Lee Bul And Yasumasa Analysis

The Korean and Japanese cultures are influential for artists Lee Bul and Yasumasa Morimura. Whether the artist comments on specifically Asian women or blurs the lines between males and females. Both artists, Lee Bul and Yasumasa Morimura, focus on gender issues through portraying themselves to appear indistinguishable and incorporating their culture. However, Bul focuses on the will of Asian women and portraying an emphasis on feminine identity, while Morimura expresses the boundaries between genders through referencing acclaimed works of art. The focus work from Korean artist Lee Bul is I Need You (Monument) made in 1996. This installation piece consists of photo print on vinyl and utilizes air pumps and toy trumpets. At the base of this …show more content…
Similarly, Morimura portrays himself as a woman surrounded by whimsical props. Bul’s face is covered with cosmetics and almost becomes indistinguishable. Whereas, Morimura is also difficult to recognize by wearing makeup and having himself appear as a female. Besides, these two artists appearing as figures they are not, both are addressing issues of gender while including elements from their culture such as Bul’s Korean-style clothing and Morimura incorporating the kimono under him and the cat at the end of the bed in Portrait (Futago). When discussing the issues of gender, Bul does so by hoping to instill into her viewers the concept that Asian women should not allow themselves to be dependent on men nor appear weak. With Bul projecting herself onto a large vinyl object, she mocks the image of a strong woman. Morimura focuses on gender by blurring the lines of gender by posing as a female. The theatrical attire that Morimura wears, or in Portrait (Futago)’s case, the clothing he doesn’t wear, highlights the uncertainties of meaning in the ways sexuality is indicated in comparable representations. According to Smith, “his outrageous self-foregrounding enacts a Western nightmare of the arrival of the ethnic