Yasumasa Morimura at Luring Augustine Gallery

From Marilyn Monroe to Marlene Dietrich, Yasumasa Morimura mimics the iconic looks of famous figures in the series ‘100 M’s Self-Portraits,’ now on view at Luhring Augustine’s Tribeca gallery space.  Having made a name for himself in the ‘80s through to the present day via vividly colored photos that depict his reenactments of famous artworks with himself dressed as the main character (he started as Van Gogh with a bandaged ear), the now 72-year-old photographer opted for smaller format black and white images to create his 100 piece portrait series from the 1993-2000.  Here, he takes his version of Audrey Hepburn in Breakfast at Tiffany’s into the subway, having his audience watch a passerby react as we also consider the implications of his race and gender transgressing role play. (On view in Tribeca through Oct 21st).

Yasumasa Morimura, one image from ‘Once Hundred M’s self-portraits, 100 gelatin silver photographs, each 13 ¾ x 11 inches, 1993-2000.

Tetsuya Ishida at Gagosian Gallery

Workers are expendable in the alienated world depicted by Japanese artist Tetsuya Ishida in the late artist’s paintings at Gagosian Gallery in Chelsea.  Coming into adulthood in the Japan’s economic depression in the ‘90s, known as the country’s ‘Lost Decade,’ Ishida catalogued the dehumanizing effect of corporate culture in images that depict workers taking in food from nozzles as if in a gas station or emerging from train doors in the form of boxes with heads, ready for delivery and consumption.  Here, in ‘Exercise Equipment,’ a worried looking individual with Ishida’s features runs not for the health benefits, but to keep ahead of the workers poised to yank him from the treadmill.  (On view in Chelsea through Oct 21st).

Tetsuya Ishida, Exercise Equipment, acrylic on board, 1997.

Mika Horibuchi at 55 Walker

Betrayal and concealment are words applied to Mika Horibuchi’s deceptively masterful paintings at 55 Walker, which replicate her grandmother’s amateur watercolors.  At first glance, triangular tabs appear to be adhered to the surface to hold up a printed photo.  A closer look reveals that they, like the ‘photo,’ are meticulously painted.  The cat image is a rendition of a printed snapshot sent to the artist in Chicago by her grandmother in Japan, who has taken up painting later in life.  A nearby display case shows the original snapshots along with other photos, drawings, and more.  Here, the professional mimics the hobbyist, but the work conveys respect and consideration.  (On view in Tribeca through March 26th).

Mika Horibuchi, Watercolor of Pi-ko, oil on linen, 42 x 55 x 1 ¾ inches, 2021.

Fumika Koda at Sato Sakura Gallery

Taking in stray cats changed young artist Fumika Koda’s painting career, focusing her practice on the feline subjects and driving her to find intimate ways to portray their habits and personalities, often in connection to the seasons.  Koda even aims to empower the cats, as she puts it, “…giving them their power back over the people who left them,” but it’s her evident respect for the cats’ beauty and intelligence that stands out.  (On view at Sato Sakura Gallery through March 28th).

Fumika Koda, Dreaming, mineral pigments, gelatin, silk, 10.7 x 10.7 inches, 2019.

Michiko Kon at Robert Mann Gallery

Inspired by Surrealist Meret Oppenheim’s performance ‘Cannibal’s Feast,’ Japanese photographer Michiko Kon’s food-based sculptural creations from the 90s fascinate and disturb in equal measure.  This photo, currently on view at Robert Mann Gallery, showcases a boot crafted from ark clam shells and a real fish head.  By evoking luxury goods popular in pre-crash 90s Japan and creating them in perishable materials, Kon updates the vanitas genre for more recent times.  (On view through Oct 19th).

Michiko Kon, Ark Shells and Boot, platinum palladium print, 20 x 16 inches, 1996.