Uploaded August 2021 | Updated September 2026, 11 hours ago
This program is the launch of The Space of Effusion: Sam Francis in Japan, a book that provides new research about California-born painter Sam Francis’s evolving relationship with East Asian aesthetics. Author Richard Speer speaks with artist Shingo Francis, Director of the Sam Francis Foundation Debra Burchett-Lere, and LACMA curators Leslie Jones and Hollis Goodall.
In this conversation, Shingo Francis, son of Sam Francis and filmmaker Mako Idemitsu, shares his perspective on growing up dually in Japan and the U.S. as his parents lived and worked in both countries, integrating Eastern and Western traditions. Shingo and his father often painted together, affording Shingo a rare glimpse into the ways in which the elder Francis was influenced by Japanese art and ideas.
Speer, Jones, and Goodall are co-curators of LACMA’s upcoming exhibition San Francis and Japan: Emptiness Overflowing. The exhibition explores the common ground linking Francis’s abstract paintings, prints, and sculpture with the traditions of historical Japanese art, as well the mutual influence among Francis and his friends and contemporaries in Japan from the late 1950s through the early 1990s.
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About LACMA
Located on the Pacific Rim, LACMA is the largest art museum in the western United States, with a collection of nearly 140,000 objects that illuminate 6,000 years of artistic expression across the globe. Committed to showcasing a multitude of art histories, LACMA exhibits and interprets works of art from new and unexpected points of view that are informed by the region’s rich cultural heritage and diverse population. LACMA’s spirit of experimentation is reflected in its work with artists, technologists, and thought leaders as well as in its regional, national, and global partnerships to share collections and programs, create pioneering initiatives, and engage new audiences.
Connect with LACMA
Subscribe for our latest videos: lacma.org/videos
Explore our collection online: collections.lacma.org
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Support the museum and become a member: lacma.org/support
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This program is the launch of The Space of Effusion: Sam Francis in Japan, a book that provides new research about California-born painter Sam Francis’s evolving relationship with East Asian aesthetics. Author Richard Speer speaks with artist Shingo Francis, Director of the Sam Francis Foundation Debra Burchett-Lere, and LACMA curators Leslie Jones and Hollis Goodall.
In this conversation, Shingo Francis, son of Sam Francis and filmmaker Mako Idemitsu, shares his perspective on growing up dually in Japan and the U.S. as his parents lived and worked in both countries, integrating Eastern and Western traditions. Shingo and his father often painted together, affording Shingo a rare glimpse into the ways in which the elder Francis was influenced by Japanese art and ideas.
Speer, Jones, and Goodall are co-curators of LACMA’s upcoming exhibition San Francis and Japan: Emptiness Overflowing. The exhibition explores the common ground linking Francis’s abstract paintings, prints, and sculpture with the traditions of historical Japanese art, as well the mutual influence among Francis and his friends and contemporaries in Japan from the late 1950s through the early 1990s.
-------
About LACMA
Located on the Pacific Rim, LACMA is the largest art museum in the western United States, with a collection of nearly 140,000 objects that illuminate 6,000 years of artistic expression across the globe. Committed to showcasing a multitude of art histories, LACMA exhibits and interprets works of art from new and unexpected points of view that are informed by the region’s rich cultural heritage and diverse population. LACMA’s spirit of experimentation is reflected in its work with artists, technologists, and thought leaders as well as in its regional, national, and global partnerships to share collections and programs, create pioneering initiatives, and engage new audiences.
Connect with LACMA
Subscribe for our latest videos: lacma.org/videos
Explore our collection online: collections.lacma.org
Plan your visit to LACMA: lacma.org/visit
Support the museum and become a member: lacma.org/support
Follow us on social
Facebook: facebook.com/LACMA
Twitter: twitter.com/lacma
Tumblr: lacma.tumblr.com
Pinterest: pinterest.com/lacma
Instagram: instagram.com/lacma
