Biography
Susumu Shingu

 Susumu Shingu (1937) creates sculptures that move by the power of wind. Although originally trained as a painter, Shingu became interested in sculpture when he saw one of his shaped canvases turning softly in the wind. The work that followed relied on natural forces to make movement and sound, and he began using more sophisticated materials for outdoor works.  His work walks the fine line between complementing nature and existing as a natural integration. The pieces, though large, colorful, and usually made of modern materials, adopt nature's rhythms in their movement.

 

SUSUMU SHINGU

 

1937  Born in Osaka, Japan.

1960  Graduated from Tokyo University of Arts with a major in oil painting.    Awarded scholarship by Italian government to study in Rome.

1960-62 Studied oil painting at Accademia di Belle Arti di Roma.

1966   First showing of three-dimensional sculptures at Galleria Blu, Milan.    Returned to Japan.     

1967  Solo show, "Wind Structures," Shoho Gallery, Osaka and Hibiya Park,         Tokyo. Ube Open-Air Art Museum prize at 2nd Contemporary       Japanese Sculpture Show.            

1971-72         Visiting Artist, Carpenter Center for the Visual Arts, Harvard University,        Cambridge, Massachusetts. 

1979   4th Isoya Yoshida Prize. Prizes from National Museum of Art, Osaka, and Hyogo Prefectural Museum of Modern Art at 8th Contemporary    Japanese Sculpture Show.

1984   Solo show, "Breathing Sculptures," Hyogo Prefectural Museum of       Modern Art.

1986  Yokohama Biennale '86 Sculpture Exhibition grand prize and 18th       Japan Grand Prix of Art.

1987   Traveling outdoor exhibition, "Windcircus," exhibited in: Bremen,         Germany, Barcelona, Spain, Florence, Italy, and Lahti, Finland.

1988  Invited to International Open-Air Sculpture Symposium to create a      sculpture at Olympic Park in Seoul, South Korea.

         "Windcircus" exhibited in five cities in the United States.

1991   Solo show, "Aria Acqua Luce," Loggia della Mercanzia, Genoa, Italy.

1994  Outdoor spectacle, "Kippis and His Friends," Aono Dam Park, Sanda. 1997   Spectacle show, "Cat's Cradle of the Stars," Saitama Arts Theater. 1998    Created a sculpture for "Issey Miyake Paris Collection 1999       spring-summer."

1999   Exhibited in "Champs de la Sculpture 2000" on Champs Elysées        Avenue in Paris.  

2000   Traveling outdoor exhibition, "Wind Caravan," in the rice paddies in     Sanda, Hyogo, Japan and on an uninhabited Island in Auckland, New       Zealand.

2001   "Wind Caravan" in Inari, Finland, Tamdaght, Morocco, Undur Dov,       Mongolia and Cumbuco, Ceará, Brazil. Solo show at Maison Hermès

         in Tokyo and at Glasgow School of Art in Scotland.

2002   The special prize of the 43rd Mainichi Art Award. The Medal with          Purple Ribbon.

 

2003   The grand prize at the 20th Exhibition of Contemporary Japanese       Sculpture Show.　

2005   Created a sculpture for Jirí Kylián's dance program, "Toss of a Dice," with Nederlands Dans Theater I.

2006   Solo show, "Sculptures du respir," Galerie Jeanne-Bucher, Paris.

2007  The 4th Enku Grand Award.

2009   Solo show, “Planet of Wind and Water,” Galerie Jaeger Bucher, Paris.

2010   The Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Rosette.

2011   Open-air exhibit and workshops, “Atelier in the Rice Paddies,” Sanda,         Japan. Solo show, “Little Planet,” T’s Gallery and Yamaki Art Gallery,         Osaka, Japan. Solo show of original drawings for picture books,          Cultural Center of Suita.

2012   The project, “Genki Caravan Yuriage,” in Yuriage, Natori to send         encouraging messages to the people in the stricken area in Miyagi    Prefecture. Solo show, “Beyond Time,” at Galerie Jaeger Bucher,        Paris. Exhibit of floating sculptures in the basin of the Tuileries Garden in Paris as one of the outdoor exhibits of FIAC. Documentary          film, Breathing Earth – Susumu Shingu’s Dream, completed and         screened in Germany.

2013   Solo show, “Little Cosmos,” Tanimatsuya Toda Gallery and Yamaki Art         Gallery, Osaka, Japan.

2014       The Hyogo Prefecture Award for Contribution to the Enhanced Perception of Hyogo. Solo show, “Susumu Shingu – Playing on the Earth,” at Kobe City Koiso Memorial Museum of Art in Kobe. “Susumu Shingu WIND MUSEUM” opened in Arimafuji Park, Sanda, Hyogo.

