Flavio-Shiró (born August 27, 1928) is a Japanese-Brazilian visual artist. Regarded as an influential postwar Brazilian painter, he is known for his dark and disturbing paintings that merge elements of abstract expressionism and surrealism. He is one of the main representatives of

abstract expressionism Abstract expressionism is a post–World War II art movement in American painting, developed in New York City in the 1940s. It was the first specifically American movement to achieve international influence and put New York at the center of the ...

in Brazil. Born in Hokkaido, Japan and raised in the Amazon, Flavio-Shiró spent his adult life working in Paris and Rio de Janeiro. His work has been exhibited in many countries, including Brazil, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and the United States. His paintings are also included in the permanent collections of notable museums including the

Hara Museum of Contemporary Art The was one of the oldest contemporary art museums in Japan. The museum was in the Kita-Shinagawa district, in the Shinagawa area of Tokyo. The building was originally built as a private mansion designed by Jin Watanabe in 1938 for the grandfa ...

, the São Paulo Museum of Modern Art, and the Fonds national d'art contemporain. In 2019, Flavio-Shiró received the

Order of the Rising Sun The is a Japanese order, established in 1875 by Emperor Meiji. The Order was the first national decoration awarded by the Japanese government, created on 10 April 1875 by decree of the Council of State. The badge features rays of sunlight ...

from the Emperor of Japan, the highest award conferred by the Japanese government to non-politicians, in recognition of his cultural contributions.

Biography

Flavio-Shiró was born in 1928 in Sapporo, on the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido. In 1932, he emigrated to

Tomé-Açu Tomé-Açu is a municipality in the state of Pará in the Northern region of Brazil. See also *List of municipalities in Pará This is a list of the municipalities in the state of Pará (PA), located in the North Region of Brazil. Pará is di ...

, Brazil with his family as part of a settler agricultural mission. Flavio-Shiró’s formative years were spent in the Amazon jungle, an experience that had a lasting influence on his artistic style and worldview. In 1939, he moved with his family to São Paulo, Brazil in search of a better education and economic opportunity. In São Paulo, Flavio-Shiró began his artistic training, studying at an arts and crafts school and painting movie posters for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. He also began to participate in group shows, joining the São Paulo Artists’ Union and the

Grupo Santa Helena {{short description, Brazilian painters Grupo Santa Helena, or Santa Helena Group, was the name given by the critic Sérgio Milliet to the painters that met in the ateliers of Francisco Rebolo and Mario Zanini starting in the 1930s. The ateliers ...

, a movement of working-class modern painters. In the early 1950s, Flavio-Shiró held his first solo exhibition in Rio de Janeiro and exhibited paintings in the first

São Paulo Art Biennial The São Paulo Art Biennial (Portuguese: ''Bienal de São Paulo'') was founded in 1951 and has been held every two years since. It is the second oldest art biennial in the world after the Venice Biennale (in existence since 1895), which serves as ...

, the second oldest art biennial in the world. In 1953, Flavio-Shiró emigrated to Paris where he studied engraving and lithography at the

Ecole nationale superieure des beaux arts The Beaux-Arts de Paris is a French ''grande école'' whose primary mission is to provide high-level arts education and training. This is classical and historical School of Fine Arts in France. The art school, which is part of the Paris Sciences ...

and married the Romanian-Brazilian author and illustrator Beatrice Tanaka. In the 1960s, Flavio-Shiró’s work shifted from abstract expressionism towards an increasingly surrealistic style featuring organic shapes and nightmarish objects inspired by his childhood in the Amazon. His artistic contributions during this period were recognized with several prestigious exhibits and awards, including the Guggenheim International Show in 1963 and the prize for painting at the second Biennale de Paris in 1961. From the 1970s through the 2010s, Flavio-Shiró’s artistic production has continued. His signature style, combining abstract gestures, rich colors, and disturbing biological objects, continued to evolve, with landmark, large-scale works including ''Pablo'' (1973) and ''Memória dos Cais'' (1987), which is in the permanent collection of the São Paulo Museum of Modern Art. He received numerous awards, including the Itamaraty Award at the 1989 São Paulo Biennial and the Eco-Art Prize at the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, and held solo exhibitions at the

, the Niterói Contemporary Art Museum, and the Tomie Ohtake Institute. In August 2019, in recognition of his cultural achievements, the Japanese government awarded Flavio-Shiró the

, the highest award offered by the Japanese government to non-politicians.

Solo exhibitions

Gallery

File:Flavio Shiro Sumi VIII.jpg, "Sumi VIII" (1987) File:Flavio-Shiro, Navel Portrait, 1973.jpg, "Navel Portrait" (1973) File:Flavio-Shiro La Marseillaise.jpg, "La Marseillaise" (1974) File:Flavio-Shiro Pablo.jpg, "Pablo" (1973)

References

External links

*
Flavio-Shiró Artist Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Flavio-Shiró 1928 births Brazilian artists Brazilian painters Japanese emigrants to Brazil Naturalized citizens of Brazil People from Sapporo Artists from São Paulo 20th-century Brazilian painters 20th-century Brazilian male artists 21st-century Brazilian painters Living people