Ushio Shinohara
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Ushio Shinohara (篠原 有司男, ''Shinohara Ushio'', born January 17, 1932), nicknamed “Gyū-chan”, is a Japanese contemporary painter, sculptor, and performance artist based in New York City. Best known for his vigorously painted, large-scale and dynamic ''Boxing Painting'' series, Shinohara makes use of embodied gestures, appropriation and assemblage, iconographies of mass culture and traditional arts, and vivid tones in his diverse, multidisciplinary practice. A founding member of the short-lived, avant-garde collective
Neo-Dada Organizers , sometimes shortened to Neo-Dada Organizers or simply , was a short-lived but influential Japanese Neo-Dadaist art collective formed by Masunobu Yoshimura in 1960. Composed of a small group of young, up-and-coming artists who met periodically a ...
, Shinohara spent the early years of his life in Tokyo before moving to New York City in 1969, where he continues to live and work. Having grown up in Japan through a time of rapid political change, social upheaval, and increasing Americanization and modernization in the wake of the American occupation, Shinohara's work was shaped by and responsive to the clashing forces in his midst. His energetic confrontations with conventions of both traditional and contemporary artistic canons are filtered through a pop sensibility and an understanding of art-making as a series of ephemeral gestures rather than a results-based process. His work has been exhibited internationally at institutions including the
Hara Museum of Contemporary Art The was one of the oldest contemporary art museums in Japan. The museum was in the Kita-Shinagawa district, in the Shinagawa area of Tokyo. The building was originally built as a private mansion designed by Jin Watanabe in 1938 for the grandfa ...
,
Centre Georges Pompidou The Centre Pompidou (), more fully the (), also known as the Pompidou Centre in English and colloquially as Beaubourg, is a building complex in Paris, France. It was designed in the style of high-tech architecture by the architectural team of ...
, the Guggenheim Museum SoHo,
National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo The , also known as MOMAT, is the foremost museum collecting and exhibiting modern Japanese art. The museum, in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan, is known for its collection of 20th-century art and includes Western-style and ''Nihonga'' artists. It has a bra ...
,
National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto The is an art museum in Kyoto, Japan. This Kyoto museum is also known by the English acronym MoMAK (Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto). History The National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto (MoMAK) was initially created as the Annex Museum of the Nationa ...
,
Leo Castelli Gallery Leo Castelli ( Krausz; September 4, 1907 – August 21, 1999) was an Italian-American art dealer who originated the contemporary art gallery system. His gallery showcased contemporary art for five decades. Among the movements which Castelli sh ...
,
Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles (MOCA) is a contemporary art museum with two locations in greater Los Angeles, California. The main branch is located on Grand Avenue in Downtown Los Angeles, near the Walt Disney Concert Hall. MOCA's ori ...
and the Japan Society. Shinohara and his wife, Noriko, are the subjects of a documentary film by
Zachary Heinzerling Zachary 'Zach' Heinzerling (born 1 January 1984) is an American film director. He is best known for writing and directing the 2013 documentary film '' Cutie and the Boxer'' for which he won 'Best Director' at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival. The ...
called '' Cutie and the Boxer'' (2013).


