Yasumasa Morimura
“Ego Obscura”
New York, 333 East 47th Street
Often referred to as the Cindy Sherman of Japan, Yasumasa Morimura has put a gender-bending spin on a photographic genre that might be called performative self-portraiture. Staged entirely for the camera, his work is a form of drag that involves elaborate customs and sets to deconstruct icons of pop culture and art history—and, very often, the overlap between the two. Famous paintings and photos are the grist for his work, which channels Marilyn Monroe, Che Guevara, Frida Kahlo and Vincent Van Gogh, among many others.
