Description:

YASUMASA MORIMURA (Japanese, born 1951)
Aimai-no-bi (Ambiguous Beauty) 1995
archival inkjet print on paper fan, edition of 5000
accompanied by the original timber fan-case
published by The Peter Norton Family Christmas Art Projects, California
29 x 50cm (irregular); 32.5 x 6 x 3.5cm (case)

PROVENANCE:
Gift of the Artist
Private collection, Melbourne 1996

EXHIBITIONS:
New Acquisitions in Graphic Arts, Toledo Museum of Art, Spain, 21 December 2001 - 30 March 2002 (another example)

OTHER NOTES:
Other examples of this print are held in the collections of the Museum of Modern Art, New York; Rhode Island School of Design, America; Princeton University Art Museum, America; Toledo Museum of Art, Spain; Brooklyn Museum, New York; Northwestern University, America; The Cleveland Museum of Art, America; and International Center of Photography, America.

Morimura is known for substituting himself into iconic images of celebrities or famous works of art. Here, he recreates a 1949 photograph of Marilyn Monroe that notoriously appeared in the inaugural 1953 issue of Playboy magazine. Morimura mocks the tropes of pinup photography, presenting himself in a hyperfeminine but clearly artificial manner, with dramatic costume makeup and large prosthetic breasts. He printed this image on a fan in a humorous reference to the history of the fan as a tool for flirtation in Japanese culture. As the holder opens and closes the fan, they coyly allow the nude figure to appear and disappear at will.

  • Provenance: Gift of the Artist
    Private collection, Melbourne 1996
  • Dimensions: 29 x 50cm (irregular); 32.5 x 6 x 3.5cm (case)
  • Exhibited: New Acquisitions in Graphic Arts, Toledo Museum of Art, Spain, 21 December 2001 - 30 March 2002 (another example)
  • Medium: archival inkjet print on paper fan, edition of 5000
    accompanied by the original timber fan-case
    published by The Peter Norton Family Christmas Art Projects, California
  • Notes: Other examples of this print are held in the collections of the Museum of Modern Art, New York; Rhode Island School of Design, America; Princeton University Art Museum, America; Toledo Museum of Art, Spain; Brooklyn Museum, New York; Northwestern University, America; The Cleveland Museum of Art, America; and International Center of Photography, America.

    Morimura is known for substituting himself into iconic images of celebrities or famous works of art. Here, he recreates a 1949 photograph of Marilyn Monroe that notoriously appeared in the inaugural 1953 issue of Playboy magazine. Morimura mocks the tropes of pinup photography, presenting himself in a hyperfeminine but clearly artificial manner, with dramatic costume makeup and large prosthetic breasts. He printed this image on a fan in a humorous reference to the history of the fan as a tool for flirtation in Japanese culture. As the holder opens and closes the fan, they coyly allow the nude figure to appear and disappear at will.

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