MURAMOTO Shingo
| Present | Working as a fulltime artist |
| 2010-15 | Faculty of Utatsuyama Craft Workshop |
| 1999-02 | Trainee of Utatsuyama Craft Workshop |
| 1997 | M.F.A., Tokyo University of the Arts |
| 1995 | B.F.A., Tokyo University of the Arts |
| 1970 | Born in Ishikawa Prefecture |
Solo Exhibitions
| 2018 | Galerie Pousse, Tokyo ('15,'10, '09) |
| 2016 | Floating Forms: Lacquer Sculpture, Keiko Art International |
| 2010 | Galerie Pousse, Tokyo ('10, '09) |
| 2004 | Hirota Art Gallery ANNEX, Ishikawa Art Box, Tamagawa Takashimaya, Tokyo |
| 2003 | Gallery Isogaya, Tokyo (also in '02, 01) Gallery Chiyodo, Ishikawa |
Group Exhibitions
| 2018 | Collect, London, by ESH Gallery Art Fair Tokyo (’16, ’17) The Present Situation of URUSHI, Nihonbashi Mitsukoshi |
| 2017 | Art Geneve, Palexpo Switzerland, by ESH Gallery Art Fair Tokyo (’16, ’17) Japan in Black and White, sumi, lacquer and porcelain, ESH Gallery, Milan Art Monte-Carlo, Grimldi Forum, Monaco, by ESH Gallery (’16) TRESOR Contemporary Craft, Messe Basel, Switzerland, by ESH Gallery Hard Bodies: Contemporary Japanese Lacquer Sculpture, Minneapolis Institute of Art, U.S.A. Kanazawa KOGEI Art Fair, Kanazawa, by KUMU Aizu Urushi Art Festival, Fukushima |
| 2016 | URUSHI_ISM_LACCA GIAPPONESE, Esh Gallery, Milan, Italy Art Fair Tokyo (’16, ’17) China-Korea-Japan Art Exhibition, Shanghai Art Collection Museum, China International Urushi Exhibition, Tongyeong City Museum, Korea Fuzhou International Biennale, China |
| 2015 | Nippon! Contemporary Arts and Crafts from Japan, ESH Gallery, Milan, Italy Dialogue with Materials: Contemporary Japanese Arts an Crafts, Anadolu University, Eskisehir, Turkey |
| 2014 | Dialogue with Materials: Contemporary Japanese Arts an Crafts, Ahmed Adnen Saygun Sanat Merkezi, Izmir, Turkey |
| 2012 | Play Baroque, Isetan, Tokyo 125th Anniversary Event, Tokyo University of the Arts, Urushi Art and History |
| 2011 | Contemporary Japanese Lacquer, Cavin-Morris Gallery, New York 150th Anniversary of friendship between Germany and Japan, Kanazawa Lackkunst, Musterring Gallery, Germany |
| 2009 | 20th Anniversary Exhibition at Kanazawa Utatsuyama Craft Studio, "Artists who Connect Periods", 21st Century of Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa |
| 2006 | Artland On 150x150 partⅥ, Roof Gallery, Tamagawa Takashimaya, Tokyo Formative Lacquer – Tokyo, Kyoto, Kanazawa, Gion Konishi, Kyoto Objet d'art in daily life, Crossroad 7 Nihonbashi Takashimaya, Tokyo Japan & Korea Lacquer arts exhibition - Tokyo University of the Arts, Tokyo and Ishikawa Wajima Urushi Art Museum, Ishikawa |
| 2005 | Possibilities of Lacquer Clay, Gallery Isogaya, Tokyo Scene of Lacquer – by MURAMOTO Shingo and FUJINO Seiichiro, 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa 23rd Asahi Modern Craft Exhibition (Invited exhibit)/ Osaka & Yokohama |
| 2004 | The 2004 Emma Lake Collaboration, Canada |
| 2003 | Access/ Accessory, Takaoka Art Museum, Toyama Experiences as craftmen in today's USA, Gallery Isogaya, Tokyo |
| 2002 | Works "Present of Utatsuyama Craft Workshop" , Masuda Studio, Tokyo 50th anniversary Ikebana Ohararyu Exhibition "Masaaki", Ishikawa Ongakudo, Ishikawa |
| 2001 | Kanazawa Craft Exhibition, Meitetsu Marukoshi, Ishikawa International Craft Competition, Kanazawa, Kourinbo Yamato, Ishikawa The Philadelphia Museum of Art Craft Show, PA |
| 2000 | 678th Craft Gallery Exhibition "My works", Matsuya Ginza, Tokyo Sawaru Urushi–Tanoshimu, Maruzen, Tokyo & Okayama |
| 1999 | Lacquer OBQ, Gallery Isogaya, Tokyo |
| 1998 | Lacquer OBQ, Tokyo Metropolitan Art Space, Tokyo |
| 1995 | Lacquer Art Exhibition of Four Artists, Fujita Vente Museum, Tokyo |
| 2017 | Grand Prix, Kanazawa Craft Council |
| 2016 | Chairman’s Prize, Kanazawa Craft Council |
| 2012 | Judge’s Special Award, International Lacquer Exhibition Ishikawa 2012 |
| 2002 | Honorable Mention, International Lacquer Exhibition Ishikawa 2002 |
| 2001 | Honorable Mention,Art and Craft in Obokesugi |
| 2000 | Excellent Award, Art and Craft in Obokesugi |
| 1999 | Special Prize, International Lacquer Design |
- Minneapolis Institute of Arts, MN
- Marunouchi Hotel Co, Ltd./ Tokyo
- Philadelphia Museum of Art, PA
- Design Center Ishikawa, Ishikawa
- Lobby, Horizon Place Akasaka, Tokyo
- Lobby, Proud Uehara, Tokyo
- Hotel Trusty, Kanazawa, Ishikawa
- Utatsuyama Craft Workshop, Ishikawa
- Play / Paly Lacquer Art, Commercial Space Magazine
- Lacquer Art in the Living Spaces, Sunday Art, Yomiuri Shinbun
- Art Collector, Seikatsuno Tomo Publisher, 2010
- MMJ Vol.5 No.12, Mainichi Shinbun Publisher, 2009
- Urushi and Art, Jisho Publisher, 2008
Normally works of lacquer seem to be very solid, but I wanted to create forms that were light, and that might appear to be moved by the wind. In order to express this feeling I developed a technique of stretching fabric over bowed twigs in order to create the body of a form.
I am also very interested in coexistence in nature, like the relationship between insects and plants. This reminds me of the importance of each different material that I use in my work, but I am not sure that people get this feeling from my work.
The forms evolve from the relationship between the different materials. For example, the bowed twigs create movement; then the fabric stretched over them creates the curved surface; and then the lacquer coated on the surface finalizes the forms. And this is my goal-- to make interesting forms through the relationships of each of three components.