Early life and education

Ushio Shinohara was born on January 17, 1932, in the
Kōjimachi is a district in Chiyoda, Tokyo. History Prior to the arrival of Tokugawa Ieyasu, the area was known as . The area developed as townspeople settled along the Kōshū Kaidō. In 1878, the Kōjimachi area became , a ward of the city of Tokyo. ...
neighborhood of central
Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...
. His father was a
tanka is a genre of classical Japanese poetry and one of the major genres of Japanese literature. Etymology Originally, in the time of the influential poetry anthology (latter half of the eighth century AD), the term ''tanka'' was used to disti ...
poet who was taught by Wakayama Bokusui, and his mother was a ''
Nihonga ''Nihonga'' () is a Japanese style of painting that typically uses mineral pigments, and occasionally ink, together with other organic pigments on silk or paper. The term was coined during the Meiji period (1868–1912) to differentiate it from ...
'' painter and doll-maker who studied at the Private Women's School of Fine Arts (present-day
Joshibi University of Art and Design (abbreviated "") is a private women's art school in Suginami and Sagamihara in Japan. The mission and aims of Joshibi, are developing creative minds, encouraging students to contribute to local, national and international societies, female inde ...
) in Tokyo. Shinohara attended Bancho Elementary School and Azabu Junior and Senior High School, and in 1952, enrolled in Tokyo Art University (known today as the
Tokyo University of the Arts or is a school of art and music in Japan. Located in Ueno Park, it also has facilities in Toride, Ibaraki, Yokohama, Kanagawa, Kitasenju and Adachi, Tokyo. The university has trained artists in the fields of painting, sculpture, crafts, inter ...
), where he studied ''
yōga is a style of artistic painting in Japan, typically of Japanese subjects, themes, or landscapes, but using Western (European) artistic conventions, techniques, and materials. The term was coined in the Meiji period (1868–1912) to distingui ...
'' under the renowned painter Takeshi Hayashi. His classmates included Tetsumi Kudō,
Jirō Takamatsu was one of the most important postwar Japanese artists. Takamatsu used photography, sculpture, painting, drawing, and performance to fundamentally investigate the philosophical and material conditions of art. Takamatsu's practice was dedicated to ...
, and
Natsuyuki Nakanishi Natsuyuki Nakanishi (Kanji: 中西夏之, ''Nakanishi Natsuyuki'', b. July 14, 1935, Tokyo, d. October 23, 2016) was a Japanese visual and conceptual artist associated with the 1960s avant-garde art movement in Japan. His artworks ranged from Neo-D ...
, who would become fellow members of the
Neo-Dada Organizers , sometimes shortened to Neo-Dada Organizers or simply , was a short-lived but influential Japanese Neo-Dadaist art collective formed by Masunobu Yoshimura in 1960. Composed of a small group of young, up-and-coming artists who met periodically a ...
. Dissatisfied with the school's teaching, Shinohara quit the school in 1957 without completing his degree.


