Mako Idemitsu

Mako Idemitsu
Born	1940 (age 85–86) Tokyo, Imperial Japan
Occupation	Artist
Years active	1970–present
Spouse	Sam Francis (1966–1985)
Children	Osamu Francis, Shingo Francis
Website	makoidemitsu.com

Mako Idemitsu (出光 真子, Idemitsu Mako; born 1940, Tokyo, Japan) is a Japanese experimental media artist whose work spans film, video, and installations. Since the 1970s, her art has explored themes such as gender roles, domestic life, and identity, often incorporating personal narratives with psychological and feminist critiques.

Early life and career

Idemitsu was born in Ōta, Tokyo, Japan. Her father, Sazō Idemitsu, was a Japanese businessman, art collector, and founder of Idemitsu Kōsan. During her upbringing, the expectations placed on her as a woman resulted in tension with her father, and when she chose to study abroad and pursue an artistic career, she clashed with him and was ultimately disinherited.

Idemitsu has stated that her father held to Confucian values, which she viewed as patriarchal, and which, according to her, resulted in him belittling his wife and daughters and limited their individuality and independence.

Idemitsu attended Waseda University in Tokyo from 1958–1962, where she studied Japanese history, and later attended Columbia University in New York City (1963–1964) despite her father's disapproval. She lived in the United States, primarily in California, from 1963–1972. Idemitsu considered her undergraduate education to be under-stimulating and was often frustrated with what she perceived as misogynistic comments from her professors. She participated in many extracurriculars, such as the university's Contemporary Literature Society, and was politically active, joining in student demonstrations against the US-Japan Security Treaty of 1960.

New York and California

From 1963–1964, Idemitsu attended Columbia University in New York City. In her autobiography, she mentions that she appreciated the multicultural environment of New York and the autonomy she experienced there. Around 1965, Idemitsu moved to California and lived in Santa Monica and Los Angeles, remaining until 1972. In 1965, Idemitsu married painter Sam Francis, becoming his fourth wife. It was in California that she began working with film.

Her time in California also exposed her to the counterculture of the 1960s, although she observed that gendered biases and male chauvinism persisted even there. She created Woman's House (1972) at the Womanhouse project, an art installation and performance space founded by Judy Chicago and Miriam Schapiro. This marked the beginning of her engagement with the Women's Liberation Movement.

Tokyo

Idemitsu returned to Japan with Francis and her sons in 1973, originally planning to stay for a year. Though Francis returned to the United States in 1974, Idemitsu chose to remain in Japan. The couple later divorced, and Francis married for a fifth time in 1985. After returning to Japan, she produced her At Santa Monica (1973-5) and At Any Place (1975-8) series, in which she makes use of and reflects on her previous photography of the United States.

Upon returning to Tokyo, Idemitsu established her video practice independently, while partnering with other video artists such as the members of Video Hiroba. In particular, Idemitsu credits Nobuhiro Kawanaka and Kyōko Michishita for helping her learn the technical skills needed to work with video equipment. Michael Goldberg, a Canadian who co-organized the Video Communication/Do It Yourself Kit symposium and exhibition, became Idemitsu's consistent collaborator and is credited as a Director of Photography for many of her videos. Idemitsu also worked extensively with Yoshimitsu Takahashi to develop her films. Idemitsu was involved in the broader Japanese art scene too, collaborating with Yoneyama Mamako after watching her pantomime Housewife's Tango to produce At Any Place 4 (1978). Idemitsu was involved with Japanese art historians, particularly Kaori Chino, a feminist art historian who encouraged her to write and publish her autobiography.

Art

Medium

The technical limitations of the equipment at the time influenced the direction of Idemitsu's work. She first started to work in the United States, initially with 8 mm film, and then moved to 16 mm film. She became interested in capturing the mood, quality, and interplay of light and shadow. When she switched to working with video, the inability of the video cameras of the time to capture the qualities of light led to the increased use of narrative in her work. On her return to Japan, the cumbersomeness of the equipment and an inability to easily film outdoors led her to use indoor single-camera setups. Idemitsu also produced a limited number of video installations. Idemitsu's work has been described as being inspired by melodramas and diary narration. Critics such as Scott Nygren have attempted to locate Japanese cultural origins within her work, claiming a similarity between her narrative form with that of Noh theatre.

