Morimura Yasumasa Five Characters in a Transformer
About Exhibition
Morimura Yasumasa continues to engage in a wide variety of fulfilling art practices. In recent years, Morimura has been involved in exhibitions and performances such as Yasumasa Morimura: Ego Obscura, Tokyo 2020(2020) at the Hara Museum of Contemporary Art , A Gift of the Sea, M-Style Morimura Yasumasaʼs Auto-Mythology (2021-2022) at the Artizon Museum, Shin Kyoeikitan (New Strange Tale of a Mirror Reflection) (2022), a collaboration with a Bunraku puppeteer Kanjuro Kiritake, and My Self-Portraits as a Theater of Labyrinths(2022) at the Kyoto City KYOCERA Museum of Art. In addition, Morimura has organized special exhibitions at M@M (Morimura@Museum) in Kitakagaya, Osaka and installed a public art work at the Osaka University Nakanoshima Art Center. He is also writing a book titled Ikinobirutamenigeijutsuwahitsuyouka, meaning do we need art to survive?, which will be published by Kobunsha this April.
MORIMURA Yasumasa, Want to change the world ? Be seriously unserious (Miró A), 2020
Morimura has been working on the theme of “I” for about 40 years, but what is “Morimura Yasumasa” after all?
In his work, he portrays art historical figures, film actresses and historical figures, and in the real world, he is a photographer, a filmmaker, a writer and a stage performer. It is as if a wide variety of identities are living together in one vessel called Morimura Yasumasa. Morimura rather affirms such “lack of unity, unorganized and scattered, mixing of different characters and values, and not creating a hierarchy,” and states that he would rather avoid “convergence to a fixed identity.”
MORIMURA Yasumasa, Scene with Kafka 2, 2015/2024
Morimura’s latest, previously unexhibited, and recent works, which will be showcased in this exhibition, are composed of five sections (i.e., five characters) that have no relationship to each other, and are developed in their own ways. Morimura is disguised as Tadaoto Kainoshō, Napoleon, Miró’s paintings, Kafka and Lu Xun. In a total of 14 works, the multiple identities of Morimura Yasumasa quietly and joyfully explode with dissonance.
When we identify “I” with something, our thoughts are fixed right then. If we view the self as an interconnection of subjective experiences that is in a constant state of change, the intentionally scattered state of “I” could be the source of creation. We hope you will enjoy Morimura Yasumasa Five Characters in a Transformer.
ShugoArts, February 2024
MORIMURA Yasumasa, Mysterious Illusion of KAINOSHŌ, 2023/2024
Information
Friday, 19 April ‒ Saturday, 1 June, 2024
ShugoArts
11am ‒ 6pm, Closed on Sun, Mon and Public Holidays
Friday, 19 April 5pm – 7pm
ShugoArts
Related Exhibitions and Activities
Publication
Published by Kobunsha on 17 April.
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).