Miro Ito : artist, author
With one of her images gracing the official poster of the 2006 Venice Biennale - Dance Section as well as the cover of the Graphis Annuals (Switzerland/U.S.A.),Ito's cross-over type work that transcends the boundaries between genders, cultures, and genres is the outcome of her own spiritual quest throughout Germany, Japan and the U.S.A.
Ito is currently involved in media and art projects as producer/director & creator with the artistic aspiration to promote understanding and peace through her own initiatives, foremost of which is Media Art League, while preparing the future launch of an Art Foundation in NY.
She has been working to promote awareness of ancient Asian cultural heritage and traditions preserved in Japan in order to create a message for lasting peace in the era of the global civilization -- especially focusing on the profound spiritual side of our World Heritage as well as Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity which she has been photographing since 2003.
In late 2010, she held a new exhibition ( Road of Light: Ancient Route of Prayer and Dedicatory Arts in Asia ) including two film shorts at the 2010 Canon EXPO (Tokyo) and the official commemorative event of the 1300th Anniversary of the founding of Nara (Japan) as imperial capital.
Her on-going project is entitled Signs of the Intangible: Visions of Life and Prayers, part of which was shown at the NY Public Library for Performing Arts (Lincoln Center) under the title: Men at Dance | from Noh to Butoh: Japanese Performing Arts, Past and Present in 2007/2008. This was a tie-in exhibition to the 2007 NY Butoh Festival (one of her photographs was featured on the official poster) and individual exhibits were donated to the permanent collection of the NY Public Library for educational and research purposes.
Ito held three solo exhibitions of documentary work about a renowned kyogen master, Mannojo Nomura and published a tribute photo book of his work, ManzaiRaku (as both editor and photographer) in 2004.
Germany, Japan and U.S.A.
Having so far participated in a wide variety of notable projects -- ranging from fine art, publications, documentary to digital art, Ito's profile has appeared in renowned magazines in Germany, USA and Japan. Petersen's Photographic (USA) magazine once described her as "a painter of light" and Eyes for Excellence, a feature on her was included on the PIC's (Photoimaging Information Council) official website.
After majoring in Aesthetics and Fine Art History at Tokyo's renowned Keio University, Ito studied Philosophy (Ruhr-University Bochum) as well as Photography and Applied Art (Essen University [previously the Folkwang Schule]), while concurrently embarking on her path as a photo-artist and art pundit in Germany, where she also was a member of the German Federation of Journalists (DJV).
Since 2001 she is a permanent resident of the U.S.A., where she is a member of the New York Art Directors Club, in addition to the Photographic Society of Japan as well as the Japan Society for Art and History of Photograph. Her essays and critiques on subjects ranging from photography, architecture and design, to intercultural/aesthetic issues have so far appeared in numerous notable specialty magazines and books.
She is author/editor of several books, including Miseru shashinjjutsu (literally, Enthralling Photography) selected for inclusion in the official reading list for Japanese public libraries by The Japan Library Association, 2007.
Her most recent book is a photo essay on rituals of the some representative temples and shrines comprising the World Cultural Heritage Site in Nara: g Kokorono sumika nara: inochi no kongen narumono to no deai (literally: Encounter with the fundamentals of life in Nara)h published by Takeda Randomhouse Japan in 2010.
A recent academic essay is about Yasuhiro Ishimoto, An Eye for Generating Moments, published in the exhibition catalogue of the Museum & Library of Musahino Arts University in 2009.
Media-Art Projects after 9-11
Following the tragedy of 9.11, Ito committed herself to create her own messages from New York for Japan's news media, from which the exhibition: Miro Ito's Letters from New York: Message by Heartist of Words and Photographs (2002), was culled and shown as part of the solo exhibition series Women Only together with Japan's first female Minister of Justice, Mayumi Moriyama. With her healing images, Ito was invited to hold a lecture for the PWP (Professional Women Photographers) in New York, 2001 .
Reminiscent of communications theorist Marshall McLuhan who postulated that "the medium is the message", Ito aspires to create mixed-media projects (media art/film, books, exhibitions, etc.) to promote her quest, "East meets West" through Media Art League, a creative forum linking media-specialists and cultural/ intellectual personages in Japan, Europe and the Americas, including: academics, artists, editors and journalists, language professionals, scientists, lawyers as well as other opinion leaders, etc.
