24 July 2011

things i am obsessed with: chiharu shiota

・・・  at Kenji Taki Gallery, Tokyo, Japan 2009

This week, I figured I'd do something new; there's going to a post every day (including guest posts by my BFF Scott) because I want to show you guys stuff other than outfit posts and my angst-essays. A few days ago, Scott and I were on the phone last night discussing what's going on in the art world right now and how it's the only thing that is really inspiring us at the moment: fashion is on the sidelines, neither of us have really been impressed by shows or streetstyle lately and so we've turned to art. We've been obsessing over the art stuff Hussein Chalayan does when he's not doing fashion collections, and some really cool people I think you'll all like too. 

Home of Memory. Solo Show La Maison Rouge (Paris) France (2011)
Most of the time I'm not impressed with the modern artists I come across at Museums; I feel like most are stuck in this referential circle jerk where their work is just a platitude to older, more well known artists and I'm just grossed out by it right now. Like I said in my last post, everything feels like a copy of a copy of a copy and I want to claw my eyes out. Chiharu Shiota is one of the artists that makes me feel optimistic about what is going on in the art world and fashion scene. My favorite artists right now are all (and I don't think coincidentally) japanese post-war artists who've been on the scene for awhile and are off in their own dark world and drag you into it. It's very clinical, sometimes repetitive, but it never feels old. Chiharu is the perfect example; she's been doing the same method for almost two decades but always in different ways. It's very haunting and reminds me of the horror mangaka Junji Ito's work a little bit.  Speaking of which, I'm feeling in the mood to be terrified, so I'm gonna go back to watching City Hunter now (BEST DRAMA SINCE COFFEE PRINCE?).

Installation at Haunch of Venison 2010  Haunch of Venison  (London) U.K.

In Silence. Solo Show Detached - Tasmania Museum & Art Gallery Cooperation with Museum of Old and New Art, Curator: Olivier Varenne (Tasmania) Australia 2011