Yasumasa Morimura in his Osaka studio 1990; photograph by Sally Larsen.An Inner Dialogue with Frida Kahlo (Skull Ring), photograph by Yasumasa Morimura
Yasumasa Morimura (森村 泰昌, Morimura Yasumasa, born June 11, 1951) is a contemporary Japanese performance and appropriation artist whose work encompasses photography, film, and live performance. He is known for his reinterpretation of recognizable artworks and figures from art history, history, and mass media through his adoption of personas that transcend national, ethnic, gendered, and racial boundaries.[1] Across his photographic and performative series, Morimura's works explore a number of interconnected themes, including: the nature of identity and its ability to undergo change, postcolonialism, authorship, and the Western view of Japan – and Asia, more broadly – as feminine.[2]
Originally intent on channeling his creative energy into black-and-white still life photography, Morimura struggled to ascertain his identity and decided to visualize this inner struggle through self-portraiture. In 1985, Portrait (Van Gogh), marked the first of dozens of self-portraits Morimura completed in which he adopted the role of established artists, major historical figures, celebrated popular culture icons, and identifiable subjects from well-known artworks.[3][self-published source?]
Since the 1980s, Morimura's artistic process entails a rigorous system in which he transforms his entire body into a nearly identical replica of his designated subject through elaborate costumes, makeup, props, and set designs. Once digital photography and computer editing software became more accessible and refined in the late-1990s, Morimura's works demonstrate greater visual complexity in his manipulation of composition, lighting, and the number of figures he portrays within a single artwork.
For the last two and a half decades, Morimura has brought his personas to life in short video, film, and live performances in which he expresses their thoughts through movement and scripted monologues.[4]
^Dazed (2018-11-15). "The Japanese artist putting himself in the world's most famous art works". Dazed. Retrieved 2021-04-09.
^National Gallery of Modern Art (New Delhi, India), Metropolitan Museum of Manila (Contributors) (1998). Taste and Pursuits: Japanese Art in the 1990s (Exhibition Catalogue). Japan Foundation. {{cite book}}: |last= has generic name (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
^"Why Yasumasa Morimura Places Himself in Art History's Most Famous Scenes". Cave Art Fair. Retrieved 2021-04-09.
^“Yasumasa Morimura: Ego Obscura, Tokyo 2020,” 2020. Hara Museum of Contemporary Art. http://www.haramuseum.or.jp/en/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/en_pr_Morimura_200608.pdf.
YasumasaMorimura (森村 泰昌, MorimuraYasumasa, born June 11, 1951) is a contemporary Japanese performance and appropriation artist whose work encompasses...
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