Wikipedia

Yuki Iiyama

Yuki Iiyama (飯山 由貴, Iiyama Yuki, b. 1988) is a Japanese contemporary artist and lecturer at Tama Art University.[1]

Yuki Iiyama
Born1988
Kanagawa, Japan
NationalityJapanese
Alma materTokyo University of the Arts, Joshibi University of Art and Design

Iiyama explores the themes of social stigma, representation and the interaction of the individual with society, through archival materials, video works, installations and community workshops.

Education and early life

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Iiyama was born in Kanagawa prefecture.[2] In her early years, she was influenced by subcultural forms of art such as anime, manga, film, and other cinematic productions. Initially, she considered pursuing a career as a teacher, influenced by familial expectations. However, her focus shifted to contemporary art during her time at university, where she found new ways to express herself through different media.[3]

Iiyama entered Joshibi University of Art and Design, earning a bachelor's degree in Oil Painting in 2011. Her experiences there, including exposure to modern art history and gender theory, played a pivotal role in her decision to become an artist. She later completed her MFA in Oil Painting at Tokyo University of the Arts in 2013, further developing her interest in installation and relational art, which continue to inform her practice.[3]

Career

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Major Projects

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Iiyama's work contextualizes structural issues that relate to institutions and the individual, often informed by personal experience.[4]

Does the Future Sleep Here? (2024)

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Iiyama participated in a group exhibition at National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo, with new works that responded to the Matsukata Collection[5] which is the founding collection of the museum, gifted by Kōjirō Matsukata. The exhibition was notable for being the first time contemporary artists were featured at the museum, which typically exhibits early 20th century Western art. The exhibition questioned what the collection's role is in contemporary Japan.[6] Iiyama's works were titled "No one, and Nothing, Can Control My Mind and Body" 2024, and "The History and Narratives of This Island and Myself/ Ourselves – Matsukata Kōjirō Collection".[6]

On the opening day of the exhibition Iiyama and some of the participating artists staged an unannounced protest against the museum's sponsorship by Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Ltd, demanding that the company halt the import and distribution of Israeli-designed drones during the deadly Israel–Gaza war.[7][8]

Mindscapes (2022)

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Iiyama's work with the Wellcome Trust examined the issue of domestic violence, which was an issue that the artist also had personally experienced.[9] In a wider global context, the issue at the center of Iiyama's work worsened during the Covid-19 Pandemic—an increase was observed in violence and coercive control affecting interpersonal relationships since many people were trapped in closed quarters in their homes. The work created an anonymous interactive space where visitors could share and release distressing effects of intimate partner violence, and learn about the structural parts of the problem.[10] The installation was featured in the Mori Art Museum's exhibition "Listen to the Sound of the Earth Turning: Our Wellbeing since the Pandemic" (June 29–November 6, 2022) [9][11]

We Walk and Talk to Search Your True Home (2022)

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A solo exhibition at Tokyo Metropolitan Human Rights Plaza that posed questions about the boundary between patients and non-patients in mental health disorders based on the artist's experience and co-created works with her sister who has mental health conditions, "Going to Look for Your True Home" and "Going to Meet Kannon at the Sea,". The work "Hidden Names" looked at a wider discussion around how psychiatric facilities function and how those with mental disorders are treated. A special filming of the documentary In-Mates (2021) was also to be screened but was stopped by censors due to its subject matter relating to two Korean mental health patients in pre-World War II Japan.[12][13] The films were originally commissioned by the Japan Foundation.[14]

100 Living Tales

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Video installation works concerning the "mysterious stories" collected from people living on the islands of Setouchi in the inland sea. Presented at Setouchi Triennale (2016) and Yokohama Triennale (2020)[15]

Representation

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Iiyama is represented by the gallery WAITINGROOM.[16]

Public Collections

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Aichi Prefectural Museum of Art, Aichi[17][18][19][20][21]

Fukuoka Art Museum, Fukuoka[22]

Her video, “Cinematic Prism” was screened at the AIT room, Daikanyama, Tokyo[16]

Censorship

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In 2022, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government censored a planned screening of Iiyama's film "In-Mates" (2021) which is a documentary-style film created together with the rapper, poet and 2.5-generation "Zainichi" Korean resident FUNI, inspired by medical records of patients admitted to the Oji Brain Hospital in Tokyo, which was a psychiatric facility. The documentary looked at the records of two Korean patients admitted between 1930 and 1940 and featured themes of disability and race prior to World War II.[23]

The censorship happened in the context of Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike avoiding the customary commemoration of the massacre of Korean residents in Tokyo during the Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923, seen by many as historical denialism.[24][25][26]

Iiyama's censorship joins many other cases of censorship in Japan, particularly in the field of art.[27][28][29]

