Simon Fujiwara

Simon Fujiwara was born in the London suburb of Harrow. His family (the mother British, the father Japanese) moved to Japan, later to Spain and finally to Cornwall, where Simon discovered his sense for art. He studied architecture at the University of Cambridge and, from 2005 until 2008, art at the Städelschule in Frankfurt. He lives in Berlin.

Fujiwara's works have been widely exhibited around the world both in solo and group exhibitions.

'The museum of incest' is among his earliest performance-based works to be selected for individual display marking the beginning of his career as an artist. Originally performed in 2008 at the Limoncello Gallery in London, 'The museum of incest' was replicated in several occasions and contexts throughout the years. A printed guide was published by Archive Books to accompany later versions of the installation.{{Citation|last=Latitudes {{!}} Barcelona|title=Simon Fujiwara_cover detail|date=2009-05-30|url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/lttds/3874928264/|access-date=2020-07-23}}

In 2008, jointly with architect Sam Causer, Fujiwara conceived 'the closet gallery', a site-specific installation launched as part of the London Festival of Architecture and supported by the Architecture Foundation.{{Cite web|title=Closet Gallery {{!}} Architecture Foundation|url=https://www.architecturefoundation.org.uk/programme/2008/lfa2008/closet-gallery/|access-date=2020-07-23|website=www.architecturefoundation.org.uk|language=en}} His residency at the Los Angeles' MAK Centre for Contemporary Art culminated in 2009 with 'Impersonator', a performance investigating the cult of Arnold Schwarzenegger.{{Cite web|title=Final Projects: Group XXVII {{!}} MAK Center for Art and Architecture, Los Angeles|url=https://makcenter.org/programming/group-xxvii/|access-date=2020-07-23|website=makcenter.org}}{{Cite web|date=2009-06-01|title=Residency: Simon Fujiwara|url=https://mapmagazine.co.uk/residency-simon-fujiwara|access-date=2020-07-23|website=MAP Magazine|language=en-GB}}

First exhibited in 2008 at the Neue Alte Brücke in Frankfurt am Main, 'Welcome to the Hotel Munber' denounced the oppression and censorship against homosexuals during the Francoist dictatorship in Spain.{{Cite web|last=Taro Nasu Gallery|date=|title=Simon Fujiwara CV|url=http://www.taronasugallery.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/SF_CV_new.pdf|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=23 July 2020|website=}} It was displayed, among the different locations, at Art Basel 41 in 2010, The Power Plant in 2011 and Tate St. Ives in 2012.{{Cite web|title=The Power Plant – Welcome to the Hotel Munber – 2011 – Exhibitions – The Power Plant Contemporary Art Gallery – Harbourfront Centre|url=http://thepowerplant.org/Exhibitions/2011/2011_Fall/Welcome-to-the-Hotel-Munber.aspx|access-date=2020-08-03|website=thepowerplant.org}}{{Cite web|last=Tate|title=Simon Fujiwara: Since 1982, room guide Gallery 4: Welcome to the Hotel Munber 2008–10|url=https://www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tate-st-ives/exhibition/simon-fujiwara-1982/simon-fujiwara-1982-room-guide/simon-fujiwara-1|access-date=2020-08-03|website=Tate|language=en-GB}} It received particular attention on international media when in 2011 was censored at the Singapore Biennale. More specifically, some porno-homosexual imagery of the project were removed without the artist's consent.{{Cite web|last=Gambillara|first=Martina|date=2012-06-01|title=Censura a Singapore|url=https://www.artribune.com/professioni-e-professionisti/mercato/2012/06/censura-a-singapore/|access-date=2020-08-03|website=Artribune|language=it-IT}}{{Cite web|title=Artforum.com|url=https://www.artforum.com/news/simon-fujiwara-censored-at-the-singapore-biennale-2011-27925|access-date=2020-08-03|website=www.artforum.com|language=en-US}}{{Cite web|title=Simon Fujiwara: Censored at the Singapore Biennale 2011|url=http://www.fridae.asia/gay-news/2011/03/25/10744.simon-fujiwara-censored-at-the-singapore-biennale-2011|access-date=2020-08-03|website=www.fridae.asia|language=en}}

For the 2010 Frieze Art Fair, he conceived 'Frozen'. Recognised with the Cartier Award for emerging artists, the site-specific installation recreates the archaeological ruins of an imaginary lost civilisation.{{Cite web|last=Heathcote|first=Edwin|date=|title=Frieze special: the underworld of art|url=https://www.ft.com/content/b1059218-d0ec-11df-a426-00144feabdc0|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2020-08-26|website=Financial Times}} In 2011 his first theatrical performance 'The boy who cried wolf' was presented at Berlin's Hebbel am Ufer theatre, New York's Performa 11 Biennale and San Francisco's Museum of Modern Art.{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=|title=SIMON FUJIWARA – THE BOY WHO CRIED WOLF|url=http://11.performa-arts.org/event/simon-fujiwara-performa-commission|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=|website=Performa 11}}{{Cite web|title=Simon Fujiwara on being King and his First Love|url=https://performamagazine.tumblr.com/post/12470567094/simon-fujiwara-on-being-king-and-his-first-love|access-date=2020-08-26|website=Performa Magazine}}{{Cite web|title=Simon Fujiwara's The Boy Who Cried Wolf|url=https://performamagazine.tumblr.com/post/12837963607/simon-fujiwaras-the-boy-who-cried-wolf|access-date=2020-08-26|website=Performa Magazine}}

