Artist of the day: Artist of the day, March 10-11: Yasumasa Morimura, Japanese appropriation artist

Yasumasa Morimura (森村泰昌, 1951) is a Japanese appropriation artist. He was born in Osaka and graduated from Kyoto City University of Arts in 1978. Since 1985, Morimura has primarily shown his work in international solo exhibitions, although he has been involved in various group exhibitions.

Morimura converts himself into familiar subjects with the use of costumes, props, digital manipulation, and make-up. His masterpieces encompass works inspired by influential paintings of such artists as Diego Velásquez (Spanish, 1599–1660) and Frida Kahlo (Mexican, 1907–1954), and by pictographic sources from the mass media and history.

Morimura's work is specifically effective and forceful as a result of his capacity to both mock and provide homage to his reference materials and subjects. The artist made a string of assorted self-portraits following the art and style of Frida Kahlo in his latest and very expensive reproduction. He was nominated for the Hugo Boss Prize in 1996. The Carnegie Museum of Art (Pittsburgh), the Honolulu Museum of Art, the J. Paul Getty Museum (Los Angeles), Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, and the Whitney Museum of American Art (New York) are among the public collections holding work by Morimura.

© 2018. All images are copyrighted © by Yasumasa Morimura. The use of any image from this site is prohibited unless prior written permission from the artist is obtained.