2015       The open-air performances of “Noh of the Wind” and “Jazz of the Wind” in Susumu Shingu WIND MUSEUM.

2016       The open-air performances of “Strawberry Express” and “Jazz of the Wind Vol. 2.” in Susumu Shingu WIND MUSEUM. Solo show, “Susumu Shingu - Spaceship” at Nagasaki Prefectural Art Museum and Yokosuka Museum of Art. The 70th Kobe Shimbun Cultural Award and the Kobe City Cultural Award.

2017       Solo show, “Susumu Shingu - Spaceship” at Hyogo Prefectural Museum of Art. The open-air performances of “Noh of the Wind II” and “Jazz of the Wind Vol. 3” in Susumu Shingu WIND MUSEUM.

2018       Solo show, “Cosmos – Susumu Shingu,” Galerie Jeanne Bucher Jaeger, Paris. Solo show, “Susumu Shingu – SPACESHIP,” the National Contemporary Art Museum MUDAM in Luxembourg. The open-air performances of “Jazz of the Wind Vol. 4” and “Concert of the Wind” in Susumu Shingu WIND MUSEUM.

2019       The open-air performance of “Noh of the Wind III” in Susumu Shingu WIND MUSEUM. Solo show, “Susumu Shingu, une utopie d’aujourd’hui” at Château de Chambord, France.

2021   The workshop ‘Genki-nobori’ at the recreation zone of Arimafuji Park. 2022   The open-air performance of “Noh of the Wind IV” in Susumu Shingu

         WIND MUSEUM. Solo Show, “Susumu Shingu: Sculpting with Wind”

at Ippodo Gallery in Ginza, Tokyo from October 14th to 23rd, 2022 and Ippodo Gallery - New York from October 20th to December 29th, 2022.

 

MONOGRAPHS

 

1973 Shingu

         Edward F. Fry and Takahiko Okada

         New York: Harry N. Abrams

 

1983 Dialogue with Nature: Susumu Shingu

         Louis J.Bakanowsky

         Tokyo: Process Architecture Publishing Co., Ltd.,

 

1991 Shingu: Rhythm of Nature.

         Rudolf Arnheim, Nakahara, Yusuke

         Osaka, Japan: Brain Center Inc.,

 

1997 Shingu: Message from Nature

         Renzo Piano, Pierre Restany and Susumu Shingu,  

         New York: Abbeville Press Publishers,

 

2005 Shingu

         Peter Buchanan, Renzo Piano, Jirí Kylián and Yusuke Nakahara

         Paris: Edition Cercle d’Art,

 

2008 Shingu

         Bernard Vasseur

         Paris: Edition Cercle d’Art,

 

 

BOOKS BY SUSUMU SHINGU

 

2003 WIND CARAVAN

Susumu Shingu

Brain Center Inc. Osaka, Japan

 

2013 INSIDE MY THINKING

Susumu Shingu

Brain Center Inc. Osaka, Japan

 

1975 Strawberries

         Susumu Shingu

Bunka Publishing Bureau

 

1979 Spider

         Susumu Shingu

Bunka Publishing Bureau

 

1991 Whale Shark

         Susumu Shingu

Fuso Publishing Inc.

 

1999  Little Pond

         Susumu Shingu

Fukuinkan Shoten Publishers, Inc.

 

2004  Wind Planet

         Susumu Shingu

Fukuinkan Shoten Publishers, Inc.

 

2006　       Les petits oiseaux                         

Susumu Shingu　　　　　　　          

Edition Gallimard Jeunesse

 

2006 L’araignée

Susumu Shingu　　　　　　　          

Edition Gallimard Jeunesse

 

2012 Travelling Butterfly

         Susumu Shingu

Bunka Publishing Bureau

 

2012 Le papillon voyageur

         Susumu Shingu

         Edition Gallimard Jeunesse

2015 Airy Stroll

Susumu Shingu

Fukuinkan Shoten Publishers, Inc.

(

 

2015 Un petit bois mystérieux

            Susumu Shingu

         Edition Gallimard Jeunesse

 

2015 A Little Mysterious Forest

         Susumu Shingu

         BL Publishing Co., Ltd.

 

2017 With the Sun

         Susumu Shingu

         Crayon House Publishing Inc.

 

2017 Travelling Wind

         Susumu Shingu

         BL Publishing Co., Ltd.

 

2018 Avec le soleil

         Susumu Shingu

         Edition Gallimard Jeunesse 

 

2018 Le voyage du vent

            Susumu Shingu

         Edition Gallimard Jeunesse

 

2018 La fraise

         Susumu Shingu

         Edition Gallimard Jeunesse

 

2019 Sandalino

         Susumu Shingu

         Edition Gallimard Jeunesse

 

2019 Sandalino – Where are you from?

         Susumu Shingu

         BL Publishing Co., Ltd.

