Shiro Kuramata

Miss Blanche chair by Kuramata, 1989

Kuramata was born in 1934. He was part of a generation of Japanese creatives born just before the outbreak of Second World War, who are considered to have transformed the way Japan was viewed by the outside world.[1]

This generation included Kuramata's friends and collaborators who were famous members of the Japanese design and architecture circle at the time, including Issey Miyake, Yokoo Tadanori, Isozaki Arata, and Tadao Ando.[2]

From the mid‑1960s onwards, Kuramata began exploring materials and forms through his unique designs. His work merged popular culture, Japanese aesthetic concepts, and the Western avant‑garde.[2]

At the end of the 1980s, Kuramata was invited by Ettore Sottsass to be a founding member of the Italian design collaborative Memphis Group.[1][2]

In 1990 the French government awarded Kuramata the distinguished Ordre des Arts et des Lettres in recognition of his outstanding contribution to art and design.[3]

Kuramata was mainly known for his use of industrial materials such as wire steel mesh and lucite to create architectural interiors and furniture. Revolutionary pieces such as the "How High the Moon" chair (1986) reflect the emerging dynamism and maturing creativity of postwar Japan, or his Ikebana, lead crystal free hand blown vase, realized by the Vilca from Colle di Val d'Elsa (province of Siena, Italy), an example of fusion between oriental and occidental cultures.

Kuramata's "Miss Blanche" chair from 1989 is one of his most iconic works, named after the central female character in Tennessee Williams’s A Streetcar Named Desire and inspired by corsage worn by Vivien Leigh in the film adaptation.[2][4] It was sold at Christie's in London for GBP 46,000.00 (USD 86,000.00) in October 1997, lot 108.

A "How High the Moon" two seater was sold for GBP 12,650.00 (USD 24,000.00) at Bonhams London in May 1998. This ranks Kuramata amongst the most desirable of artists/designers of the 20th century.

Kuramata's architecture is less well known as there are few remaining examples.[1] He designed multiple sushi restaurants in Tokyo.[1] One of these, the Kiyomoto Sushi Bar, was collected in its entirety by British collector Richard Schlagman.[1] It now sits in the collection of M+ in Hong Kong.[5]

• Exhibition information from the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.
• Shiro Kuramata at "Paul Hughes Fine Arts".