Essay on Yasumasa Morimura - 609 Words

Yasumasa Morimura Yasumasa Morimura is an internationally respected and controversial Japanese artist who through his art, represents social changes in Japanese culture, such as Western influences, politics and gender values. Morimura explores how Japan interacts with the World through the lens of the artist and how the artist creates an identity within his culture and the global community. Morimura was born in Osaka, Japan, in 1951. He was educated at Kyoto City University of the Arts where he graduated in 1978. Yasumasa Morimura has achieved fame as a contemporary international artist largely due to his provocative interpretations. Using himself as the subject matter, he has recreated iconic images from Western culture in his†¦show more content†¦Yasumasa Morimura considers himself to be a performer so is always in character and in full costume and full makeup, posing in front of the lens and presenting a character that is either historical or someone embodying a current and modern statement. He has been known to dress up as Christ, Marilyn Monroe and many other characters while attending major exhibitions. As a young student Morimura loved to draw in the traditional Western style. He copied Western masters largely because his school, like most art schools in Japan, taught Western art and art history. As a young, emerging, talented artist, he had trouble deciding how much his style would reflect the Western influence of his education and how much would draw from his native heritage. He settled on an aspect of Japanese performance, using psychological makeup, to jumble and redefine the common texts of Western culture, especially movie stars, who he was inspired by. His work is quite similar to American artist Cindy Sherman. He was one of the first international artists to fully use digital photography in the 1980s and has developed a sophisticated craft combining this technology with painstaking makeup, backdrops, and costumes. Morimura is clearly a head of his time. In the late 1990s Morimura demonstrated his versatility by designing clothing for Japanese fashion designer Issey Miyake, and he also gained attention as a lecturer, author and singer-songwriter. I chose MorimuraShow MoreRelatedAnalysis Of Yasumasa Morimura s Film Making And Conceptual Photography1348 Words   |  6 PagesYasumasa Morimura (born in 1951, Japan) has had a career in film-making and conceptual photography for over three decades. Morimura uses costumes, makeup props and digital manipulation to create an almost replica of the original artwork, replacing the original subject with himself. Morimura graduated from the KyÃ… to City University of Arts in 1978 and then became an assistant at that same university. During his time working he experimented with many mediums and styles including painting, photographyRead MoreYasumasa Morimura and Marcel Duchamp: Appropriations1579 Words   |  7 Pageswhich things were twisted, changed and critiqued. Some people questioned the ways and ‘rules’ of society, rebelling against conformity and the usual ideas of what was ‘right’ or ‘allowed’. Artists were largely in this group. Marcel Du champ and Yasumasa Morimura are examples of artists who appropriated other people, things and paintings in their work, to change their meanings, and either rebel against the norms of society, make a statement about issues affecting them and their culture, or to add humourRead MoreHow Do the Works of Yasumasa Morimura, Julie Rrap and Anne Zahalka Challenge Conventional Ways in Which Gender Has Been Depicted Historically in the Visual Arts?1537 Words   |  7 PagesTask Structured Essay Examine selected artworks by: Yasumasa Morimura, Julie Rrap and Anne Zahalka. How do the works of Yasumasa Morimura, Julie Rrap and Anne Zahalka challenge conventional ways in which gender has been depicted historically in the visual arts? In your response select at least two different artists and discuss the following: * Through the postmodern frame of reference, explain how artists have appropriated historical artworks. How has the artist incorporated parodyRead MoreGender Essay in Art.1537 Words   |  7 Pagesconventional depictions of gender in the visual arts. Artists Yasumasa Morimura, Julie Rrap, Anne Zahalka and Cindy Sherman have each employed the use of appropriation to question the historical ideologies of gender, particularly in relation to women, and their role in art and society. They all borrowed past paintings and promoted them with new context to portray and explore different meanings towards gender, being mediated. Yasumasa Morimura appropriated historical works through the applications ofRead MoreFinding Identity and Appropriation Art Essay1297 Words   |  6 PagesAppropriation art, sometimes cause responses varying from astonishment and suspicion to praise and acceptance, depend on the viewers and the performance by the artist. This essay, then critically discusses two particular artists, Masami Teraoka and Yasumasa Morimura, who illustrate the appropriation in their art with similar and dissimilar concepts. The focus is on the visual arts, yet the argument of appropriation has significant effects for analyses of particular conceptualisations such as finding identityRead MoreAnalysis Of Speechless By Shirin Neshats742 Words   |  3 Pageschallenges the audiences GAZE AND LINK Yasumasa morimura is a Japanese conceptual photographer who creates portraits which put himself in the place of easily recognisable female subjects from extremely famous works. He has stated that in his works he attempts to get under the skin of a painting and by doing so hopes to present the audience with an opportunity to reevaluate a particular work of art, to look at it with fresh eyes. Since the 1980s Morimura has been embedding himself into iconicRead MoreEssay on Cultures Influences on Art1453 Words   |  6 Pagesand similarly, Umberto Boccioni’s Unique forms of Continuity and Space reflects different beliefs and conventions merely as a result of societal changes. Pop Art works such a Andy Warhol’s Marilyn x 100 and Post – modern works, such as Yasumasa Morimura’s Monna Lisa in its Origin, are also strong reflections of the society in which they were created. Edouard Manet’s Olympia, an extremely controversial painting of its time, reflects greatly its cultural context. CreatedRead MoreAppropriation in Art Essay1015 Words   |  5 Pageshowever, it is only know that its use is being questioned on whether it is original or just a carbon copy of another work. There are a number of artists that are considered Appropriation Artists. Some of these artists include Marcel Duchamp, Yasumasa Morimura, and Maria Kozic. Such artists as Edouard Manet, Pablo Picasso and Leonardo Da Vinci have inspired these artists to the extent that they have used the Great Artists actual artworks in their own works. Appropriation seemed to have flourishedRead MoreWhy Is It Important That We Distinguish Between Appropriation And Copying Or Visual Plagiarism?1119 Words   |  5 Pagesalive with an added 70 years. Refer to artworks illustrated below Discuss the legal considerations and moral rights that should be considered before Morimura’s appropriation of Kahlo’s painting could be exhibited or published. Yasumasa Morimura’s work 2001 photograph â€Å"An inner dialogue with Frida Kahlo (Hand Shaped Earring)† was created using several borrowed elements of Frida Kahlo’s Self-portrait which has been re-contextualized in a photo. This work was created after Frida Kahlo’sRead MoreEssay on art1081 Words   |  5 Pagesworks. This can be found, for example, in Cindy Shermans photographic recreations of paintings, in the multiple quotations of historic images of David Salles paintings, in the postmodern takes on Barnett Newman by Philip Taaffe and on Manet by Yasumasa Morimura, and in the nearly identical representations of famous images such as Picassos icon of modernism Les Demoiselles dAvignon by Mike Bidlo. Also widespread among contemporary artists has been a repudiation of the idea that underlies most works