 

COMMISSIONS AND PUBLIC COLLECTIONS

1970  Path of the Wind (Senrikita Park, Osaka, Japan)

1975   Message from across the Ocean (JR Kobe Station Plaza, Japan)

1977  Zasso Forest School (Kyotanabe-shi, Kyoto)

1978  Neverending Dialog (Hakone Open-Air Museum, Japan)

1979  Distant Rhythm (Hyogo Prefectural Museum of Art, Japan)

1981  Time Traveler (Miyagi Museum of Art, Sendai, Japan)

            Astral Portrait (Flower Road, Kobe, Japan)

1985  Sky Image (Cultural Center of Suita, Osaka, Japan)

           Gift of the Wind (Porter Square MBTA Station, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA)

1988  Rainbow Tree, Time Prism (Fukada Park, Sanda, Hyogo, Japan)

          Sky Beat (Yomiuri Television, Osaka, Japan)

          Wings' Breath (Olympic Park, Seoul, Korea)

1989  Wind Musical Notes (Yokohama Museum of Art, Japan)

1990  Meadow of Clouds (Sapporo Sculpture Garden, Japan)

1991  Wings of the Waves (Ikuchi Island, Onomichi, Hiroshima, Japan)

            White Constellation (Nunobiki Park, Kobe, Japan)

1992   Rowing across the Milky Way (Murasaki River, Kitakyushu, Japan)

          Wind Kaleidoscope (Brain Center Inc., Osaka, Japan)

            Columbus's Wind (Port of Genoa, Italy)

          Water Tree, Astral Statue (Aono Dam Park, Sanda, Hyogo, Japan)

1994  Boundless Sky (Kansai International Airport, Japan)

          Memory of the Waves (Tempozan, Osaka, Japan)

1995   Locus of Rain (Lingotto, Turin, Italy)

         Dialog with the Sun (Queens Criminal Court, New York)

1997   Poem of the Earth (JR Shinsanda Station Plaza, Hyogo, Japan)

         Portrait of the Sun (Nishiumeda Park, Osaka, Japan)

          Reflection of Rainbow (Itaú Bank, São Paulo, Brazil)

           Ocean of Light (Kwansei Gakuin University, Nishinomiya, Hyogo, Japan)

1998  Duet of Water (Montecatini Terme, Italy)

            Dialogue with Clouds (Centro Commerciale Meridiana, Lecco, Italy)

          Astral Traveler (Seiwa Corporation, Osaka, Japan)

1999  Resonance of Life (Hakone Open-Air Museum, Japan)

         Luminous Wind (Kobe Design University, Kobe, Japan)

         Water Flower (Banca Popolare Italiana, Lodi, Italy)

2000  Memory of Landscape (Nanakita Park, Sendai, Miyagi, Japan)

            Wind Travelers (East Port Park, Boston, U.S.A.)

2001  Hommage au Cosmos (Maison Hermès, Ginza, Tokyo)

2003  Silhouette of Time (Tokiwa Park, Ube, Yamaguchi, Japan)

2004  Birth of Rainbow (Nankang Software Park, Taipei, Taiwan)

2005  Symphony of the Sea, Wind Navigator

            (Happy Village, Marina di Camerota, Italy)

           Greetings of the Sun (Pinnacle Land, Asan, Korea)

          Wings of the Earth (Château d’Arsac, Margaux, France)

2006  Tree of the Sun (Château d’Arsac, Margaux, France)

2007   Silent Conversation (National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu, Taiwan)

          Water Beat (Banca Popolare di Milano, Legnano, Italy)

2008   Echo of Light (Hekinan City Tatsukichi Fujii Museum, Aichi, Japan)

2011   Forest of Light (The Central Library, Fukuoka University, Japan)

            Horizon (Tanimatsuya Toda gallery, Osaka, Japan)

2012   Forest of the Wind (JR Yoshikawa-minami Station Plaza, Saitama, Japan)

            Distant Sky (Mercedes House, New York, N.Y.)

2015   Wind Tree (View Point of Udatsuyama Park, Kanazawa, Ishikawa, Japan)

            Wind Planet (JUT Headquarter, Taipei, Taiwan)

2016   Water Planet (Mitsukan Museum, Handa, Aichi, Japan)

            Cosmos, Epic, Myth

            (Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center, Athens, Greece)

2017   Astral Dialogue ( Sanda City Hall, Sanda, Hyogo, Japan)

2018   Wings of Poetry ( University of Kochi, Kochi, Japan)

2021   Infinite Journey (Foyer, Luxembourg)

2021   Rainbow Leaves (565 Broome SoHo, New York)

 

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