Yasumasa Morimura Osaka, Japan, b. 1951
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Yasumasa Morimura is a renowned Japanese appropriation artist who has been working for over three decades as a conceptual photographer and filmmaker.
b. 1951, Osaka, Japan
Lives and works in Osaka, Japan
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Yasumasa Morimura is a renowned Japanese appropriation artist who has been working for over three decades as a conceptual photographer and filmmaker.
Defining himself as a cross between an actor and an artist, Morimura is known for his large-scale self-portraits that are often superimposed on art-historical images. Through the extensive use of props, costumes, makeup, and digital manipulation, the artist skillfully transforms himself into recognizable iconic individuals. Morimura’s works are based on renowned paintings by Frida Kahlo, Vincent Van Gogh and Diego Velázquez, as well as images sourced from historical materials, mass media, and popular culture.
The artist’s reinvention of iconic photographs and art historical masterpieces challenges the viewer’s associations with the subjects, while also commenting on Japan’s complex assimilation of Western culture. By depicting female stars and characters, Morimura subverts the concept of the “male gaze”, simultaneously questioning the authority of identity and overturning the traditional scope of self-portraiture.
In one of the notable works by Morimura is “Inner Dialogue With Frida Kahlo”, the artist casts himself as the iconic Mexican artist known for her lush, surreal self-portraits.
“AS I AM BEING INSPIRED BY YOU, DOÑA FRIDA, I DRINK IN WHAT I LIKE TO THINK OF AS YOUR ESSENCE SO AS TO CREATE A FRIDA OF MY OWN, IN MY OWN MIND’S EYE… IN THAT FANTASTIC SPHERE, THE VARIOUS ELEMENTS OF DOÑA FRIDA AND MYSELF MIX INTO A MUDDLE, A CHEMICAL REACTION OCCURS, CREATING THIS IMAGINARY FRIDA OF MINE. I WANTED TO GIVE FORM TO WHAT DOÑA FRIDA IS TO ME. VIA SELF-PORTRAITURE, THAT IS.” – YASUMASA MORIMURA
Morimura was nominated for the Hugo Boss Prize in 1996. His work is a part of numerous prominent collections, including Whitney Museum of American Art (New York, NY, USA), San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA) (San Francisco, CA, USA), J. Paul Getty Museum (Los Angeles, CA, USA), Museum of Fine Arts (Boston, MA, USA), Museum of Contemporary Art (MCA) (Chicago, IL, USA), Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) (Los Angeles, CA, USA) and Carnegie Museum of Art (Pittsburgh, PA, USA).
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Works
Yasumasa Morimura Osaka, Japan, b. 1951
An Inner Dialogue with Frida Kahlo (Dialogue With Myself 2), 2001Color photograph162 × 194 cmFurther images
In 'Inner Dialogue with Frida Kahlo', Morimura transforms himself into the iconic Mexican artist, renowned for her vivid, surreal self-portraits. Through this act of embodiment, he explores the fluid boundaries...In 'Inner Dialogue with Frida Kahlo', Morimura transforms himself into the iconic Mexican artist, renowned for her vivid, surreal self-portraits. Through this act of embodiment, he explores the fluid boundaries of identity, inspiration, and artistic homage:
"As I am being inspired by you, Doña Frida, I drink in what I like to think of as your essence so as to create a Frida of my own, in my own mind’s eye... In that fantastic sphere, the various elements of Doña Frida and myself mix into a muddle, a chemical reaction occurs, creating this imaginary Frida of mine. I wanted to give form to what Doña Frida is to me. Via self-portraiture, that is."
The psychological depth of Kahlo’s work finds a particularly harrowing echo in A Few Small Nips, a painting that embodies her personal suffering—both physical and emotional. Inspired by a real-life crime reported in a newspaper, the piece portrays a woman "murdered by life," as Kahlo herself described her anguish, shaped by relentless pain and Diego Rivera’s betrayal. The work’s brutal theme draws from the courtroom testimony of the perpetrator, who, after repeatedly stabbing his lover, dismissed his crime with chilling nonchalance: "But I only gave her a few small nips."
Exhibitions
Naturally Naked. Gary Tatintsian Gallery. Aug –Dec, 2019
Yasumasa Morimura. One Artist's Theater at Gary Tatintsian Gallery, 18 October–30 November, 2006
Publications
Catalogue Yasumasa Morimura. One artist’s theatre. Gary Tatintsian Gallery, 2006. p. 25-
Yasumasa Morimura | Self-portraits Through Art History
March 29, 2025 – February 8, 2026 | Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Castilla y LeónIn Self-portraits Through Art History , Yasumasa Morimura reimagines iconic Western self-portraits by embodying figures like da Vinci, Van Gogh, and Vermeer’s subjects, blending his Japanese heritage with meticulously recreated... -
Yasumasa Morimura, Cindy Sherman | Masquerades
December 14, 2024 – May 5, 2025 | M+, Hong KongThe exhibition traces the genesis of their practices, which reimagine iconic imagery from art history, cinema, and media culture. These creative acts of masquerade not only emulate the source material,...
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