"A gazebo is usually located in a garden or a park where you can take in the view around you - a view capturing a moment of time and of space. It's like you are in a little concentrated cosmos. I've been interested in sky, space, light, and clouds, and for this project - another in my Imaginary Architecture series - I chose to explore iridescent clouds, sometimes known as "rainbow clouds," a meteorological phenomenon characterised by vibrant, colourful bands appearing on thin, semi-transparent clouds. John Constable was always very interested in clouds, and did so many studies and paintings of them. Within a gazebo you see clouds and a sky that is never exactly the same as it is at any other time; wherever you stand and at whatever time, you never see the same view. There is a word in Japanese philosophy, "Ichigo
Ichie," meaning "a single meeting in a lifetime" or "one life, one encounter." It's a concept that encourages the appreciation of every moment and encounter as unique and precious, recognising that each one will never be exactly the same as another. It also applies to people, that you should appreciate the moments of meeting and being with people" - Yuko Shiraishi, 2025
Alongside her painting practice, Yuko Shiraishi is also known for her architectural and conceptual works, reflecting her fascination with cosmology and the liminal space between dream and reality. Her installation works include Space Elevator Tea House (2009) which merges notions of a traditional Japanese teahouse with the speculative vision of space travel. Netherworld (2013) draws parallels between the layered chambers of ancient Egyptian tombs and the cyclical nature of birth and death and Bunk Bed Odyssey - Parallel Lullaby (2024) was shown at Annely Juda Fine Art in London - the work investigates the dreamlike distance between two individuals sleeping in bunk beds. Shiraishi draws on visionary imagery, influenced by the imaginative realm of science fiction.
Shiraishi's newest piece Gazebo (2025) will be shown in the Project Room at Annely Juda Fine Art's new Hanover Square premises - the work featured in her 2025 exhibition at Ani Molnar (AM Projects) Gallery in Budapest and this is the first time it has been seen in London.
Yuko Shiraishi (b. 1956, Tokyo) moved to London in 1978, where she studied painting at the Chelsea School of Art. She has lived and worked in the city ever since. She is widely recognised for her often large-scale minimalist abstract paintings, which explore the formal possibilities of colour and composition. Yuko Shiraishi has exhibited widely in prestigious institutions across the UK, Germany, Switzerland and Japan. Her works are held in numerous important public collections, including: the Arts Council of Great Britain, the British Museum, the Government Art Collection (London), the Graves Art Gallery (Sheffield), the Max Bill-George Vantongerloo Foundation (Zumikon, Switzerland), the Wilhelm-Hack-Museum (Ludwigshafen), the McCrory Corporation (New York), the Ludwig Museum (Budapest), The National Museum of Art (Osaka), the Ohara Museum (Kurashiki), and the Seibu Museum of Art (Tokyo).
