every two years since. It is the second oldest art biennial in the world after the Venice Biennale (in existence since 1895), which serves as ...

, the second oldest art biennial in the world. In 1953, Flavio-Shiró emigrated to Paris where he studied engraving and lithography at the Ecole nationale superieure des beaux arts and married the Romanian-Brazilian author and illustrator Beatrice Tanaka. In the 1960s, Flavio-Shiró’s work shifted from abstract expressionism towards an increasingly surrealistic style featuring organic shapes and nightmarish objects inspired by his childhood in the Amazon. His artistic contributions during this period were recognized with several prestigious exhibits and awards, including the Guggenheim International Show in 1963 and the prize for painting at the second Biennale de Paris in 1961. From the 1970s through the 2010s, Flavio-Shiró’s artistic production has continued. His signature style, combining abstract gestures, rich colors, and disturbing biological objects, continued to evolve, with landmark, large-scale works including ''Pablo'' (1973) and ''Memória dos Cais'' (1987), which is in the permanent collection of the São Paulo Museum of Modern Art. He received numerous awards, including the Itamaraty Award at the 1989 São Paulo Biennial and the Eco-Art Prize at the 1992

Earth Summit The United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED), also known as the Rio de Janeiro Conference or the Earth Summit (Portuguese: ECO92, Cúpula da Terra), was a major United Nations conference held in Rio de Janeiro from 3 ...

in Rio de Janeiro, and held solo exhibitions at the Hara Museum of Contemporary Art, the

Niterói Contemporary Art Museum The Niterói Contemporary Art Museum (''Museu de Arte Contemporânea de Niterói'' — MAC) is situated in the city of Niterói, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and is one of the city’s main landmarks. It was completed in 1996. The MAC-Niterói was ...

, and the Tomie Ohtake Institute. In August 2019, in recognition of his cultural achievements, the Japanese government awarded Flavio-Shiró the

, the highest award offered by the Japanese government to non-politicians.

Solo exhibitions

Gallery

File:Flavio Shiro Sumi VIII.jpg, "Sumi VIII" (1987) File:Flavio-Shiro, Navel Portrait, 1973.jpg, "Navel Portrait" (1973) File:Flavio-Shiro La Marseillaise.jpg, "La Marseillaise" (1974) File:Flavio-Shiro Pablo.jpg, "Pablo" (1973)

References

External links

*
Flavio-Shiró Artist Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Flavio-Shiró 1928 births Brazilian artists Brazilian painters Japanese emigrants to Brazil Naturalized citizens of Brazil Artists from Sapporo Artists from São Paulo 20th-century Brazilian painters 20th-century Brazilian male artists 21st-century Brazilian painters Living people