Yasumasa Morimura Ego Obscura – KUDOS Design Collaboratory™

Yasumasa Morimura’s multidisciplinary work is at the forefront of international contemporary art. In projects spanning photography, sculpture, performance, and video, he has transformed himself into iconic figures of the past, from Vincent van Gogh and Frida Kahlo to Marilyn Monroe and Yukio Mishima.

For this solo exhibition at the Japan Society in New York, Ego Obscura highlighted Morimura’s 30-year project of de-centering “the self” by excavating it from layers of art history, Japanese postwar history, and personal history. It also featured the U.S. premiere of the artist’s first full-length video work, Egó Sympósion (2016), and his latest cinematic installation, Egó Obscura (2018), presented in conjunction with a live performance, Morimura’s Nippon Cha Cha Cha!

We designed the show’s exhibit catalogue to feature Morimura’s latest work, Une Moderne Olympia (2018), on the front cover, contrasted with Portrait (Futago) (1988)—the artist’s work from 30 years prior, with different gender and race portrayals—on the back cover. The slim format of the book made for greater readability of its essays and performance scripts.