Shiro Kuramata

Piasa, Paris, May 21, 2015, lot 1

Shiro Kuramata 1934-1991, exh. cat., Hara Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo, 1996, pp. 73 and 165 (for the present lot illustrated) 
Deyan Sudjic, Shiro Kuramata, Vol. 1, London, 2013, pp. 117 and 137
Deyan Sudjic, Shiro Kuramata, Vol. 2, London, 2013, p. 323

In 1983 Kuramata began to mix coloured glass fragments into terrazzo, to create a malleable and decorative substance that he termed “Star Piece”. Initially trialed in the “Kyoto” table that was eventually retailed by Memphis, the material was subsequently used extensively in Kuramata’s interior design schemes, significantly for the floors or walls of the Issy Miyake boutiques in both Ginza and New York. For this latter interior, Kuramata altered the composition of the terrazzo to now incorporate fragments of Coca Cola bottles, acknowledging the American pop culture references often deeply embedded in his oeuvre.