Themes

Idemitsu's work often incorporates feminist perspectives. Her art explores themes of gender roles, personal identity, and the construction of the self within societal frameworks. In particular, she critically examines the role of the modern Japanese family, highlighting how its traditional structure can contribute to the suppression of women's identities. Idemitsu has often cited Simone de Beauvoir as one of her major influences, creating works such as Kae, Act like a Girl (1993) inspired by de Beauvoir's The Second Sex, "People are not born as women. They become women" is a quote from de Beauvoir that is said to have inspired her. Idemitsu also explores aspects of Japanese womanhood, including depictions of domestic abuse, harassment, and rape. Idemitsu's early films included home movies of her sons and family life. This domestic setting, with the action revolving around family interactions, remains a consistent theme in her films. A recurring motif in her works is disembodied forms; the television abstracting torsos, heads, or even eyes. These disembodied characters, usually female, may act indifferent to their protagonists or may actively oppress them and can be interpreted both at face value as the mother, daughter, or wife of the protagonist or as a representation of their inner mind. For example, in Idemitsu's Great Mother trilogy, as much as they are presented as the protagonist's mothers, these disembodied women also represent the super-ego of the protagonist and are a personification of a lifetime of learned cultural values and societal norms and are thus an internalized ideal from which the protagonist cannot escape.

Notable works

Film and video

What a Woman Made (1973)

In this video, an image of a tampon swirling in a toilet bowl slowly appears as the artist speaks about the roles, responsibilities, and expectations of women in a clinical tone. Minimal in composition, "What a Woman Made" offers a critique of the treatment of women in Japanese society.

Sam Are You Listening? (1974)

Commissioned by the American Center Japan, this hour-long documentary video is Idemitsu's intimate portrayal of her then-husband, Sam Francis. Idemitsu interviewed 5 people about how they viewed Francis; Taeko Tomioka, Toru Takemitsu, Shuzo Takiguchi, Jiro Takamatsu, and Sazo Idemitsu.

Another Day of A Housewife (1977)

This video explores Idemitsu's own frustrations with the routine of house chores. Idemitsu portrays frustration with alienation and surveillance by interrupting each domestic scene with a televisual eye.

Shadow Part 1 (1980) & Part 2 (1980), Animus Part 1 (1982) & Part 2 (1982)

In the Shadow and Animus series, Idemitsu explores Jungian psychoanalytical concepts by manifesting the Shadow and Animus as an additional layer and surface in videos of the Japanese domestic setting. They explore the personification of dreams, projections of mental imagery, and the difficulty of living under oppressive patriarchy. This series builds upon Idemitsu's earlier work, Inner-man (1972), which was shot on film.

My America, Your America (1980)

Idemitsu uses photographs by her collaborator, Akira Kobayashi, to construct a found-image video. Idemitsu balances images of Americana to suggest the journey of a foreigner through these iconic landscapes, searching for a place within them to belong. It reflects upon her own experiences moving from coast to coast.

Kiyoko's Situation (1989)

This film depicts Kiyoko, a middle-aged housewife, whose repressed desire to express her identity emerges. Idemitsu portrays the struggle for housewives to be filial, care for their family's needs, and pursue their own creative ambitions. This film received awards from Mention Special du Jury category "EXPERIMENTAL" La Mondiale de film et videos, Quebec, Canada in 1991, and Prix Procirep Section Fiction, Festival International de Videos et Films, Centre Audivisuel Simone de Beauvoir, Paris, France in 1992.

Installations

Still Life (1993–2000)

Still Life is a two-channel video installation with moving images projected onto two gigantic calla lilies placed side by side. On one lily, hands pull the petals off a red rose. On the second, the pistil is missing. A woman is shown imprisoned behind an invisible, transparent wall, appearing to plead for release. A woman's voice-over endlessly repeats "Have a good day" and "Welcome home", echoing the perceived monotony of a housewife's existence.

