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Ambiguous Beauty/Aimai-no-bi
Ambiguous Beauty/Aimai-no-bi
Ambiguous Beauty/Aimai-no-bi
Photograph and Ditital Image © Kalamazoo Institute of Arts. Not for reproduction or publication.
On View
Not on view
Object number2017.1

Ambiguous Beauty/Aimai-no-bi

Artist (Japanese, 1951)
Date1995
Mediumfolding fan with printed image
DimensionsOverall: 11 1/2 × 20 1/2 × 1 1/4 in. (29.2 × 52.1 × 3.2 cm)
Credit LineGift of Vicki C. Wright
Exhibition History"The Way Forward: New Acquisitions at the KIA," Kalamazoo Institute of Arts, Kalamazoo, Michigan, Joy Light Gallery of Asian Art (Aug 26, 2018 - Dec 2, 2018) "Unmasking Masculinity for the 21st Century," KIA Galleries 2-5 (September 24, 2022 - December 29, 2022) "Unmasking Masculinity for the 21st Century: The Remix," KIA Galleries 2&5 (January 7 - March 12, 2023)Label TextArtist Yasumasa Morimura uses art history and popular culture as inspiration in photographs of himself made up to appear like important historical and cultural figures. Mimicking Marilyn Monroe in her first Playboy pin-up, this work explores the consumption of popular imagery, the construction of one’s cultural identity, the male gaze, and gender fluidity. While the artist positions his body similarly and copies Monroe’s trademark red lip—there is still something afoot in this image. Only Morimura’s bra of prosthetic breasts, disclose the artist’s subterfuge. Made to conform to images of the 1950s pinup, viewers are challenged by the artist’s gaze and the media on which this image is produced. By presenting the image printed on a traditional Japanese fan, Morimura comments on Japan’s assimilation of western culture in the decades following World War II. Simultaneously, the artist calls attention to post-war western perceptions of Japan as an emasculated nation. [Label for "Unmasking Masculinity for the 21st Century", 2022]