References

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  1. ^ "飯山由貴-Iiyama Yuki". 多摩美術大学 絵画学科油画専攻 (in Japanese). Retrieved 2023-08-02.
  2. ^ "Art Platform Japan". Art Platform Japan. Retrieved 2023-08-02.
  3. ^ a b "精神疾患とアート その３ 飯山由貴さんのインタビュー＜前編＞／鈴木 晃仁(慶応義塾大学)・飯山 由貴(アーチスト)". 医学史と社会の対話 (in Japanese). 2020-02-05. Retrieved 2023-08-02.
  4. ^ "精神疾患とアート その３ 飯山由貴さんのインタビュー＜前編＞／鈴木 晃仁(慶応義塾大学)・飯山 由貴(アーチスト)". 医学史と社会の対話 (in Japanese). 2020-02-05. Retrieved 2023-08-21.
  5. ^ "「ここは未来のアーティストたちが眠る部屋となりえてきたか？」（国立西洋美術館）開幕レポート。強固な西洋美術の権威に現代作家はいかに挑むのか". 美術手帖 (in Japanese). 2024-03-12. Retrieved 2024-09-05.
  6. ^ a b "Does the Future Sleep Here?――Revisiting the museum's response to contemporary art after 65 years｜The National Museum of Western Art". www.nmwa.go.jp. Retrieved 2024-09-05.
  7. ^ "Yuki Iiyama and Fellow Artists Take Action: Pro-Palestine Protest at the National Museum Of Western Art, Tokyo". Tokyo Art Beat. Retrieved 2024-09-05.
  8. ^ "国立西洋美術館でスポンサーの川崎重工に異例の抗議 作家に「声を上げなければ」と思わせたガザ侵攻との関係：東京新聞 TOKYO Web". 東京新聞 TOKYO Web (in Japanese). Retrieved 2024-09-05.
  9. ^ a b "Wellcome picks artist Iiyama for Mindscapes". Sustainable Japan by The Japan Times. Retrieved 2023-08-02.
  10. ^ Yuki Iiyama, Mindscapes Tokyo, Mori Art Museum | Wellcome, retrieved 2023-08-05
  11. ^ "DVやジェンダー格差をめぐる飯山由貴の応答。森美術館での展示から見えてきたものとは". 美術手帖 (in Japanese). Retrieved 2023-08-02.
  12. ^ "Yuki Iiyama "We Walk and Talk to Search Your True Home" （Tokyo Metropolitan Human Rights Plaza）". Tokyo Art Beat. Retrieved 2023-08-02.
  13. ^ "飯山由貴「あなたの本当の家を探しにいく」展 - 東京都人権プラザ". www.tokyo-hrp.jp. Retrieved 2023-08-02.
  14. ^ "The Japan Foundation - Online Exhibition "11 Stories on Distanced Relationships: Contemporary Art from Japan"". www.jpf.go.jp. Retrieved 2023-08-02.
  15. ^ "WAITINGROOM". Retrieved 2023-08-02.
  16. ^ a b "WAITINGROOM". Retrieved 2023-08-02.
  17. ^ "［ID:19850］ What Was Talked About, and Why the Format and Content of This Story Is Constructed in That Way ： Detail | The Collection | Aichi Prefectural Museum of Art". Aichi Prefectural Museum of Art - The Collection. Retrieved 2023-08-02.
  18. ^ "［ID:20616］ Moomin Family goes on a picnic to see Kannon ： Detail | The Collection | Aichi Prefectural Museum of Art". Aichi Prefectural Museum of Art - The Collection. Retrieved 2023-08-02.
  19. ^ "［ID:19849］ Records of Several Cooperative Works on Silent Films and Workshops ： Detail | The Collection | Aichi Prefectural Museum of Art". Aichi Prefectural Museum of Art - The Collection. Retrieved 2023-08-02.
  20. ^ "［ID:19848］ hidden names ： Detail | The Collection | Aichi Prefectural Museum of Art". Aichi Prefectural Museum of Art - The Collection. Retrieved 2023-08-02.
  21. ^ "［ID:19847］ We Walk and Talk to Search Your True Home ： Detail | The Collection | Aichi Prefectural Museum of Art". Aichi Prefectural Museum of Art - The Collection. Retrieved 2023-08-02.
  22. ^ "Fukuoka Art Museum". www.fukuoka-art-museum.jp. Retrieved 2023-08-02.
  23. ^ "Tokyo Metropolitan Government Censors Yuki Iiyama's Film Touching on Korean Massacre". Tokyo Art Beat. Retrieved 2023-08-02.
  24. ^ "ArtAsiaPacific: Tokyo Government Censors Film About Koreans in Pre-War Japan". artasiapacific.com. Retrieved 2023-08-02.
  25. ^ Liu, Serena (2021-10-25). "Un-remembering the Massacre: How Japan's "History Wars" are Challenging Research Integrity Domestically and Abroad". Georgetown Journal of International Affairs. Retrieved 2023-08-02.
  26. ^ "EDITORIAL: Koike obliged to confront 1923 massacre of ethnic Koreans | The Asahi Shimbun: Breaking News, Japan News and Analysis". The Asahi Shimbun. Retrieved 2023-08-02.
  27. ^ "Artists Decry Censorship of Aichi Triennale, Demand Removal of Their Works". www.artforum.com. Retrieved 2023-08-02.
  28. ^ "LGBT Censorship in Art Institutions: Interview with Ryudai Takano". 'Queer' Asia. 2018-07-12. Retrieved 2023-08-02.
  29. ^ "Whose Problem Is This?". artscape Japan (in Japanese). Retrieved 2023-08-02.
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