Screeing
--Commemorative Event of the 1300th Anniversary of Nara Heijo-kyo Capital, + Canon EXPO, Tokyo, 2010
Work I."The Great Buddha Lives!" (Photographed, written and directed by Miro Ito, Editorial supervision: Todaiji Temple))
Work II. "Life of Masks--Bugaku at Kasuga-taisha Shrine and Wakamiya On-matsuri Festival" (Photographs, motion picture and text by Miro Ito, General supervision: Kasuga-taisha Shrine).Representative Solo-Exhibition
USA
--"Men at Dance - From Noh to Butoh :Japanese Performing Arts, Past and Present" ( New York Public Library for Performing Arts, Lincoln Center, 2007-2008) as tie-in exhibition to the 2007 NY Butoh Festival.Japan
--"Road of Light: Ancient Route of Prayer and Dedicatory Arts in Asiah (Canon EXPO, Tokyo, 2010)
--"Masks, Performance, Life's Energy: Visitor from Past and Future - featuring Mannojo Nomura for his first anniversary after his death" (Canon S Tower, Tokyo, 2005) .
-- "Mannojo Nomura's NipponGaku -Traditional Japanese Dance and Performance", Japan Camera Industry Institute, Tokyo, 2004 .
--"Monochrome Digital Bodyscapes", Canon Salon (Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya,2003 ).
-- "Mannojo Nomura's Maskroad", Japan Camera Industry Institute, Tokyo, 2003.
-- "Miro Ito's Letters from New York: Message by Heartist of Words and Photographs" , Japan Camera Industry Institute, Tokyo,2002.
-"... in transition: Elegant Encounter of Photography and Digital Technology" , Japan Camera Industry Institute, Tokyo, 1998.
-- "Naked Equinox" (Retrospective photo exhibition), Canon Salon, in five major cities in Japan, 1996.
--"Woman to Woman" at Zeit-Foto Salon, Tokyo, 1988.Germany
--"Butoh : Encounter with the Flower Named Body", Japanese Culture Week in Frankfurt,Germany, 1997.
--"Esoteric Incantation (B/W version)" at Grauwert Gallery, Hamburg (as part of The Summer of Photography program in the context of the 150th Anniversary of Photography), 1989.
-- "Esoteric Incantation (Compositions of color and light interacting with the female mystique)" exhibited by Bronica, Photokina '88 (World Photography Show), Cologne, 1988.
--"Japanese Body Language" at Linhof Gallery, Munich, 1987.
-- " ... a female dimension" at Grauwert Gallery, Hamburg, 1987.
--"Female Sequences" at Musisches Zentrum (Fine Arts Center), Ruhr- University, Bochum, Germany, 1986.Representative International Group Exhibitions
--"Dedication of Flowers (Kenka)" exhibition by 15 Japanese - U.S. women photographers in commemoration of the Heisei Restoration of the Kondo of Toshodaiji Templeh, Tokyo National Museum, 2005.
--gThe Third Kindh, Melkweg Foundation, Amsterdam, 1998.
