M+ Cultural Museum｜M+ presents "Taimasa Morimura and Cindy Sherman: Transformation", the world's first photography duo exhibition showcasing the works of the two artists at the same venue

Description

Located in the West Kowloon Cultural District, M+, Asia's global museum of contemporary visual culture, presents "Taishahi Morimura and Cindy Sherman: Drag Avatar", the world's first collaboration between Yasumasa Morimura (Japanese, born in 1951) and Cindy Sherman. Sherman (American, born in 1954)’s photography duo exhibition rethinks people’s multiple identities through posed photography that spans time, space and culture. Both artists use drag as a creative method to explore the relationship between identity, mass media and history. This exhibition will be open to the public from December 14, 2024 (Saturday) in the exhibition halls of M+ Paolo and Shinichiro Watari.

Cross-dressing refers to the use of clothing, makeup, props and body language to change a person's appearance and behavior to temporarily transform into another person. Since the 1970s and 1980s, Morimura Yasumasa and Cindy. Sherman is inspired by celebrities and female characters from pop culture and art history to create staged photographs that explore the construction of identity within their respective cultural contexts.
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"Yasumasa Morimura and Cindy Sherman: Cross-dressing Incarnations" belongs to the "Bao Baili and Shinichiro Watari Exhibition Series". The exhibition will display important early series of works by the two artists, trace the origins of their creations, and explore how they reconstructed Classic images from art, film and popular media.

The exhibition will feature four groups of works, some whimsical and some subtly satirical, questioning established gender and cultural concepts. These works make us reflect on the role we play in our lives and understand the factors that shape who we are today.
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Cindy. Sherman's "Magazine Inserts" series (1981) were originally commissioned by the contemporary art journal Artforum. Echoing the form of a magazine, Sherman created a total of twelve works, seven of which are on display in this exhibition, referencing the inserts of pornographic magazines from the mid-20th century. She performs fear, anxiety and other heightened emotions in her photos, posing in a variety of vulnerable poses. These low-angle close-up photos were taken with strong lighting, and the colors are bright and full. Sherman poignantly questions the ethics of viewing by controlling the interpretation in the photographs, allowing women to appear as objects with a lack of autonomy.

Yasumasa Morimura's "One Hundred Self-Portraits of M" series (1993–2000) features photos of Morimura in disguise as numerous celebrities and historical figures, including Marilyn. Monroe, Madonna, Audrey. Xia Ping, even Cindy. Sherman himself. Some of the photos show Morimura confidently posing on the streets of Japan, while others were taken in a studio equipped with props, thereby provoking reflection on the relationship between characters and their environment. It took Morimura seven years to complete the entire series, and during this long process he explored how to completely incarnate into different images. He also shows the process of setting up scenes in his photographs, thus revealing how identity is constructed. At the time of creation, many people were thinking hard about the impact of Western culture on Japanese society. For Morimura, this was a journey of inquiry of great personal significance.

Yasumasa Morimura's "Twin Lies" series (1987–1988) showcase Morimura's bizarre sense of humor, transforming him into a cultural and historical celebrity. Morimura grew up in post-war Japan, where he was first exposed to Western art history, and in his early works he cross-dressed as Western cultural figures who had an important influence on his youth, including St. John the Baptist, who was beheaded The scene was a recurring theme in Renaissance paintings, as well as by the French Conceptualist Marcel. Duchamp's female incarnation, Rose. Seravi. In addition, Morimura also revived the modernist dancer and choreographer Vaslav. Nijinsky's classic dance moves. The word "Doublonnage" in the English title of the work was coined by Morimura to describe his cross-dressing behavior; the Japanese version has a playful meaning of nonsensical copying, while the Chinese title combines the two meanings.

Cindy. Sherman's Untitled Film Stills series (1977–1980) may at first glance appear to be black-and-white film stills, but in fact they are scenes inspired by film noir, Hollywood B-movies, and European arthouse films. The protagonists are all played by the artist himself. Sherman satirizes common gender images in the aforementioned film genres: career women, fatal beauties, lonely housewives, and ingénues in the big city. Her intriguing and satirical take on these stereotypes prompts us to reflect on the portrayal of women in art and popular culture, an issue that remains relevant to us today.

Anya Hua, Director of M+ Museum, elaborated on the importance of this exhibition: "'Taicuma Morimura and Cindy Sherman: Drag Incarnations' is the first photography duo exhibition to showcase the posed works of Morimura and Sherman at the same venue. This exhibition The exhibition embodies M+’s vision to push the boundaries of contemporary visual culture and engages in cross-cultural dialogue between these two artists who elevated photography to conceptual art. The exhibition will provide viewers with a rare opportunity to explore the unique perspectives of these two artists. The complexity of identity and representation.”

Xuening Tan, curator of visual arts at M+, said: “Morimura and Sherman’s unique approach to portraiture has redefined contemporary photography. Both artists are renowned for their use of drag as their visual and conceptual strategy. By changing their appearance to present a variety of identities, this exhibition not only highlights their respective creations, but also prompts the audience to think deeply about photography, contemporary society and identity representation in new ways. relationship between.

Yasumasa Morimura said: "It is a rare opportunity to have Cindy Sherman and I's works exhibited together at M+ in Hong Kong. Although our artistic approaches are different, we also challenge the concepts of identity and representation. Our Our creations are rooted in different cultural backgrounds, and I sincerely hope that our works will resonate with audiences in this dynamic city of Hong Kong.”

Cindy. Sherman said: "I am delighted to be exhibiting photography alongside Morimura Yasumasa at M+. We explore identity and media culture in different ways, and I look forward to seeing how Hong Kong audiences will interpret our work."

Photo credit

Cindy Sherman／Untitled #92／1981／chromogenic color print／© Cindy Sherman／Courtesy of the artist and Hauser & Wirth／Cindy． Sherman/"Untitled #92"/1981/Color photo/© Cindy. Sherman/Image courtesy of the artist and Hauser & Wirth