M@M Opening Exhibition

Born in 1951 in Osaka, Japan. Morimura currently lives in Osaka. He exhibited his first self-portrait work, Portrait／Van Gogh, in 1985. Since then, he has continued to present “self-portrait photographs in the disguise of something or someone” on a variety of subjects with the consistent theme of “I”. His works are completed by approaching the subjects (people and artworks) from his unique perspective while incorporating meticulous research, self-created dioramas and studio set construction, costumes and makeup, etc. At the same time, he has been involved in a wide range of activities including video, performance, and writing. His major works include Art History series, Actress series, and A Requiem series. Having established M@M (Morimura@Museum) in 2018, where visitors can view Morimura’s documents and self-produced exhibitions, Morimura continues to work both domestically and internationally.

Selected Solo Exhibitions: “My Self-Portraits as a Theater of Labyrinths”, Kyoto City KYOCERA Museum of Art, Higashiyama Cube, Kyoto, 2022; “Jam Session: The Ishibashi Foundation Collection × Morimura Yasumasa A Gift of the Sea, M-Style Morimura Yasumasa’s Auto-Mytholo”, Artizon Museum, Tokyo, 2021; “Yasumasa Morimura: Ego Obscura, Tokyo 2020”, Hara Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo, 2020; “YASUMASA MORIMURA: EGO OBSCURA”, Japan Society, New York, 2018; “My Chronicle 1985 – 2018”, ShugoArts, Tokyo, 2018; “Yasumasa Morimura. The history of the self-portrait”, Pushkin Museum, Moscow, 2017; “The Self-Portraits of YASUMASA MORIMURA: My Art, My Story, My History”, National Museum of Art, Osaka, 2016; “Yasumasa Morimura: Theater of the Self”, The Andy Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh, 2014; “Yasumasa Morimura: LAS MENINAS RENACEN DE NOCHE”, Shiseido Gallery, Tokyo, 2013; “Yasumasa Morimura: Rembrandt Room Revisited”, Hara Museum, Tokyo, 2013; “A Requiem: Art on Top of the Battlefield”, Travelled to Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography, Tokyo; Toyota Municipal Museum of Art; Hiroshima City Museum of Contemporary Art, Hiroshima; Hyogo Prefecture Museum of Art, Kobe, 2021-2011; “Yasumasa Morimura—Requiem for the XX Century, Twilight of the turbulent Gods”, Fondazione Bevilacqua La Masa Galleria di Piazza San Marco, Venice, 2007.

Selected Publications: Jigazo-no-yukue, Kobun-sha; Utsukushiitte-nandaro? Bijutsu-no-susume, Riron-sha; Bijutsu-no-kaibogakukogi, Chikuma-gakugei-bunko; Geijyutuka-M-no-dekirumade, Chikuma-syobo.

Selected Public Collections: 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa (Ishikawa, Japan). Art Gallery of New South Wales (Sydney, Australia). Carnegie Museums of Art (Pittsburg, USA). Hara Museum of Contemporary Art (Tokyo, Japan). J. Paul Getty Museum (Los Angeles, USA). Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía (Madrid, Spain). Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo (Tokyo, Japan). Museum of Modern Art (New York, USA). The National Museum of Art, Osaka (Osaka, Japan). The National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto (Kyoto, Japan). Saatchi Gallery (London, UK). San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (San Francisco, USA). Tokyo Photographic Art Museum, Tokyo (Tokyo, Japan). Whitney Museum of American Art (New York, USA).