Susumu Shingu (1937) is known for creating sculptures that move by the wind. Shingu matriculated at the University of Fine Arts in Tokyo in 1956, with a concentration in oil painting. A bursary from the Italian government followed, allowing him to travel to Italy where his intention was to study figurative painting. He attended the Accademia di Belle Arti di Roma from 1960 to 1962. 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 it move or make sound, and he began using more sophisticated materials for outdoor works. He has been making sculptures that move by the natural energies of wind and water all over the world since then. His work walks the fine line between complementing nature and being an integral part of it. The pieces, though large, colorful, and usually made of modern materials, adopt natures rhythms in their movement. An open-air sculpture garden, the 3000-sq.-meter Susumu Shingu Wind Museum was established in Santa, Japan in 2012.
Artist timeline
1937 Born in Osaka, Japan
1960 Graduated from Tokyo University of Arts with a major in oil painting under Ryohei
Koiso
Awarded scholarship by Italian government to study in Rome
1960
-62 Studied oil painting under Franco Gentilini at Accademia di Belle Arti di Roma
1966 First showing of three-dimensional sculptures at Galleria Blu, Milan
Returned to Japan
1967 Ube Open-Air Art Museum prize at 2nd Contemporary Japanese Sculpture Show
1968 One of eight sculptors chosen to exhibit works at EXPO '70 Osaka
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
1980 8th Outdoor Sculpture Prize of Nagano City
1986 Yokohama Biennale '86 Sculpture Exhibition grand prize and 18th Japan Grand
Prix of Art
1988 Invited to International Open-Air Sculpture Symposium to create a sculpture at
Olympic Park in Seoul, South Korea
1995 Osaka Art Award
1997 25th Outdoor Sculpture Prize of Nagano City
1998 Stage setting for “Issey Miyake Paris Collection spring-summer 1999”
2002 Mainichi Art Award for his Wind Caravan activities
Won the Medal with Purple Ribbon for his artistic activities
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 in The Hague, The Netherlands
2007 Awarded the prestigious ENKU award in Japan
selected group exhibitions
2000 Exhibited in Vision on Water in The Hague, The Netherlands
1999 Exhibited in Champs de la Sculpture 2000 on Champs Elysees Avenue in Paris
1998 Exhibited a sculpture at EXPO'98 Lisbon, Portugal
1997 Spectacle show, "Cat's Cradle of the Stars," Saitama Arts Theater
1994 Outdoor spectacle show, Kippis and His Friends, Aono Dam Park, Sanda. Japan
1989 Windcircus, World Design Exhibition'89 in Nagoya
1988 Windcircus, exhibited in the United States, World Trade Center in New York,
Heritage State Park in Fall River, Massachusetts, Grand Park in Chicago, Esplanade
in Boston and Wilshire Federal Building in Los Angeles. USA
1987 Traveling outdoor exhibition, Windcircus, exhibited in Bremen, Germany, Parc de
L'Espanya Industrial in Barcelona, Spain, Villa Demidoff-Parco di Pratolino in
Florence, Italy, and Mukkula Camping Site in Lahti, Finland
1983 Exhibited in Seven Sculptors at Harvard, Carpenter Center for Visual Arts, Harvard
University
1981 Exhibited in Exhibition of Contemporary Japanese Art, Seoul, South Korea
selected SOLO exhibitions
2009 Susumu Shingu - Planet of Wind and Water, Galerie Jaeger Bucher, Paris France
2008 Espace Collectivités au Bourget, Paris, France
2006 Sculptures du Respir, Galerie Jeanne Bucher, Paris
2001 Wind Caravan on the frozen Lake Inari in the Arctic Circle of Finland, on the rocky
hill of Tamdaght, Ouarzazate in Morocco, on the steppe of Undur Dov in
Mongolia and on the dunes of Cumbuco, Ceará in Brazil
2001 Encounter with Nature at Maison Hermès in Tokyo, Japan
2001 Glasgow School of Art and Podium Gallery at Glasgow School of Architecture,
Scotland
2000 Wind Caravan in the rice paddies in Sanda, Hyogo, Japan and on an Motukorea
Island in Auckland, New Zealand
1997 Maquettes of Wind Sculptures, Matsuya Ginza, Tokyo
1991 Aria Acqua Luce, Loggia della Mercanzia, Genova, Italy
1984 Breathing Sculptures, Hyogo Prefectural Museum of Modern Art
1973 Wind and Water Sculptures, PepsiCo Purchase, N.Y., USA
1967 Wind Structures, Shoho Gallery, Osaka and Hibiya Park, Tokyo
Literature
2008 Shingu. (Découvrons L'Art), Bernard Vasseur. Edition Cercle d'Art, Paris, France
2006 Shingu. Pater Buchanan, Renzo Piano, Jirí Kylián and Yusuke Nakahara. Edition
Cercle d'Art, Paris, France
2006 Les Petits Oiseaux. Gallimard Jeunesse, Paris
2004 When You Turn on the Faucet (« Little Children's Science Companion », No 25)
Fukuinkan Shoten Publishers, Inc.
2004 Wind Planet. Fukuinkan Shoten Publishers, Inc.
2003 Wind Caravan. Brain Center Inc.
2002 Wind Traveler ( Kase-no-Tabibito). Fuso Publishing Inc.
1999 Little Pond, Fukuinkan Shoten Publishers, Inc.
1997 Shingu : Message from Nature. Renzo Piano, Pierre Restany and Susumu Shingu.
Abbeville Press Publishers, New York, USA.
1994 Shingu Principal Works, 1991 - 1994. Susumu Shingu.
1994 Kippis's Earth Journey (« A World of Wonders », No. 111) Fukuinkan Shoten
Publishers, Inc.
1991 Whale Shark. Fuso Publishing Inc.
1991 Shingu : Rhythm of Nature. Rudolf Arnheim and Yusuke Nakahara, BrainCenter
Inc., Osaka, Japan.
1989 Windcircus. Shinchosca Inc.
1983 Wind and Water. Susumu Shingu.
1983 Dialogue with Nature : Susumu Shingu. Louis J. Bakanowsky, Process Architecture
Publishing Co, Ltd., Tokyo, Japan.
1979 Spider. Bunka Publishing Bureau.
1975 Strawberries. Bunka Publishing Bureau.
1973 Shingu. Edward F. Fry and Takahiko Okada. Harry N. Abrams, New York, USA.