Shigeko Kubota
Encyclopedia
is a visual and performance artist born in Niigata Prefecture
, Japan, in 1937. She studied sculpture at the Tokyo University of Education, and completed her studies at New York University
and at the New School for Social Research in the early 1960s. She became vice chairman of the Fluxus
Organization in 1964, and was married to another member of that movement, Nam June Paik
. A well-known and important early work is her Vagina Painting, performed at the Perpetual Fluxus Festival in New York in July 1965. In the performance, Kubota assumed a crouching position over a sheet of paper on the floor and painted on it with a brush affixed to the crotch of her underwear. The work is often cited as a female rejoinder to Jackson Pollock
's action
or drip painting
s.
In 1972, Kubota produced Europe on 1/2 Inch a Day, the first of her video diaries. In 1973, she began exploring image processing equipment at WNET's TV Lab and produced Video Girls and Video Songs for Navajo Skies.
Kubota helped to coordinate the first annual Women's Video Festival at the Kitchen in 1972.
Shigeko Kubota is quoted saying "I want to create a fusion of art and life, Asia and America, Duchampiana and Levi-Straussian savagism, cool form and hot video, dealing with all of those complex problems, spanning the tribal memory of the nomadic Asians who crossed over the Bering Strait over 10,000 years ago. Then, I came, flying in a Boeing 707, on July 4th in 1964, drawn to the glittering Pop Art world of New York."
Niigata Prefecture
is a prefecture of Japan located on the island of Honshū on the coast of the Sea of Japan. The capital is the city of Niigata. The name "Niigata" literally means "new lagoon".- History :...
, Japan, in 1937. She studied sculpture at the Tokyo University of Education, and completed her studies at New York University
New York University
New York University is a private, nonsectarian research university based in New York City. NYU's main campus is situated in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan...
and at the New School for Social Research in the early 1960s. She became vice chairman of the Fluxus
Fluxus
Fluxus—a name taken from a Latin word meaning "to flow"—is an international network of artists, composers and designers noted for blending different artistic media and disciplines in the 1960s. They have been active in Neo-Dada noise music and visual art as well as literature, urban planning,...
Organization in 1964, and was married to another member of that movement, Nam June Paik
Nam June Paik
Nam June Paik was a Korean American artist. He worked with a variety of media and is considered to be the first video artist....
. A well-known and important early work is her Vagina Painting, performed at the Perpetual Fluxus Festival in New York in July 1965. In the performance, Kubota assumed a crouching position over a sheet of paper on the floor and painted on it with a brush affixed to the crotch of her underwear. The work is often cited as a female rejoinder to Jackson Pollock
Jackson Pollock
Paul Jackson Pollock , known as Jackson Pollock, was an influential American painter and a major figure in the abstract expressionist movement. During his lifetime, Pollock enjoyed considerable fame and notoriety. He was regarded as a mostly reclusive artist. He had a volatile personality, and...
's action
Action painting
Action painting sometimes called "gestural abstraction", is a style of painting in which paint is spontaneously dribbled, splashed or smeared onto the canvas, rather than being carefully applied...
or drip painting
Drip painting
Drip painting is a form of abstract art in which paint is dripped or poured onto the canvas. This style of action painting was experimented with in the first half of the twentieth century by such artists as Francis Picabia, and Max Ernst, who employed drip painting in his works The Bewildered...
s.
In 1972, Kubota produced Europe on 1/2 Inch a Day, the first of her video diaries. In 1973, she began exploring image processing equipment at WNET's TV Lab and produced Video Girls and Video Songs for Navajo Skies.
Kubota helped to coordinate the first annual Women's Video Festival at the Kitchen in 1972.
Shigeko Kubota is quoted saying "I want to create a fusion of art and life, Asia and America, Duchampiana and Levi-Straussian savagism, cool form and hot video, dealing with all of those complex problems, spanning the tribal memory of the nomadic Asians who crossed over the Bering Strait over 10,000 years ago. Then, I came, flying in a Boeing 707, on July 4th in 1964, drawn to the glittering Pop Art world of New York."
Exhibitions
- Whitney Museum of American Art (New York, United States 1979)
- Museum Folkwang (Essen, Germany 1982)
- American Museum of the Moving Image (Astoria, United States 1991)
- Galerie de Paris (Paris, France 1996)