In his 2015 exhibition "Peoples of the Evening Land" at Proyectos Monclova in Mexico City, Fujiwara displayed new bodies of work more closely connected with his adopted home country of Germany, including through works based on rubbish separators used to sort waste in German kitchens, as well as a series of abstract paintings titled "Masks (Merkel)" depicting enlarged portraits of small sections of makeup worn by Angela Merkel.{{Cite web|title=Simon Fujiwara|url=https://www.artforum.com/events/simon-fujiwara-209494/|access-date=2024-01-29|website=Artforum}}

• Brief biography by the Andrea Rosen Gallery: [http://www.andrearosengallery.com/artists/simon-fujiwara]
• Biography by the Guggenheim Museum: [https://www.guggenheim.org/artwork/artist/simon-fujiwara]
• Since 1982, Tate St. Ives [https://www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tate-st-ives/exhibition/simon-fujiwara-1982]
• Studio Pietà (King Kong Komplex), Andrea Rosen Gallery, New York City 2013, [https://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/09/arts/design/simon-fujiwara-studio-pieta-king-kong-komplex.html reviewed in the New York Times]
• White Day, Tokyo Opera City Art Gallery, 2016 [http://www.operacity.jp/ag/exh184/e/gallery.php#1]
• The Humanizer, Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin 2016, [https://frieze.com/article/simon-fujiwara-1 reviewed by Frieze Magazine]
• Joanne, [http://thephotographersgallery.org.uk/joanne-2 The Photographers' Gallery] London 2016, [https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2016/oct/14/simon-fujiwara-joanne-review-the-photographers-gallery reviewed by The Guardian],
• Figures in a Landscape, Kunsthalle Düsseldorf, 2016–2017
• Hope House, Kunsthaus Bregenz, 2018 [https://www.estherschipper.com/de/exhibitions/496/]
• Empathy I, Esther Schipper, Berlin 2018 [https://www.estherschipper.com/de/exhibitions/534/], [https://frieze.com/article/ride-through-simon-fujiwaras-theme-park reviewed by Frieze Magazine] and [http://moussemagazine.it/simon-fujiwara-empathy-esther-schipper-berlin-2018/ Mousse Magazine]
• Revolution, Lafayette Anticipations, Paris 2018–2019 [https://www.lafayetteanticipations.com/en/exposition/revolution]
• It's a Small World, Museum of Contemporary Art Kiasma, Helsinki, 2024{{Cite web |title=Simon Fujiwara's exhibition It's a Small World opens at Kiasma {{!}} KIASMA |url=https://www.sttinfo.fi/tiedote/70110648/simon-fujiwaras-exhibition-its-a-small-world-opens-at-kiasma?publisherId=3271&lang=en |access-date=2025-01-21 |website=www.sttinfo.fi |language=fi}}

Between October 2008 and March 2009, Fujiwara was a MAK Center's artist-in-residence at the Schindler House in Los Angeles. In 2009 he was awarded the Arts Foundation Fellowship Award for Interior Architecture.{{Cite web|title=Arts Foundation {{!}} Fujiwara, Simon|url=https://artsfoundation.co.uk/directory/simon-fujiwara/|access-date=2020-07-23|language=en-GB}} The site-specific installation Frozen earned him the Cartier Award 2010 for emerging artists.{{Cite web|title=Cartier Award 2010|url=https://frieze.com/fair-programme/cartier-award-2010|access-date=2020-07-23|website=frieze.com|language=en}} Also in 2010, Fujiwara was awarded the IASPIS Residency in Gothenburg, and won the Baloise Art Prize with the installation Welcome to the Hotel Munber which was displayed at Art Basel in the Statements sector.{{Cite web |title=Grantholders 1997 – 2015 |url=https://www.konstnarsnamnden.se/default.aspx?id=20437&refid=11457#2010 |access-date=2020-07-23 |website=www.konstnarsnamnden.se}}{{Cite web |last=Baloise Group |date= |title=Simon Fujiwara – Winner of 2010 |url=https://art.baloise.com/en/home/awarded-artists/simon-fujiwara.html?targetPageName=Awarded%20Artists&targetPagePath=https://art.baloise.com/en/home/awarded-artists.html |archive-url= |archive-date= |access-date=2020-07-23 |website=}} In 2011 he was nominated for the South Bank Award for the visual art category.{{Cite news|author=Guardian Staff|date=2010-12-01|title=The South Bank Show Awards 2011: nominee list|language=en-GB|work=The Guardian|url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2010/dec/01/south-bank-show-awards-shortlist|access-date=2020-07-23|issn=0261-3077}}

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Category:Living people

Category:1982 births

Category:21st-century English male artists

Category:Artists from London

Category:English people of Japanese descent

Category:English expatriates in Germany

Category:English contemporary artists

Category:Artists from the London Borough of Harrow

Category:Städelschule alumni