Yasumasa Morimura and the Icon

Picture Marilyn Monroe in her charming splendor, confidently staring at the camera that attempts to capture her essence of beauty that radiantly shines from within. Now, picture her a man. And not just any man, but the Japanese appropriation artist Yasumasa Morimura. For those of you who do not know what appropriation is, here is a quick definition. According to wikipedia.com, appropriation is the borrowing of ample aspects of man-made visual culture.

Morimura photographed himself in drag, to not only look like Marilyn Monroe, an iconic sex-goddess from the '50s, but also to thoroughly express his creative intention to recreate an iconic image that would definitely stir up controversy and even intrigue. This self-portrait most definitely did that as you can see below.



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

Not only has he dressed up as Marilyn and posed ever so confidently in front of the camera, but also he has recreated multiple, and definitely recognizable iconic figures in obvious poses. Here are a few images for your viewing pleasure. As you view each one, guess who each one is.




http://images.artnet.com/artwork_images_909_383160_yasumasa-morimura.jpg



http://images.artnet.com/artwork_images/909/383138t.jpg



http://web-japan.org/trends00/gdata/lisa03.jpg



http://www.saatchi-gallery.co.uk/imgs/artists/thumbs/morimura_yasumasa/yasumasa_morimura_hepburn1.jpg

I'm sure that was entertaining in the least bit. But aside from entertainment, deeper messages and lessons can be learned from these more-than-creative photographs.

First off, photography is a vital medium that people may overlook due to its instant availability and reproduction from developed technology. In fact, it is the reproduction that may preserve the photograph and emphasize its importance in society and culture. In some cases, the initial meaning of the photograph may be lost due to reproduction as Susan Meiselas' Molotov Man that we discussed in class the other day. However, I'd like to argue that images that are more iconic such as Morimura's appropriations tend to shed the photographs in a more positive light.

"Do images ever lose their meaning?" This was a central question that we discussed and the answer, is, well there is no correct answer. It all depends on the context.

Morimura's works are entertaining, remind people of the iconic value of some people and images, and show that the medium of photography is able to impact greatly. Instead of writing off reproduced photographs as negative all the time, I believe that people should take the time to see the creative value in such art.



http://www.exporevue.com/images/magazine/3617amsterdam_reflex.jpg