1990 - 1996

Exhibition and extension

Shigeko Kubota’s work was the subject of two major solo exhibitions in the 1990s including a retrospective at the American Museum of the Moving Image, New York in 1991 that traveled to Europe and Japan, and a one person show at the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York in 1996. This exhibition marked a turning point in her career, as it led to a world tour that made her work more accessible globally and established her as a 'global artist.' The tour opened doors to her participation in international biennales, allowing her to reach a broader audience than ever before. 

 She participated in the 1990 Venice Biennale in Italy, the 1990 Sydney Biennale in Australia, and  the 1995 Gwangju Biennale in Korea. In the 1990s she produced notable works including Adam and Eve (1989–1991), Video Byobu II (Cherry Blossoms) and Video Byobu III (Cherry Blossoms) (1991), Bird I, 1991, and Bird II (1992), Jogging Lady (1993), Tree I and Tree II, (1993), Pissing Boy, (1993), and Sexual Healing (1998). During this time, Kubota expanded her creative exploration, delving into optical effects with mirror polygons and creating immersive environments. 

When her husband Nam June Paik suffered a series of strokes in 1996, Kubota became his primary caregiver and dedicated most of her time to managing his work and life. As a result, her ability to produce new work was impacted for the next decade.

Chronology Exhibition and Extension
 

1990
■ Apr. 11‒June 3 ］Sydney Biennale: The Readymade boomerang, Certain relations in 20th century Art
◎ Window / River / Bicycle 1
■ [May 26‒Aug. 30 ］Venice Biennale Ubi Fluxus ibi motus 1990‒1962
◎ Stairs / Adam and Eve / Window Snow / Bicycle
■［Summer］Taormina Arte, Villa Comunale Park, Taormina, Sicilia.
◎ The Gate for Culture

1991
■ [Apr. 26‒Sept. 15] Shigeko Kubota Video Sculpture, American Museum of Moving Image, New York. Traveled to multiple venues including Europe, Japan.
◎ Video Chess / Video Poem / Grave / Staircase / Door / Window (Snow) / Three Mountains / River / Berlin Diary / Video Haiku/ Bicycle Wheel / Green Installation / Window (Flowers) / Window (Stars) / Niagara / Rock Video / Adam and Eve / Auto- Tire Wheel / Bycycle 1, 2, 3 / Video Byobu lll (Birds) / Window (Snow with Computer Writing) / [21 pieces]
■ [Sept. 5‒Nov. 10 ]Consumer Tools: Personal Visions,
Museum of Modern Art, New York.
◎ Navajo Sky
■ [Sept. 14, 15]Symposium“Video ’92 & Beyond,”American Museum of the Moving Image, New York.
■ [Oct. 10‒Nov. 10]Artec 91, International Biennale, Nagoya, et al.
◎ Auto-Tire Wheel

1992
■ [Jan. 18-Mar. 20]Kubota Shigeko Video Installation, Hara Museum, Tokyo. MMI exhibition travels to Japan.
◎ Chess / Grave / Staircase / (Snow) / Three Mountains / River/ Bicycle / Window (Flowers) / Window (Stars) / Rock Video / Adam and Eve / Bycycle 1, 2, 3 / [21 pieces]
■ [Oct. 10‒Nov. 29]Shigeko Kubota Video Sculptuur, Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam. MMI exhibition travels to Amsterdam.
◎[unknown]
■ [Apr. 9‒July 16]New Acquisitions, Video: Joan Jonas, Nam June Paik, William Wegman, Museum of Modern Art, New York.
◎ Merce and Marcel
■ [Oct. 10‒Nov. 29 ]Centrifugal Sculpture: An Aspect of Japanese Sculpture in the Late Decade, The National Museum of Art, Osaka.
◎ Staircase / Window / Bicycle 1, 2, 3