Career


Neo-Dada Organizers

Having grown up in the wake of
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
and the subsequent American Occupation, Shinohara's early work was keenly responsive to the conditions of postwar urban reconstruction, the crisis of reinterpreting tradition, and the pervasive and alluring presence of American mass media and consumer culture. In 1955, Shinohara began submitting artworks to the unjuried, avant-garde
Yomiuri Indépendant Exhibition The , affectionately nicknamed "Yomiuri Anpan," was a famously permissive, unjuried, free-to-exhibit art exhibition held annually in Tokyo, Japan from 1949 to 1963. Sponsored by the ''Yomiuri Shimbun'' newspaper, the exhibition was held at the To ...
and continued to participate in almost every iteration of the annual fair through 1963. Sponsored by the
Yomiuri Shimbun The is a Japanese newspaper published in Tokyo, Osaka, Fukuoka, Fukuoka, Fukuoka, and other major Japanese cities. It is one of the five major newspapers in Japan; the other four are ''The Asahi Shimbun'', the ''Chunichi Shimbun'', the ''Ma ...
newspaper, this freewheeling exhibition was unjuried and open to anyone, and thus became a site of artistic experimentation that paved the way for new forms of "
anti-art Anti-art is a loosely used term applied to an array of concepts and attitudes that reject prior definitions of art and question art in general. Somewhat paradoxically, anti-art tends to conduct this questioning and rejection from the vantage poi ...
," "non-art," and " junk art." As there were few art dealers, collectors, and established galleries in Japan at the time, artist-organized group exhibitions and media-sponsored shows were the most popular platform for displaying and engaging with avant-garde, contemporary art. Shinohara was keenly conscious of his public image and sought to craft a persona through media portrayals, persuading the ''Weekly Sankei'' to feature him as a (self-dubbed) "rockabilly painter". In March 1958, Shinohara paid a visit to
Masunobu Yoshimura , was a Japanese visual and conceptual artist associated with the Neo-Dada movement. In 1960, he was the founder and leader of the short-lived but influential artistic collective Neo-Dada Organizers, which had as members several young artists who ...
's newly built studio-residence in Shinjuku, an open plan space with large glass doors and white mortar finish designed by
Arata Isozaki Arata Isozaki (磯崎 新, ''Isozaki Arata''; 23 July 1931 – 28 December 2022) was a Japanese architect, urban designer, and theorist from Ōita, Ōita, Ōita. He was awarded the Royal Gold Medal in 1986 and the Pritzker Architecture Prize i ...
. Struck by the potentials of the modern and open interior, Shinohara declared, "I can do something here!" The studio atrium became the site of regular meetings of the
Neo-Dada Organizers , sometimes shortened to Neo-Dada Organizers or simply , was a short-lived but influential Japanese Neo-Dadaist art collective formed by Masunobu Yoshimura in 1960. Composed of a small group of young, up-and-coming artists who met periodically a ...
, the short-lived artistic collective formed in 1960 between Shinohara, Yoshimura, and other young artists who had been displaying artworks at the Yomiuri Indépendant, including Genpei Akasegawa, Shūsaku Arakawa, and Testumi Kudo. The Neo-Dada Organizers held three official exhibitions in 1960, as well as a number of bizarre "actions," "events," and "happenings" in which they sought to mock, deconstruct, and in many cases, physically destroy conventional forms of art. Examples included filling galleries with piles of garbage, smashing furniture to the beat of jazz music, and prancing the streets of
Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...
in various states of dress and undress. Using the human body as their medium of art, their violent performances reflected both their dissatisfaction with the restrictive environment of the Japanese art world at the time, as well as contemporary social developments, most notably the massive 1960 Anpo protests against the U.S.-Japan Security Treaty. Shinohara was instrumental in shaping the group's orientation around what Akasegawa would later term "creative destruction." In June 1960, at the height of the Anpo protests, Shinohara penned the short statement the group deemed its "manifesto," writing as follows: Driven by a heedless energy to resist, provoke, indulge, and produce scandal and awe, the Neo-Dada Organizers were not rooted in the theoretical or political so much as the intuitive and instinctual dimensions of making and exhibiting art. Shinohara's works as part of the collective, such as ''Cheerful Fourth Dimension (Gokigenna 4-jigen)'' and ''Thunder Sculpture (Kaminari chokoku)'', used massive amounts of store-bought balloons, bamboo poles, nails, and other generic materials to produce destructive performances that indulged in the pleasures of excess and spectacle. Shinohara was also keenly aware of the artistic value of self-promotion and immediacy in the age of mass media, and walked around the streets of Ginza with exhibition announcements plastered across his body, in an act that blurred the division between performance and publicity.


''Boxing Painting''

At a Neo-Dada event in September 1960 titled ''Bizarre Assembly'', Shinohara, wearing his trademark
mohawk hairstyle The mohawk (also referred to as a mohican in British English) is a hairstyle in which, in the most common variety, both sides of the head are shaven, leaving a strip of noticeably longer hair in the center. Mohawk hairstyles have existed for ...
, performed his now-famous "boxing painting," punching a large piece of paper with boxing gloves that had been dipped in ink numerous times in succession. Shinohara's action painting practice began around this time, drawing from contemporary precedents in gestural abstraction while simultaneously insisting that the action, not the resulting painting, should constitute the artwork itself. Keenly conscious of his public persona, Shinohara accepted media requests from magazines, newspapers, and filmmakers to capture his art-making process. In 1960, novelist
Kenzaburō Ōe was a Japanese writer and a major figure in contemporary Japanese literature. His novels, short stories and essays, strongly influenced by French and American literature and literary theory, deal with political, social and philosophical issue ...
was commissioned to write a feature on Japanese Beats by ''Mainichi Graph'', which featured Shinohara performing an action painting using ''sumi'' ink, kraft paper, and rags wrapped around his wrists. In 1961, renowned photographer William Klein captured Shinohara's "boxing painting" on film, publishing the photos in his famed 1964 collection ''Tokyo''. Klein's photographs are some of the few records of Shinohara's performances, and the work of the Neo-Dada group more broadly, as their unconventional materials and transient actions defied archival practices. Their artworks were rarely taken seriously by critics, who merely saw the artists as vulgar, spoiled, anti-intellectual boys indulging in anti-establishment play.


