Konbanwa!

I thought I give some information regarding the contemporary Japanese artist, Morimura Yasumasa, to which I am writing my thesis on. This is my interpretation of him in my thesis, and importantly, not fact, for those of you who read this. But let me know what you think, and if have are interested in hearing more or have any questions, please let me know either via blog or in class.

Essentially, Morimura records and, in turn, incites his psychologically ambiguous experience with self-identity in the modern world by replacing the iconographic space reserved for protagonists in European art history and mass media culture with his own face and body. Thus, rather than discarding the Western canvasses which he states, “exclusively” dominated his academic “curriculum” in the aftermath of WWII, he decisively occupies them, forcing them to assume new ambiguous meanings concerning self-identification as his mere presence inherently dismantles gender and cultural boundaries in regards to identity. Having been born into a society of rapid industrialization, critically accelerated by the onslaught of American influences since the Second World War, his Japanese identity as portrayed by his self-portraits is not just another product of complete Western expropriation. Rather, his superior consciousness of identity is one of seemingly manifest contradictions as he exhibits himself as being neither male nor female and neither Eastern nor Western. This is exemplified in the self-portraits of him that I posted as he is subversively a blatantly Asian-looking male adult assuming the identity of a youthful Western female in his self-portrait, Daughter of Art History: Princess A, based on a portrait of the Infanta Margarita (1656) by Velázquez (image #1). Morimura is also without a doubt a man even though he is transposing himself as an infamous French female prostitute in Edouard Manet’s Olympia (image #2) as his chest is clearly that of a male’s and his challengingly direct gaze is that of an Asian man sitting on what is a Japanese Kimono.

Thus, currently as a part of my thesis, I am positing that Morimura’s self-portraits need not be viewed as an objective critique of the sanctity of Western art, but rather as a critical exploration of not only self-identification, but identity as ambiguous roles amenable to change, mutation, and instability as a result of the heightened self-importance and dominance of its cultural imperial rulers in the wake of WWII. This again, is just part of my project and discussion on Morimura. There is more, but unless you are really interested in art history, it may seem fruitless. Again, if you guys would like me to elaborate, clarify, or have any questions, please let me know! Hope you like the photographs!