Yasumasa Morimura

Yasumasa Morimura in his Osaka studio 1990; photograph by Sally Larsen.

'Self Portrait, After Marilyn Monroe', gelatin silver print by Yasumasa Morimura, 1996, The Contemporary Museum, Honolulu

'An Inner Dialogue with Frida Kahlo (Skull Ring)', photograph by Yasumasa Morimura

Yasumasa Morimura (森村 泰昌, June 11, 1951 - ) is a Japanese appropriation artist. He was born in Osaka and graduated from Kyoto City University of Arts in 1978. Since 1985, Yasumasa Morimura has primarily shown his work in international solo exhibitions, although he has been involved in various group exhibitions.

Yasumasa Morimura borrows images from historical artists (ranging from Edouard Manet to Rembrandt to Cindy Sherman), and inserts his own face and body into them.

Among others, Morimura's exhibitions have been shown at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago (1992), the Cartier Foundation for Contemporary Art in Jouy-en-Josas, France (1993), the Hara Art Museum in Tokyo, Japan (1994), the Guggenheim Museum (1994), the Yokohama Museum of Art in Yokohama, Japan (1996), Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego (2006), and the Art Gallery of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia (2007).

In his most recent and most extravagant reproduction, Morimura created a series of hybrid self-portraits modeled after the art of Frida Kahlo.

He was nominated for the Hugo Boss Prize in 1996.

External links

• Official Website (Japanese) Official Yasumasa Morimura website
• Gallery A gallery of works at Morimura official website
• Yasumasa Morimura at World Of Japan(Russian)
• Yasumasa Morimura at Luhring Augustine Gallery
• Saatchi Gallery Additional information on Yasumasa Morimura including artworks, articles, text panels and full biography
• Yasumasa Morimura at MEM INC.