Yasumasa Morimura was born in Osaka, Japan, in 1951. He is a reconceptualising Japanese appropriation artist; placing himself into staged roles in order to represent identity stereotypes and then question their applicability. His striking photographic self-portraiture fashions the ideology of cross-cultural identity (chiefly western culture and women), as well as exploring issues of cultural identity and his own sexual and gender identity. Art-Net states, ‘Morimura uses extensive props and digital manipulation to create his images, resulting in often-uncanny recreations of iconic works. “Taking photographs is generally an act of ‘looking at the object, whereas ‘being seen’ or ‘showing’ is what is of most interest to one who does a self-portrait,” he has explained. “Self-portraits deny not only photography itself, but the 20th century as an era as well’ (Artnet.com, 2019).
‘After Brigitte Bardot 2’, 1996, is a notable example of Morimura fashioning and reconceptualising identity. Part of the self-portrait (actress) series, Morimura appropriates, while revealing deep appreciation, himself into the figure of Brigitte Bardot. As an archetype of American popular culture, Morimura is depicted as Bardot standing on a Harley Davidson motorbike. The self-portrait is further reconceptualised, as the natural context is discarded and substituted by a stereotypical streetscape of downtown Osaka. Morimura has challenged ambiguity in identity, this is evident through his reconceptualised effort through incorporating his own identity and native city into an iconic remodelled replica. He also challenges and harmonises Western and Eastern culture and defines identity with nationality. Morimura explicates that identity should be acknowledged through multiple identities, rather than a single entity. ‘After Brigitte Bardot 2’ fashions identity through ambiguous gender, nationality and stereotypical juxtaposed cultures. Finally, ‘After Brigitte Bardot 2’ offers a recontextualised identity; presenting a contrary colonial subjugation of the East over West
