M's Self-portrait No. 37

Yasumasa Morimura is known for his later self-portraits in which he presents himself as famous artists and celebrities as well as figures in well-known paintings. These earlier works speak to Morimura’s longstanding fascination with photography as a tool to reveal and conceal the self in performance and portraiture. The artist places himself in the backdrop of a scene, and poses dramatically in the foreground of another. The theatrical staging of these works in Morimura’s small studio and home explores the notion that identity is constructed and performed by every person everyday.