They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, but in Yasumasa Morimura's latest series of photographic re-enactments, the platitude doesn't quite ring true. The man who once dressed up as Marilyn Monroe for the sake of his art has now turned his attentions to the powerful, influential or notorious men of the 20th Century. So we have Morimura as Lenin (as in A Requiem: Vladimir at Night, 1920, 2007 above, courtesy Luhring Augustine), as Lee Harvey Oswald, as Mao, as Einstein and so on. According to the artist, each impersonation is a 'requiem' for our collective past - but a requiem of the satirical, subversive or enquiring kind.
FIRST POSTED OCTOBER 11, 2008
Requiem for the XX Century: Twilight of the Turbulent Gods by Yasumasa Morimura, published by Skira, £19.95. Images courtesy of Skira and Luhring Augustine Gallery













