Still image from Ego Obscura, 2020 Photo: Kazuo Fukunaga © Yasumasa Morimura

Hara Museum of Contemporary Art will present a solo exhibition of Yasumasa Morimura “Ego Obscura, Tokyo 2020” from January 25th 2020. Morimura has been acclaimed for his self-portraits in which he re-enacts famous paintings, movies and moments in history.

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By incarnating himself through the skillful use of makeup and costume, he transcends the time, race and gender of the subject to imbue it with a meta-commentary uniquely his own.
His video work entitled “Ego Obscura”, together with a lecture performance written and performed by Morimura himself, comprises the centerpieces of an exhibition in which the artist references Japan’s modern history and world culture.

Morimura’s previous exhibitions at the Hara Museum include “Rembrandt’s Room” (1994), which delves deeply into the “self” using as his theme the great 17th century painter from the Netherlands, and “Morimura Self-Portraits: An Inner Dialogue with Frida Kahlo” (2001), which presents the life, loves and death of the great 20th-century Mexican artist Frida Kahlo through festively rendered images. Another work, “Rondo”, is a unique permanent installation that Morimura made using one of the building’s toilets in 1994. While undergoing occasional changes in clothing, Rondo stands as one of the museum’s defining trademarks.

Yasumasa Morimura “Ego Obscura, Tokyo 2020”
Date: January 25th – July 12th, 2020
Open: 11:00 – 17:00 (Wednesday till 20:00)
Closed on Mondays (except February 24) and February 25, 2020
Place: Hara Museum of Contemporary Art
Address: 4-7-25 Kitashinagawa, Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo
Admissions: General 1,100 yen, Students 700 yen (high school and university)
Tel: +81 (0)3 3445 0651
Supported by regist ART
Cooperation provided by Yoshiko Isshiki Office, Chishima Real Estate Co., Ltd., Japan Society, New York
https://www.haramuseum.or.jp