Andy Warhol and Yasumasa Morimura - Essay Example

Andy Warhol’s Marilyn Diptych and Yasumasa Morimura’s Self-Portrait (Actress)/White Marilyn Andy Warhol’s Marilyn Diptych and Yasumasa Morimura’sSelf-Portrait (Actress)/White Marilyn depict the cult infatuation with Marilyn Monroe. This infatuation goes deeper than Monroe’s physical beauty. Warhol’s Marilyn Diptych is an acrylic on canvas painted in 1962. This painting is Pop Art. Warhol was fascinated by Monroe’s cult of personality and death, which inspired Marilyn Diptych. Morimura’s Self-Portrait (Actress)/White Marilyn is a photograph of three Monroe’s with her dress blowing up. The photograph was taken in 1996. Morimura’s Self-Portrait (Actress)/White Marilyn is a Postmodernist photograph. Both of these pieces of art show not just a beautiful woman, but symbolize her life, death, popularity, and essence. Warhol’s Marilyn Diptych and Morimura’s Self-Portrait (Actress)/White Marilyn have the same subject; Marilyn Monroe. The works were done thirty-four years apart, Marilyn Diptych in 1962 and Self-Portrait (Actress)/White Marilyn in 1996. Yet both have the same theme. Both are about Marilyn Monroe, but not about her as a whole person. The person portrayed in Warhol’s piece is “more than twenty silkscreen paintings of her, all based on the same publicity photograph from the 1953 film Niagara” (Tate Collection). Hollywood publicity photographs are airbrushed. They wanted to present the best makeup and hairstyle possible on Monroe. This was not the real Monroe. She did not always look perfect, because like everyone else, Monroe was human. Similarly Morimura’s photograph of three figures did not portray the real Monroe. His figures are posed like Monroe in The Seven Year Itch, where her white dress is following up at an air vent. This is once more a movie posed. Monroe had wardrobe, makeup, lighting, and other Hollywood magic. So the Monroe both artists wanted to capture were not realistic, but based on her Hollywood image. Another similarity is the manipulation of the art by both artists. Warhol used twenty plus silkscreen images to make his painting, while Morimura took a photo of posed figures. Each artist must of put thought into the images they wanted to create. Warhol used the diptych method to show that Monroe had become a God to some (Tate Collection). The diptych method was used to show icons in the early Christian Church. An icon was painted multiple times to show their greatness. The technique was meant to show the iconic greatness after Monroe died. The color to darkness could also represent her life and death. By repeating the image, he evokes her ubiquitous presence in the media. The contrast of vivid colour with black and white, and the effect of fading in the right panel are suggestive of the star’s mortality. (Tate Collection) She held vibrant color in life, and then suddenly she was portrayed in black and white after death. Morimura photographed three figures of Monroe. The poses were of the famous The Seven Year Itch pictures. Morimura fashioned the figures correctly. The smooth legs, white dress billowing, and blonde hair were perfect (Brooklyn Museum). The faces were not realistic. The Monroe faces were flat and held no life. This could be due to the manipulation of the figures for a photograph. Unlike Warhol, who worked with a real photograph, Morimura was working with figurines. He turned his interest in Monroe into art. Although a Japanese artist, Morimura preferred an American subject. He explains: As an artist from Kansai [western Japan], I take the opposite position. We in Kansai have no interest in the nation’s culture. All we care about is how we can improve our art. (Yasumasa Morimura) All of these elements make Morimura’s piece of art unique and beautiful. The cult aspect must be spoken of when dealing with Marilyn Monroe. Artists have drawn other artists that are not as famous as these two pieces of art. It is because of the subject. Monroe has become a cult of personality. It might be because she died so tragically. It could be because she was so aesthetically pleasing. When Warhol was creating his work of art, Monroe had just died. Warhol was fascinated by “death and the cult of celebrity” (Tate Collection). This fueled the Warhol’s vision for this work of art. Morimura did not create his figures and photograph thirty-four years after her death. This could explain why his figurines look so lifeless. Unlike Warhol, Morimura only has photographs and movie clips (re-mastered). The cult of personality or celebrity is still there, but it has grown into something different. Monroe is not as real to Morimura, because after a person dies, their true memory fades. They become an icon, not a real person. Icons do not create the true picture of what reality truly was, especially, the essence of the true Marilyn Monroe. In order to compare and contrast Warhol’s Marilyn Diptych and Morimura’s Self-Portrait (Actress)/White Marilyn a few differences must be noted. The first being Warhol’s work was a painting, while Morimura’s was a photograph. Warhol had over twenty images of Monroe, Morimura only depicted three figurines. Warhol used black and white, plus color. Morimura used color. Warhol’s was completed in the sixties, while Morimura’s was completed in the nineties. Not all of the images were clear in Warhol’s piece of art, but Morimura had perfect detail down to the vents under Monroe’s legs. Both have the same subject, but could not be more dissimilar if they tried. Both artists chose Monroe as the subject for a reason. First, Marilyn Monroe was very beautiful. Women still try to look like her today. However, most artists choose Monroe because of her perceived flawlessness. Neither of these men wanted a fat, pockmarked, or ugly subject. Warhol and Morimura wanted to create beautiful art with meaning. This would not have happened had they picked another subject. Without Monroe, neither Warhol’s Marilyn Diptych and Morimura’s Self-Portrait (Actress)/White Marilyn would have the fame, aesthetics, or essence. Morimura explains: Beauty is something that stirs up a commotion. Its like the beach. When the water hits the shore you see a commotion, and I find that beautiful. In Japanese we have a phrase to describe something weird and hard to pin down: "the thing one cant determine if it belongs to the ocean or to the mountain. (Yasumasa Morimura) Without the commotion or beauty of Monroe, then these two artists would not have had the same impact. Both of these pieces of art show not just a beautiful woman, but symbolize her life, death, popularity, and essence. Andy Warhol’s Marilyn Diptych and Yasumasa Morimura’s Self-Portrait (Actress)/White Marilyn depict the cult infatuation with Marilyn Monroe from two separate generations. The celebrity of Monroe is shown through two different styles and opinions. While Warhol made his painting deliberately black and white and color, Morimura used figurines. Each represent the life of the actress Marilyn Monroe, not everyday Monroe, but the actress. As long as artists create art dedicated to Monroe, she will never really die. Works Cited Brooklyn Museum. Self-Portrait (Actress)/White Marilyn. 1996. Accessed 20 Jan. 2009 from http://www.brooklynmuseum.org/eascfa/feminist_art_base/gallery/yasumasamorimura.php?i=1053. Tate Collection. Marilyn Diptych. 1962. Accessed 20 Jan. 2009 from http://www.tate.org.uk/servlet/ViewWork?workid=15976. Yasumasa Morimura. Accessed 20 Jan. 2009 from http://web.as.uky.edu/Japan/JPN421WEB/Morimura%20Yasumasa.pptx Read More