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Quote by Yasumasa Morimura

“I first wrote down all the phenomena that have emerged in contemporary society that I thought were related to this theme ["sea of oblivion"], and then sorted them out by grouping them into islands of ideas.”

Quote by Yasumasa Morimura

Author

Yasumasa Morimura

Yasumasa Morimura is a Japanese artist renowned for his unique photographic works. His art often involves exploring identity and challenging gender roles, conveying his views through imitating and portraying historical and contemporary celebrities. more

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“I planned the exhibition so that it becomes a story where the viewer travels through these islands [of ideas]. Whether the contents of each chapter came first or the artist came first in making the decision was different in each case.”

Firsts Ideas Different Stories Artist Decision Cases Islands Chapters Viewers Exhibitions

Author:Yasumasa Morimura

“"Art is the ability to turn one's gaze to the world of oblivion." This is the way in which I understand art at fundamental level.”

World Way Art Turns Ability Levels Art Is Fundamentals Oblivion

Author:Yasumasa Morimura

“The value of art is its ability to look into the "world of oblivion" and to find things that are generally unrecognized, forgotten, invisible and impossible to tell.”

World Looks Art Values Ability Impossible Art Is Forgotten Invisible Oblivion

Author:Yasumasa Morimura

“To think about "oblivion" is to think about "what art is".”

Thinking Art Art Is Oblivion

Author:Yasumasa Morimura

“Of course, the process of curating is different from art making. Exhibition-making is a process that involves collaboration with various participating artists.”

Art Different Artist Courses Process Various Collaboration Participating Exhibitions Art Making

Author:Yasumasa Morimura

“I was worried that I, the artist Morimura, would have conflicts with the participating artists and develop a strenuous relationship with them. But the actual experience was completely the opposite. The artists accepted my requests rather positively, because it came from a fellow artist. I strongly feel that the fact that my being an artist avoided the usual curator vs artist tension, and led to creating a positive atmosphere as well as developing a solidarity amongst artists and building a community for artists.”

“When we talk about contemporary art and contemporary artists, we usually imagine artists who are alive. But I feel very uncomfortable about placing a border between living artists and dead artists.”

Feels Art Artist Alive Imagine Contemporary Borders Uncomfortable Contemporary Art

Author:Yasumasa Morimura

“By putting a border line between life and death, we separate the world of death from our world of life, casting the dead away into the "world of oblivion".”

World Lines Borders Life And Death Our World Casting Oblivion Between Life And Death

Author:Yasumasa Morimura

“The artists could be dead, but some of them are not so distant from us, and make us feel as if they are alive with us. Such artists are worth calling "contemporary artists".”

Ifs Feels Artist Alive Calling Contemporary

Author:Yasumasa Morimura

“Leonard de Vinci, for example, is a great artist, but he is living in the past. However, I don't feel John Cage and Matsuzawa Yutaka as artists who live in the past. Their ideas are still alive in our world because they express the very important concerns of our age. That is why I could trust them as "contemporary artists".”

World Feels Stills Important Ideas Age Past Artist Alive Example Concern Contemporary Our World Cages Great Art Great Artist Living In The Past

Author:Yasumasa Morimura