A self-portrait is a reflection of an artist’s identity. It portrays how the artist sees him or herself through an original representation of their own appearance. Self-portraits are a well-known type of art but Japanese artist, Yasumasa Morimura challenges the concept of a traditional self-portrait by illustrating himself in the identities of others. Morimura’s exhibit at the Japan Society, titled Ego Obscura, showcases the fluidity of identity through a series of unique self-portraits that combine traditional Western images with Asian culture. Our trip to the incredible exhibition of Morimura’s work revealed how contemporary art can expertly combine traditional imagery with modern themes to reflect an artist’s own identity as well as a representation of his culture.
Walking into the first room of the exhibit, I was met with the sight of familiar paintings. I was surprised to see the well-known portraits of Leonardo da Vinci and Vincent van Gogh on the green walls of the gallery. However, after getting a closer look I saw that these were not mere replications of the famous paintings but instead featured the face of Morimura rather than the face of the original artist. By placing himself as the subject of these well-known portraits, Morimura is showcasing that a person is not constricted to the idea of a single identity but can rather embody different forms of oneself regardless of race, gender, or nationality. I thought that this was a very interesting take on the concept of self-portraiture and steers away from the constricting definition of self-identity.
What particularly interested me about the Ego Obscura exhibit, however, was Morimura’s motivation for choosing such a unique and controversial medium for expressing his outlook on society. In my view, he specifically chose this form of art because of its ability to express his ideas on the societal constructs of identity. By inserting his own visage into some of the most famous works of art in human history, Morimura wanted the viewers to experience an initial feeling of surprise and puzzlement, which is what I felt upon first seeing these portraits. After this initial puzzlement of seeing a different face in well-known paintings, I began to consider the hidden message behind Morimura’s art and question my own views on identity and its boundaries. I believe that his motivation in creating this series of self-portraits is to challenge people to dispute their understanding of personal identity.
In traditional context, a self-portrait is a physical representation of the artist by the artist himself. Through his exhibition, Morimura challenges this idea and instead uses self-portraits to show that there is no single way to capture somebody’s identity because our personal identity is something that cannot be constricted by the standards of society.
