Chiharu Shiota's 'Silent Emptiness' at Red Brick Art Museum Beijing

Following her largest European solo show at the Grand Palais in Paris, Japanese artist Chiharu Shiota (Osaka, 1972) presents 'Silent Emptiness' at the Red Brick Art Museum in Beijing, curated by director Yan Shijie. The exhibition features four site-specific installations using her signature red wool threads to give tangible presence to emptiness, exploring themes of loss, migration, cancer, and mortality. Works include 'Echoes of Time' (2025), where cobweb-like threads erode stone, and 'Multiple Realities', with carved stones and floating dresses reflecting on water. Archival recordings of performances like 'Falling Sand' (2004) and 'Wall' (2010) highlight her performative roots as a student of Marina Abramović. The museum, founded by Yan Shijie and Cao Mei, opened in 2014 after eight years of construction, covering 20,000 sqm with exhibition spaces and gardens designed by architect Dong Yugan. Its red brick architecture blends industrial aesthetics with traditional Chinese garden elements, featuring skylights and windows that modulate light. The institution has hosted monographic shows of Chinese artists Shen Yuan, Zhang Peili, and Xing Danwen, and collaborated with French, Swiss, and German institutions. International artists exhibited include Olafur Eliasson, Sarah Lucas, Tomás Saraceno, and Tatiana Trouvé. The museum aims to promote Chinese contemporary art while engaging globally. The exhibition runs until August 31.