KIRIE - Japonism on Paper

4-11 November, 2015

 Georgian National Museum

 Shalva Amiranashvili Museum of Fine Arts

 Address: 1, Lado GudiaSvili str.

Shu Kubo – Artist of the Japanese Contemporary Art — KIRIE

Shu Kubo is a Kirie — paper cutout artist acknowledged by the contemporary Japanese art world as a great Kirie master. He was born in Japan in 1951. He first met Kirie when he was a student at the Faculty of Architecture. He found a distinctive style of his own when he was traveling alone in Spain. He held his first gallery exhibition in 1977 in Osaka and since then has attracted great admiration with his exhibitions all around the regions in Japan.

He held several exhibitions abroad, as well. In 2009, he was designated as one of “Japan Cultural Envoys” by the Agency for Cultural Affairs, and hence he continued his activities in New York. In recent years, he made his efforts to envoy Japanese culture through Kirie to the citizens all over the world such as Spain, Portugal, Philippines, Malaysia, Ukraine, Russia, Iran, and Cuba. 

Shu Kubo’s Kirie could be explained as a picture in which washi, Japanese paper, is used and cut out quite delicately. He introduced a special technique called as “Mixed Media” for which he utilizes various materials such as pastel, acrylic paint, fabric and sand together with washi. By layering multiple thin washi, he can create a sense of depth and stereoscopy depending on the theme of his work. In this way, he could express the texture of the objects by the original vivid colors. 

Shu Kubo experienced the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake in 1995 and witnessed that the natural disaster left a massive scar on the history, lives and hearts of the people. After the disaster, he set off to travel around Japan with the theme of “Japonism in paper” and created his works with an inspiration from the moments full of vitality cut out from the scenes of seasonal tradition and food in Japan.