Post Neo-Dada


''Oiran''

In 1965, Shinohara began his ''Oiran'' series. The title refers to the high-ranking courtesans from the
Edo period The , also known as the , is the period between 1600 or 1603 and 1868 in the history of Japan, when the country was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and some 300 regional ''daimyo'', or feudal lords. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengok ...
, and the works were particularly informed by the famed ''
muzan-e ''Muzan-e'' (), also known as "Bloody Prints", refers to Japanese woodcut prints of violent nature published in the late Edo and Meiji period The was an era of Japanese history that extended from October 23, 1868, to July 30, 1912. The ...
'' ("atrocity prints") series ''Twenty-Eight Famous Murders with Verse'' (1866–7) by
Tsukioka Yoshitoshi Tsukioka Yoshitoshi (; also named Taiso Yoshitoshi ; 30 April 1839 – 9 June 1892) was a Japanese printmaker.Louis-Frédéric, Nussbaum, Louis Frédéric. (2005)"Tsukoka Kōgyō"in ''Japan Encyclopedia,'' p. 1000. Yoshitoshi ha ...
. Shinohara drew from the recognizable conventions of the genre while simultaneously combining these violent scenes with images of disaster from the Vietnam War culled from mass media, deconstructing form, and using fluorescent, flat swaths of color and garish patterns that aligned with Pop art sensibilities. Works from the series were featured in a solo exhibition, ''Doll Festival (Hinamatsuri)'', at Tokyo Gallery in February 1966, one of the few commercial galleries focused on contemporary art at the time. The exhibit was timed to coincide with the
Hinamatsuri , also called Doll's Day or Girls' Day, is an annual festival in Japan (but not a national holiday), celebrated on 3March of each year. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric (2005)"Hina Matsuri"in ''Japan Encyclopedia'', p. 313. Platforms covered with ...
holiday on March 3, and subverted, along with the ''oiran'', other motifs of classical Japanese femininity and traditional Japan. For the installation, Shinohara created life-size ''hina'' dolls out of aluminum, adorning the empress figure with several gaudy ''kanzashi'' to conflate her identity with an ''oiran'', and transforming the emperor into an unsettling machine, whose head would spin rapidly and emit loud noise when a switch was turned on. The motif of the ''oiran'' continues to appear throughout his other works, notably as riders in his ''Motorcycle Sculpture'' series.


''Imitation Art''

Shinohara was fascinated by Pop art and its appropriation of American visual culture, and found himself drawn to its strategies of appropriation, declaring that "the first to imitate will win." He began to copy the works of
Robert Rauschenberg Milton Ernest "Robert" or "Bob" Rauschenberg (October 22, 1925 – May 12, 2008) was an American painter and graphic artist whose early works anticipated the Pop art movement. Rauschenberg is well known for his Combine painting, Combines (1954 ...
,
George Segal George Segal Jr. (February 13, 1934 – March 23, 2021) was an American actor. He became popular in the 1960s and 1970s for playing both dramatic and comedic roles. After first rising to prominence with roles in acclaimed films such as '' Ship o ...
,
Jasper Johns Jasper Johns (born May 15, 1930) is an American painter, sculptor, draftsman, and printmaker. Considered a central figure in the development of American postwar art, he has been variously associated with abstract expressionism, Neo-Dada, and ...
, and other American artists. ''Drink More'' (1964) (originally titled ''Lovely, lovely America'') features a plaster hand holding a bottle of
Coca-Cola Coca-Cola, or Coke, is a cola soft drink manufactured by the Coca-Cola Company. In 2013, Coke products were sold in over 200 countries and territories worldwide, with consumers drinking more than 1.8 billion company beverage servings ...
, emerging from a backdrop of a bright orange and yellow American flag that serves as a direct quotation of Johns' signature motif. Upon visiting Shinohara's studio in the early 1960s, Johns, taken with the series, took one of the pieces back home with him. In 1965, Johns used the work as a basis for a flag painting rendered in bright orange and green, maintaining the cycle of imitation and re-appropriation that formed the conceptual bedrock of Pop. As Hiroko Ikegami argues, Shinohara's gestures not only critiqued Western conventions of originality and authorship by re-inscribing the same strategies of reproduction, but called attention to the ideological crisis of Japanese modern art, as a mode that was contingent on originality and difference, yet simultaneously was reliant on precedents borrowed from Euro-American modernism.


