In Bolzano you can see the largest overview show of the work of Shimabuku in Europe and his first museum solo show in Italy. The exhibition, entitled Shimabuku. Me, We, draws inspiration from a saying by the world-famous boxer and activist Muhammad Ali, which is often considered to be the shortest poem in the world and a relationship in itself.
Shimabuku was born in Kobe in 1969. He studied at the Osaka College of Art then at the San Francisco Art Institute before moving to Berlin in 2004 and living there for 12 years. Since 2016 he lives in Naha on the Southern Japanese island Okinawa, where his family comes from.
Shimabuku’s cross-disciplinary art offers a subtle, curious, and humorous approach to the world. His works originate from a private moment of wonder, like an idea, a desired encounter, or a poem. Through his interaction with his surroundings, intimacy becomes public as the artist enacts his thoughts. Ultimately, his photographic, filmic, and sculptural memories of these encounters act as a public declaration in the exhibition space. Hence, Shimabuku successfully captures the affinity between animals, landscapes, histories, ideas, and people as he unfolds unexpected and fleeting moments of sharing and mirroring.
The exhibition will showcase a variety of artworks dating from the early 90s up until today, as well as pieces produced especially for this context. The visitors will encounter a retrospective “flow of episodes”, without a linear chronology, and a thematic combination between existing and new productions. Central to this selection is the pairing of different entities, such as objects, animals, fruit, histories, and global geographies. Shimabuku’s aesthetic vision blurs the lines between these subjects, creating a sense of mutual magnification. In Shimabuku’s realm, there is no polarity between inside and outside; instead, he seeks to explore the interactions between the two.
Text: MUSEION. Museo di arte moderna e contemporanea
Museion „SHIMABUKU. Me, We"
May 6 – September 3, 2023
MUSEION. Museo di arte moderna e contemporanea
Piazza Piero Siena 1
39100 Bolzano, Italy