Real? Motherhood (2000)

Real? Motherhood is an installation that critically examines the myth of maternity. The single-channel installation repurposes Idemitsu's 1960s home movies, projecting images through a glass cradle. The moving images show Idemitsu holding one of her children, a baby suckling, mother and child looking at each other, and the baby's innocent smile. These are interspersed with black-and-white images of the ambiguous expression on the mother's face. Light falling from above onto the glass cradle conveys an impression of sanctity, the cradle is transmuted, for the mother, into an altar. However, Idemitsu suggests that this Western type of cradle also resembles a coffin, symbolizing mortality.

Literary work

• What a Woman Made: Autobiography of a Filmmaker (ホワット·ア·うーまんめいど: ある映像作家の自伝 / Howatto a ūman meido: Aru eizō sakka no jiden), Iwanami Shoten (岩波書店), 2003.
• White Elephant, Chin Music Press (translation by Juliet Winters Carpenter), 2016, based on Idemitsu's life.

Selected exhibitions and screenings

• 1974 Nirenoki Gallery, Ginza, Japan. Idemitsu's first solo exhibition.
• 1974 "New York Tokyo Video Express" (Curated by Shigeko Kubota), Tenjosajiki, Tokyo, Japan.
• 1978 "International Video Festival", Sogetsu-kaikan, Tokyo, Japan
• 1978 "Japan Video Art Festival" (Curated by Jorge Glusberg), Centro de Arte y Comunicación, Buenos Aires, Argentina
• 1979 "Video from Tokyo, Fukui and Kyoto" (Curated by Barbara London), The Museum of Modern Art, New York, US
• 1979 "Japan Avant Garde Film Exhibition", The Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, France
• 1992 "Centre Audiovisuel Simone de Beauvoir International Festival Video and Films", Paris, France. Idemitsu was influenced by de Beauvoir.
• 1993 "Identity and Home" (Curated by Barbara London and Sally Berger), The Museum of Modern Art, New York, US.
• 1993 "The First Generation, Women and Video,1970–75", Independent Curators, New York, US.
• 2004 "Borderline Cases – Women On The Borderlines", Gallery A.R.T., Tokyo, Japan. A group exhibition featuring and thematising the negotiation of identities for female Asian diaspora artists; Park Young Sook and Yun Suk Nam (South Korea); and Theresa Hak Kyung Cha (South Korea-USA).
• 2018 "Institute of Asian Performance Art: Tokyo TOKAS Project Vol.1" (Curated by Victor Wang), Tokyo Arts and Space, Tokyo, Japan. A group exhibition with artists who utilised television, Zhang Peili and Park Hyun-ki.

Idemitsu's work has also been included in programmes for film festivals such as the Image Forum (1978, 1984, 1990), Oberhausen Short Film Festival (1993), and Singapore International Film Festival (1998).

Personal life and family

Idemitsu has two sisters; one of them, Takako, was a painter once married to art critic Yoshiaki Tōno. Idemitsu has two sons from her marriage with Sam Francis, Osamu and Shingo, the latter eventually becoming a painter/

Collections

• The Museum of Modern Art, New York, US, started collecting in 1979.
• Long Beach Museum of Art, Long Beach, US, started collecting in 1980.
• National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, Canada
• Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, France
• ZKM Centre for Art and Media, Karlsruhe, Germany
• University of Genova, Genova, Italy
• Fukuyama Museum of Art, Fukuyama, Japan
• Hiroshima City Museum of Contemporary Art, Hiroshima, Japan
• Kagoshima University, Kagoshima, Japan
• Kobe Design University, Kobe, Japan
• Mori Art Museum, Tokyo, Japan
• Meiji Gakuin University, Tokyo, Japan
• Miyagi Museum of Art, Miyagi, Japan
• Nagoya City Art Museum, Nagoya, Japan
• National Film Archive of Japan
• Museum of Modern Art, Toyama, Japan
• National Museum of Art, Osaka, Japan
• National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo, Japan
• Tochigi Prefectural Museum of Fine Arts, Tochigi, Japan
• Tokushima 21st Century Cultural Information Center, Tokushima, Japan
• Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography, Japan
• Ewha Womans University Museum, Seoul, Korea

External links

• Official website
• Mako Idemitsu's profile on Collaborative Cataloging Japan, an online database and preservation society for experimental Japanese moving images.