New York (1969-present)

In 1969, Shinohara relocated to New York City, originally on a one-year scholarship from the John D. Rockefeller III Fund. After a stay at the
Hotel Chelsea The Hotel Chelsea (also known as the Chelsea Hotel and the Chelsea) is a hotel at 222 West 23rd Street in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City. Built between 1883 and 1884, the hotel was designed by Philip Hubert in a styl ...
, he moved to fellow artist Ay-O's loft in Chinatown, located in a building occupied by several Fluxus artists including
Nam June Paik Nam June Paik (; July 20, 1932 – January 29, 2006) was a South Korean artist. He worked with a variety of media and is considered to be the founder of video art. He is credited with the first use (1974) of the term "electronic super highway" ...
. Charmed by the gritty energy of the city, the liberatory potential of working in the States, and the city's art scene, he secured a green card in 1970 and remained in the city, where he continues to live to work to this day.


''Motorcycle Sculptures''

Shinohara began his ongoing ''Motorcycle Sculptures'' series in 1972, a project in part inspired by the
Hells Angels The Hells Angels Motorcycle Club (HAMC) is an international outlaw motorcycle club founded in California whose members typically ride Harley-Davidson motorcycles. In the United States and Canada, the Hells Angels are incorporated as the Hells ...
bikers he observed around downtown Manhattan. The artist was taken by the motorcyclists’ rugged machismo, their disregard for traffic lights and convention, and the violent energy they exuded—qualities he associated with a sort of American spirit not found in Japan at the time. Shinohara also recalls having watched the 1953
Marlon Brando Marlon Brando Jr. (April 3, 1924 – July 1, 2004) was an American actor. Widely regarded as one of the greatest cinema actors of the 20th century,''Movies in American History: An Encyclopedia''
film ''
The Wild One ''The Wild One'' is a 1953 American crime film directed by László Benedek and produced by Stanley Kramer. The picture is most noted for the character of Johnny Strabler, portrayed by Marlon Brando, whose persona became a cultural icon of the ...
'' while in Japan, and cites it as another source of inspiration. The works were primarily constructed out of found cardboard boxes, assembled with adhesives such as packing tape and hot glue, and decorated with an array of materials including polyester resin, jelly beans, mosaic tiles made by the artist himself, wires, ice cream cones, and ''
kanzashi are hair ornaments used in traditional Japanese hairstyles. The term refers to a wide variety of accessories, including long, rigid hairpins, barrettes, fabric flowers and fabric hair ties. In the English-speaking world, the term is typical ...
'' hair ornaments. The forms of the motorcycles resemble customized choppers—Shinohara himself stated that he found Harley-Davidson bikes over Japanese counterparts such as Honda and Kawasaki, which he found to be “too modern.” Michael Lobel suggests that Shinohara's interest in the quintessentially American brand may be also read in the context of heightening trade tensions between the United States and Japan during the 1970s. As the popularity of motorcycles steadily grew in the States, so did the number of Japanese imports, which rapidly overtook Harley-Davidson and other American manufacturers, contributing to a broader sentiment of anxiety about Japan's status as an economic competition and consequent limits on automotive exports from Japan following the Nixon shock in 1971. The motorcycle, thus, was a symbol loaded with not only connotations of autonomy, mobility, and individualism, but also carried with it transnational socioeconomic connotations, especially considering Shinohara's status as a Japanese artist working in the United States. In 1982, Shinohara held his first solo exhibition in the United States at the Japan Society Gallery with the encouragement of gallery director Rand Castile. The exhibit marked a radical departure from the venue's typical shows, which focused on traditional arts like
tea ceremony Tea ceremony is a ritualized practice of making and serving tea (茶 ''cha'') in East Asia practiced in the Sinosphere. The original term from China (), literally translated as either "''way of tea''", "''etiquette for tea or tea rite''",Heiss, M ...
and
ikebana is the Japanese art of flower arrangement. It is also known as . The origin of ikebana can be traced back to the ancient Japanese custom of erecting Evergreen, evergreen trees and decorating them with flowers as yorishiro () to invite the go ...
, and garnered significant attention from critics.


