Likeness
Artist:
Simon Fujiwara
Date of creation:
2018
Domain:
Installation vidéo
Medium:
Installation
Materials:
Wax, Fibreglass, Small objects
Collection:
Lafayette Anticipations - Fonds de dotation Famille Moulin
Date of acquisition:
2018
Simon Fujiwara, Likeness, Installation vidéo, 2018, Collection Fonds de dotation Famille Moulin © DR
Likeness, an installation produced specifically for Lafayette Anticipations’ "Revolution" exhibition, is constructed around the reproduction of the figure of Anne Frank, identical to the one on display at Madame Tussauds Berlin since 2012. The young girl is portrayed in the process of writing her diary at her desk amidst the decor of her hiding place. An image of a frozen, ever-fragile humanity, the mannequin looks at the viewer with a slight smile. Pushing the visceral need to make images to the extreme, a compulsion already at work in these museums that have become the pretext for incessant selfies, Simon Fujiwara decided to film the wax doll with a Bolt camera equipped with a robotic arm and control rig. Anne Frank thus becomes the object of an intrusive scrutiny that borders on indecency. As a counterpoint to Lafayette Anticipations’ machine-building, Likeness appears as the harbinger of a mechanised world in which the notion of collective memory is confronted with the cold, unrestrained objectivity of gestures formerly performed by human beings.
Exhibitions
"A Whole New World"
Mudam Luxembourg, Luxembourg (Luxembourg)
from 20 Mar to 28 Aug 2026
Mudam Luxembourg, Luxembourg (Luxembourg)
from 20 Mar to 28 Aug 2026
Everything Anne
Blaffer Art Museum, Houston (États-Unis)
from 10 Oct 2020 to 13 Mar 2021
Blaffer Art Museum, Houston (États-Unis)
from 10 Oct 2020 to 13 Mar 2021
Preis der Nationalgalerie
Alte Nationalgalerie, Berlin (Allemagne)
from 15 Aug 2019 to 24 Feb 2020
Alte Nationalgalerie, Berlin (Allemagne)
from 15 Aug 2019 to 24 Feb 2020
Revolution
Lafayette Anticipations - Fondation Galeries Lafayette, Paris (France)
from 13 Oct 2018 to 06 Jan 2019
Lafayette Anticipations - Fondation Galeries Lafayette, Paris (France)
from 13 Oct 2018 to 06 Jan 2019
Plurielle, l’œuvre de Simon Fujiwara explore à la fois les relations humaines, la mémoire, l’identité et les échanges interculturels. Influencé par son histoire personnelle et son identité anglo-japonaise, l’artiste élabore des récits mêlant réalité et fiction. Dans ses installations multiples, Simon Fujiwara se fait successivement artiste, anthropologue, écrivain ou acteur.
Né en 1982 à Londres (Royaume-Uni), Simon Fujiwara a étudié l’architecture à l’université de Cambridge avant de suivre une formation artistique à la Städelschule de Francfort. Représenté par les galeries Esther Schipper (Berlin) et Dvir (Tel-Aviv, Bruxelles, Knokke-Heist), il vit et travaille à Berlin.
