WATTS INDEXThe canonical database of visual culture

Artists›Yasumasa Morimura

Yasumasa Morimura

1951

WA-00012536

PhotographyContemporary

Representation

None documented

Institutional Exhibitions

Works in Collection

Assets Indexed

Authority-backed Facts

Publications Referenced

80%

Profile Completeness

Cultural Positioning

Influence Graph

No influence edges encoded yet.

Authority Records (1)

WikidataQ595342

Field Verification (2 fields)

1 cross-verified · 1 single-source

Birth yearArtsy· 85%✓
NationalityArtsy· 85%

Source Registry (1)

Artist Index
Tier 3 · Scraped/inferred35%

About

Why this artist matters now

Yasumasa Morimura is a contemporary Japanese performance and appropriation artist whose work encompasses photography, film, and live performance. He is known for his reinterpretation of recognizable artworks and figures from art history, history, and mass media through his adoption of personas that transcend national, ethnic, gendered, and racial boundaries. Across his photographic and performative series, Morimura's works explore a number of interconnected themes, including: the nature of identity and its ability to undergo change, postcolonialism, authorship, and the Western view of Japan – and Asia, more broadly – as feminine.

Source: Artist Index · Trust score: 35% · Updated 2mo ago

Graph relationships

Taste overlap and adjacency

Movement

Contemporary

Medium

Photography

Related Artists

12 in graph

Institutional

Museum Collections

Art Institute of Chicago Cleveland Museum of Art

Canonical record

Artworks (8)

Mysterious Illusion of KAINOSHO

2023 · Inkjet print

120 × 75 cm (47 1/4 × 29 9/16 in.); frame: 162 × 98.8 cm (63 13/16 × 38 15/16 in.)

Art Institute of Chicago

M Holding a Cigarette

1997 · Internal dye diffusion transfer print

Image, approx: 11.3 × 8.5 cm (4 1/2 × 3 3/8 in.); paper, approx: 13 × 10 cm (5 1/8 × 3 15/16 in.); frame: 26.9 × 21.8 × 3.1 cm (10 5/8 × 8 5/8 × 1 1/4 in.)

Art Institute of Chicago

M Wearing a Military Cap 2

1997 · Internal dye diffusion transfer print

Image, approx: 11.3 × 8.5 cm (4 1/2 × 3 3/8 in.); paper, approx: 13 × 10 cm (5 1/8 × 3 15/16 in.); frame: 26.9 × 21.8 × 3.1 cm (10 5/8 × 8 5/8 × 1 1/4 in.)

Art Institute of Chicago

Self-portrait (Actress) after Greta Garbo 1

1996 · Chromogenic print

120 × 95 cm (46 1/2 × 37 3/8 in.)

Art Institute of Chicago

WattsOS

Ambiguous Beauty (Aimai-no-bi)

1995 · Multiple of photolithograph on fan

overall (box, closed): 12 3/4 × 2 5/8 × 1 3/8" (32.4 × 6.7 × 3.5 cm); overall (fan, open): 11 5/8 × 17" (29.5 × 43.2 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

WattsOS

Box for Ambiguous Beauty/Aimai-No-Bi

1995 · Wooden box

Overall: 29.2 x 49.5 cm (11 1/2 x 19 1/2 in.)

Cleveland Museum of Art

WattsOS

Ambiguous Beauty/Aimai-No-Bi

1995 · Printed paper fan and wooden box

Overall: 29.2 x 49.5 cm (11 1/2 x 19 1/2 in.)

Cleveland Museum of Art

WattsOS

Box Lid for Ambiguous Beauty/Aimai-No-Bi

1995 · Wooden box lid

Cleveland Museum of Art

Artwork sources (3)

8 published of 8 catalogued · 4 with image

Art Institute Chicago
4 published4 img
Cleveland Museum of Art
3 published
MoMA
1 published

Per-Artwork Provenance Chains (top 3)

3 entries · 1 sources

Box Lid for Ambiguous Beauty/Aimai-No-Bi
1995 · Cleveland · 1 prov
Url Pattern Extraction 2026-05-27·accession_number
Ambiguous Beauty/Aimai-No-Bi
1995 · Cleveland · 1 prov
Url Pattern Extraction 2026-05-27·accession_number
Box for Ambiguous Beauty/Aimai-No-Bi
1995 · Cleveland · 1 prov
Url Pattern Extraction 2026-05-27·accession_number

Record

Images

Art Institute of Chicago

Artsy

Art Institute of Chicago

Relationships

Movements1

Contemporary

Collections2

Art Institute of Chicago Cleveland Museum of Art

Institutional

Representation & Collections

In collection

Art Institute of Chicago

In collection

Cleveland Museum of Art

Background

Education

Kyoto City University of Arts

Visual Arts

Record

Exhibitions and timeline

No exhibitions or timeline entries yet