Return to ''Boxing Painting''

In 1991, Shinohara was invited to create a ''Boxing Painting'' in front of the public as part of the 1991 exhibition ''Japanese Anti-Art: Now and Then'', held at the
National Museum of Art, Osaka is a subterranean Japanese art museum located on the island of Nakanoshima, located between the Dōjima River and the Tosabori River, about 10 minutes west of Higobashi Station in central Osaka. The official Japanese title of the museum trans ...
, which became part of the museum's collection after its completion. This marked Shinohara's return to the series, which he had not engaged with since the 1960s, and it has since become an ongoing practice for the artist, who has produced the ''Boxing Paintings'' at art venues worldwide. Though his earlier works were rendered in black and white, Shinohara began adding color to both the paint and the canvas ground starting in 1998. Though Shinohara's style is known for its rugged energy and vibrant, seemingly chaotic gestures, critics have often remarked on his keen interest in pictorial references and attention to formal organization. As Julia Cassim observed in her 1993 review of Shinohara's retrospective at Tsukashin Hall in Amagasaki, Japan:
“His kaleidoscopic paintings of pneumatic, rubber-nippled nudes, bikers and Coney Island’s garish glories are painted in the acid reds, greens and pinks common to Asian street fairs from Tokyo to Bombay. They burst at the seams with detail. Seemingly slapdash and rapidly painted, they are, in fact, as carefully composed as any more formal work.”
Shinohara's boxing paintings have continued to receive widespread acclaim internationally. A 2003 commercial for
Pocari Sweat is a Japanese sports drink, manufactured by Otsuka Pharmaceutical. It was launched in 1980, and is sold across Asia and the Middle East; it is also available in Australia, Mexico and the United States. Pocari Sweat is a mild-tasting, non-carbo ...
featured Shinohara in action, painting against a wall.


Personal life

Shinohara is affectionately nicknamed ''Gyū-chan'' (ギューチャン, "Little Cow") because his birth name (牛男, also pronounced "Ushio") used the
Chinese characters Chinese characters are logographs used Written Chinese, to write the Chinese languages and others from regions historically influenced by Chinese culture. Of the four independently invented writing systems accepted by scholars, they represe ...
for "cow" and "man." Shinohara has been married to artist Noriko Shinohara since the early 1970s; together they have a son who is also an artist, Alexander Kūkai Shinohara. The two met in 1973, when Ushio was beginning to establish himself in New York art scene, and Noriko was studying at the
Art Students League of New York The Art Students League of New York is an art school in the American Fine Arts Society in Manhattan, New York City. The Arts Students League is known for its broad appeal to both amateurs and professional artists. Although artists may study f ...
. Their tumultuous life together as a family was the subject of a 2013 documentary, '' Cutie and the Boxer'', directed by
Zachary Heinzerling Zachary 'Zach' Heinzerling (born 1 January 1984) is an American film director. He is best known for writing and directing the 2013 documentary film '' Cutie and the Boxer'' for which he won 'Best Director' at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival. The ...
. The family is based in the
Dumbo ''Dumbo'' is a 1941 American Animated film, animated Musical film, musical Fantasy film, fantasy Comedy drama, comedy-drama film produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios, Walt Disney Productions and released by RKO Radio Pictures. The film i ...
neighborhood of
Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...
, New York. Shinohara was previously married to a woman in Japan, with whom he has two sons.