1993
■ Shigeko Kubota, Video Sculpture, Ford Astistico, Eisfabrik, Hannover / Wiesser Raum, Hamburg / Kusthalle in Kiel, Kiel. MMI exhibition travels to Amsterdam.
◎[unknown]
■ [June 14‒Oct. 10] “Passagio a Oriente,” La Biennale di Venezia XLV Esposizione Internazionale d’Arte 1993, Venice.
◎ Garden of Eden. Video Dreamscape [Korean Grave, Jogging Lady, Bicycle, etc.]
■ [Aug. 27‒Sept. 5] Electronic Art/Philips 1993, Berlin.
◎[unknown]
■ [Sept. 3‒Oct. 13] “Et tous ils changent le monde,” 2ème Biennale d’art contemporain, Lyon.
◎ Video feedback / Windmill, windflower
■ [Nov. 13‒Jan. 16, 1994]In the Spirit of Fluxus, Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, et al.
◎[unknown]
■ VIDEOFORMES, 8e Festival International d’Art Vidéo, Clermont Ferrand.
◎[unknown]
■ Feuer, Erde, Wasser, Luft, Mediale, Hamburg, Germany.
◎[unknown]
■ Matthew Barney, Shigeko Kubota, Bruce Nauman, Marcel Odenbach, Sierrick Sorin, Barbara Gladstone Gallery, New York.
◎[unknown]

1994
■ [Feb. 5‒Mar. 30] Japanese Art After 1945: Scream Against the Sky, Yokohama Museum of Art, Kanagawa.
◎ Window / Duchampiana: Bicycle 1, 2, 3
■ Shigeko Kubota Video as a Form of Spiritual Collision with the World, Fondazione Mudima, Milano.
◎[unknown]
■ [June 5‒Aug. 21] The First Generation: Women and Video, 1970‒1975, Long Beach Museum of Art, LA, et al.
◎[unknown]
■ [Sept. 14‒Jan. 8, 1995] "Japanese Art After 1945: Scream Against the Sky, Guggenheim Museum SoHo, New York."
◎ Window / Bicycle 1, 2, 3 / Staircase
■ [Nov. 4‒Mar. 26, 1995] Duchamp’s Leg, Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, Minnesota.
◎[unknown]
■ Set in Motion, Frieda and Roy Furman Gallery, Walter Reade Theater, Lincoln Center, New York.
◎ Allan and Allen / Skater

1995
■ [Feb. 2] Received Maya Deren Award from the American Film Institute Award for Independent Film and Video Artists.
■ [Mar. 11‒June 18] Visions from Memory, Hara Museum ARC
◎ Bicycle 1, 2, 3
■ [May 27‒Sept. 5] Adding it up: Print Acquisitions 1970‒ 1995, Museum of Modern Art, New York.
◎ Fluxkit 
■ [June 8‒Aug. 31] ASIANA, Contemporary Art From the Far East, Palazzo Vendramin Calergi, Venice.
◎[unknown] 
■ [July 7‒Sept. 10 ] Collection in Context - Gazing Back: Shigeko Kubota and Mary Lucier, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York.
◎ Staircase / Window 
■ [Sept. 19‒Nov. 20] "INFO-ART", Kwangju Biennale ’95, Korea.
◎ Niagara / Skater / Video flowers 
■ [Nov. 10‒Dec. 10 ] “New Orient/Ation,” 4. Uluslararasi Istanbul Bienali (4th International Istanbul Biennial)
◎ Niagara

1996
■ [Feb. 9‒Mar. 16 ] Shigeko Kubota: Video Sculptures Duchampiana, Galerie de Paris.
◎ [Not listed in the catalog]
■ [Feb.] [solo show] Eric Fabre Galerie, Paris.
◎[unknown]
■ [Mar. 5‒Apr. 28] “Les cases conjuguées” en hommage à Teeny Duchamp, Jeu de Paume, Paris.
◎[unknown]
■ [Apr. 4]Paik had a stroke.
■ [May 2‒Aug. 2]Shigeko Kubota: Video is a Ghost of Yourself, Lance Fung Gallery, New York.
◎ Video Rock Garden / Video Clouds / Small Windmill / Medium Windmill / Large Wnidmill / Video Tree / Video Flower / Video Snake / Video Coyote / Video Rock Garden (small) 
■ [June 19‒Aug. 25 ]Shigeko Kubota, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York.
◎ Bird II / Jogging Lady / Korean grave / Pissing Boy / Videoflower / Videotree / Windflower (Nail) / Windflower (Purple) / Windflower (Red Tape) / Windmill II / Windmill III / Videoflower I / Videoflower II / Videotree / Windmill / Running Coyote / Sitting Coyote / Snake