-- gAngelsh, Melkweg Foundation, Amsterdam, 1996.Publications in the United States
- "Graphis Photo" (Cover/ Annual 2003)
- "Studio Photography & Design" (3 page feature in the July 2000 issue)
- "American Photo (On Campus)" (2 page spread, Nov. 2000 issue)
- "Petersen's Photographic" (4 page feature in the Jan. 2001 issue)Representative Publications in Japan/Europe
Magazines
- "Asahi Camera / Jan. 2012" (10 pp., Japan)
- "Asahi Camera / Jan. 2010" (7 pp., Japan)
- "Asahi Camera / Oct. 2008" (8 pp., Japan)
- "Nippon Camera / Dec. 2006" (4 pp., Japan)
- "Nippon Camera / Dec. 2004" (6 pp., Japan)
- "Cameraman / June 2004" (2 pp., Japan) ; "Cameraman/ April 2004"(4pp., Japan)
- "Commercial Photo - Digital Printing Technology / 2004" (3pp., Japan)
- "Nippon Camera / May 2003" (4 pp., Japan)
- "Commercial Photo / April 2003" (2pp., Japan)
- "Cameraman / July 2000" (2 pp., Japan)
- "Quest of Leica (Leica no Tankyu)", 1999 (9pp., Japan)
- "Digital Photo technique # 5", 1998 (4 pp., Japan)
- "Digital Photo technique # 2", 1996 (Cover photo & 12 page feature, Japan)
- "Foto/ Dec. 1996" (The Netherlands)
- "Photographie / June1996" (Cover photo & 4 page feature, Germany/Switzerland)
- "Colorfoto / July 1994" (4 pp., Germany)
- "Cameraman / May 1994" (7 page feature., Japan)
- "Commercial Photo / Nov.1992" (11page feature., Japan)
- "Asahi Camera / Nov.1989"(5 pp., Japan)
- "fotoMAGAZIN / June 1988" (4 pp., Germany)
- "Photographie / June1988" (2 pp., Germany/Switzerland)Directories
- "Contemporary Photography in Japan 2000"(Japan)
- "Contemporary Photography in Japan 1998"(Japan)
- "100 Japanese Digital Image Creators /i-magazine, Dec. 1999" (Japan)
- "100 Japanese Digital Image Creators /i-magazine, March 1998" (Japan)Books
- "Gokui de manabu Shahin-gokoro (Heart of Photography: Rules and Aesthetics in Photography)", Film Art, 2012 (Japan)
- "Encounter with the Fundamentals of Life in Nara (Kokorono Sumika Nara - Inochino Kongen-narumono to no Deai )" (published as an author / photographer), Takeda Random House Japan, 2010
- "Miseru Shashinjjutsu (Entralling Photography : Theme, Composition, Technique)" (published as an author / photographer, selected for inclusion in the official reading list for public libraries, compiled by The Japan Library Association), MdN Corporation, 2007 (Japan)
- "Photographs and Haiku Poems dedicated to Ganjinwajo and Vairocana Buddha of Toshodaiji Temple"/Catalogue Edition for gDedication of Flowersh exhibition,2005 (Japan)
- "ManzaiRaku : Mannojo Nomura + Miro Ito" (photographs/text by M.Ito), Nippon Camera, 2004 (Japan)
- "Computer & Design" (edited by JAGDA: Japanese Graphic Designers Association), 2002 (Japan)
- "The Art of Photography in the Digital Era: Views on Photography in the future" (with two other contributing authors), 2000 (Japan)
- Photobook : "European Visions of Sensuality" which was followed by an exhibition at Melkweg Foundation, in Amsterdam (published as an editor / author), Seibundo Shikosha Publishing, 1995
- "NYMPHS - Masterpieces of 8 Japanese Top Star Photographers", Seibundo Shikosha Publishing, 1995 (Japan)
- "EROTICA - Masterpieces of 32 Japanese Nude Photographers", Seibundo Shikosha Publishing,1994 (Japan)
- "SENSUAL IMAGES - 100 of the World's Top Photographers Interpret Sensual Beauty", PIE Books, 1994 (Japan)
- "DUMONT'S LEXIKON DER FOTOGRAFIE", 1992 (Germany)
- "PHOTOGRAHIE IN HAMBURG/Int'l Catalog Edition" for "The Summer of Photography in Hamburg", 1989(Germany)CD-ROMs
- "100 JAPANESE PHOTOGRAPHERS, Selection II", 1996 (Japan)
- "ENCYCLOPEDIA OF PHOTOGRAPHERS VOL.1 - Nude/Private Works",Lectures
- Academic session & presentaion of Ito's thesis "Analogue Recollections in a Digital Cosmos " at the IAEA (International Association of Empiric Aesthetics) International Congress, Takarazuka University of Art and Design, 2002 (Japan)
- "Lecture & Slide-show for American Women Photographers Association (PWP)h, Air Gallery, New York, 2001Collections
New York Public Libray, Melkweg Foundation, Japan Camra Industry Institute, Zeit-FotoLatest Update: February 2, 2012