Art and Identity: Yasumasa Morimura and Cindy Sherman

This presentation explores the art of Yasumasa Morimura and Cindy Sherman, two artists who challenge gender identity and societal stereotypes through their work. It discusses Morimura's artworks such as Black Marilyn, An Inner Dialogue with Frida Kahlo, and Silvia Kristel, Emmanuelle 5, as well as Sherman's artworks including Bus Riders, Murder Mystery, and A Play of Selves. The presentation also includes a proposal for an art piece that breaks gender restrictions and references relevant sources.

ART AND
IDENTITY

YASUMASA MORIMURA
 Yasumasa Morimura was a Japanese artist, born on 11th June, 1951
 He was born in the city of Osaka and attained his graduation degree
from the esteemed Kyoto City University of Arts in the year 1978
 Yasumasa Morimura was an extremely enthusiastic artist and his art
had the unique feature of depicting his own body and face in the arts
of others.

ART 1: BLACK MARILYN
• One of the art works of Yasumasa Morimura is that of Black Marilyn.
• He painted this in 1995 and the art work beautifully depicts the
modern woman who is unabashed to show the world her true
uncontrollable nature.
• The image of Black Marilyn is compatible with the concept of gender
identity and trying to break the stereotype attached to the women
gender.

BLACK
MARILYN BY
YASUMASA
MORIMURA

ART 2: AN INNER DIALOUGE WITH
FRIDA KAHLO
 Another one of his painting is that of An Inner Dialouge with
Frida Kahlo which was painted in the year 2000.
 Frida Kahlo is one of the most significant personalities who
revolutionized the cause of the women kind by following her
dreams in a world controlled by men.
 . Yasumasa Morimura drew her to portray her fiery nature to the
audience.

AN INNER
DIALOUGE WITH
FRIDA KAHLO BY
YASUMASA
MORIMURA

ART 3: SILVIA KRISTEL, EMMANUELLE 5
 The third piece of art chosen by Yasumasa Morimura is that of Silvia
Kristel, Emmanuelle 5 which was painted in the year of 1995.
 The painting shows a bold woman sitting on a throne, surrounded by
an aura of power and dignity.
 Through this painting Yasumasa Morimura wanted to showcase the
fiery power possessed by the women to do as they desire.

SILVIA KRISTEL,
EMMANUELLE 5 BY
YASUMASA MORIMURA

CINDY SHERMAN
 Cindy Sherman is another significant artist of the contemporary times.
She was born on 19th January, in the year 1954, in the city of New
Jersey.
 She is popular because of her concept of conceptual portraits.
 Cindy Sherman also painted for the cause of gender equality and her
art forms have the unique feature of depicting the real social conditions
of the society.

ART 1: BUS RIDERS
• One of her best works is that of Bus Riders which was photographed over
the period of 1976 to 2000.
• In this series of photographs, Cindy Sherman photographed the faces of
different passengers on the bus, irrespective of their gender or races.
• This series of photography clearly depicted the similarity of individuals in
their daily activities.

BUS
RIDERS BY
CINDY
SHERMAN

ART 2: MURDER MYSTERY
• Another important work by Cindy Sherman is that of Murder Mystery.
• In this series of six photographs, she shows the depiction of a murder in a
poor resolution of photos.
• The photography series shows how an artist is calmly drawing on the
canvas while a murdered appears from the behind the murders the artist.

MURDER
MYSTERY
BY CINDY
SHERMAN

ART 3: A PLAY OF SELVES
 A Play of Selves is perhaps the most important work of Sherman.
 In this series she shows a woman in her different alter egos and all of these alter egos are
dressed differently.
 The conflict amongst them tires the woman until finally her true self manages to win over
her self-doubt.
 This series shows how the identity of a woman is fluid and conflict arises when her
identity is restrained just to her biological features.

A PLAY OF
SELVES BY
CINDY
SHERMAN

ART OF MY IMAGINATION
 I would like to paint an art where the gender restrictions are not adhered
to.
 The painting would be based during the time of dusk where nearly all the
colors are represented in the sky.
 The painting of the gender neutral person looking up at the sky filled with
all the hues of nature will depict the freedom yearned by an individual
from the chains of identity.

REFERENCES
• "Yasumasa Morimura | Black Marilyn (1995) | Available For Sale | Artsy". Artsy.Net, 2019.
Online. Internet. 4 Jan. 2019. . Available: Https://Www.Artsy.Net/Artwork/Yasumasa-
morimura-black-marilyn.
• "Yasumasa Morimura | Silvia Kristel, Emmanuelle 5 (1995) | Available For Sale |
Artsy". Artsy.Net, 2019. Online. Internet. 4 Jan. 2019. . Available:
Https://Www.Artsy.Net/Artwork/Yasumasa-morimura-silvia-kristel-emmanuelle-5.
• Artsy.Net, 2019. Online. Internet. 4 Jan. 2019. . Available:
Https://Www.Artsy.Net/Artwork/Yasumasa-morimura-an-inner-dialogue-with-frida-kahlo-
dialogue-with-myself-2-1.

• Barnes, Allegra. "Performing Gender: An Exploration Of The Relationship
Between Expression And Identity." (2017).
• Iskin, Ruth E., Ed. Re-envisioning The Contemporary Art Canon:
Perspectives In A Global World. Taylor & Francis, 2016.
• Rice, Robin. "Women Photographers: From Julia Margaret Cameron To
Cindy Sherman." (2015): 50-51.

THANK YOU