Exhibitions

In 1982, Shinohara held his first solo exhibition in the United States at the Japan Society Gallery with the encouragement of gallery director Rand Castile. The exhibit marked a radical departure from the venue's typical shows, which focused on traditional arts like
tea ceremony Tea ceremony is a ritualized practice of making and serving tea (茶 ''cha'') in East Asia practiced in the Sinosphere. The original term from China (), literally translated as either "''way of tea''", "''etiquette for tea or tea rite''",Heiss, M ...
and
ikebana is the Japanese art of flower arrangement. It is also known as . The origin of ikebana can be traced back to the ancient Japanese custom of erecting Evergreen, evergreen trees and decorating them with flowers as yorishiro () to invite the go ...
, and garnered significant attention from critics. In 1990, Shinohara's work was part of a traveling exhibition that was sponsored by the
Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street (Manhattan), 53rd Street between Fifth Avenue, Fifth and Sixth Avenues. MoMA's collection spans the late 19th century to the present, a ...
in New York. His piece "Coca-Cola Plan" (1964) was featured in the exhibition "Tokyo 1955–1970: A New Avant-Garde," which ran from November 2012 until February 2013 at the MoMA in New York. A retrospective of his work, titled "Shinohara Pops!" was held at the Samuel Dorsky Museum of Art at the
State University of New York at New Paltz The State University of New York at New Paltz (SUNY New Paltz or New Paltz) is a public university in New Paltz, New York. It traces its origins to the New Paltz Classical School, a secondary institution founded in 1828 and reorganized as an ...
in 2012.


Collections

Shinohara's work is found in multiple public museum collections including: Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) New York, the
Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art, colloquially referred to as the Met, is an Encyclopedic museum, encyclopedic art museum in New York City. By floor area, it is the List of largest museums, third-largest museum in the world and the List of larg ...
,
Hara Museum of Contemporary Art The was one of the oldest contemporary art museums in Japan. The museum was in the Kita-Shinagawa district, in the Shinagawa area of Tokyo. The building was originally built as a private mansion designed by Jin Watanabe in 1938 for the grandfa ...
, the Asian Art Museum, the
Museum of Fine Arts, Houston The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (MFAH), is an art museum located in the Houston Museum District of Houston, Texas. The permanent collection of the museum spans more than 5,000 years of history with nearly 80,000 works from six continents. Follo ...
, and the Yamamura Collection at the Hyogo Prefectural Museum of Art.


Awards

* 1969 –
John D. Rockefeller III Award The Asian Cultural Council (ACC) is a non-profit organization dedicated to advancing international cultural exchange between Asia and the U.S. and between the countries of Asia through the arts. Founded by John D. Rockefeller III in 1963, AC ...
Fund * 2007 – 48th annual Mainichi Art Prize * 2019 –
Agency for Cultural Affairs The is a special body of the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT). It was set up in 1968 to promote Japanese arts and culture. The agency's budget for FY 2018 rose to ¥107.7 billion. Overview The age ...
Commissioner's Award


References


Further reading

*Ikegami, Hiroko; Reiko Tomii (2012). ''Shinohara Pops! The avant-garde road Tokyo/New York.'' New Paltz, NY: State University of New York Press, Samuel Dorsky Museum of Art, *Shinohara, Ushio. ''Genkotsu de sekai o kaero! (The Interviews).'' Tokyo: Sunpost, 2016. *Castile, Rand. (1982). ''Shinohara.'' New York: Japan Society. *Chong, Doryun; Michio Hayashi; Mika Yoshitake; Miryam Sas, Yuri Mitsuda; Masatoshi Nakajima; Nancy Lim (2012). ''Tokyo, 1955-1970 : a New Avant-Garde''. New York: Museum of Modern Art, Artbook/D.A.P. *Shiner, Eric C.; Reiko Tomii (2007). ''Making a Home : Japanese Contemporary Artists in New York.'' New York, New Haven: Japan Society, Yale University Press. * *


External links


Ushio Shinohara Boxing Painting Performance, Dallas Museum of ArtCutie and the Boxer (2013) Official Trailer
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shinohara, Ushio Neo-Dada Living people 1932 births Artists from Tokyo People from Chiyoda, Tokyo Japanese contemporary artists Tokyo University of the Arts alumni Japanese emigrants to the United States