Like any great actor, the artist Yasumasa Morimura (b. 1951) is blessed with supple features and a physique that lends itself to transformation. Since showing Portrait (Van Gogh), a photographic self-portrait inspired by van Gogh's Self-Portrait with Bandaged Ear and Pipe (1889), in a small-group exhibition called Smile with Radical Will at Galerie 16 in Kyoto in 1985, Morimura has inserted himself into a host of paintings and famous images from popular culture. Over the years, he has morphed into everyone from Che to Chairman Mao, Madonna to Mishima, Sharaku to Scarlett O'Hara -- to say nothing of the occasional fruit or flower. more..

The first thing you'll notice upon arrival at the hilltop art complex Clematis no Oka in Shizuoka Prefecture is the fragrant scent -- right there in the parking lot -- of meadow flowers. A few deep breaths of this potent tonic, and any world-weary city woes give way to mounting anticipation: here on this sprawling site in the foothills of Mount Fuji are four museums, a sculpture garden, and wooded trails to explore. Among these delights is the Izu Photo Museum, which through July 5 is showcasing five decades of photographs and films by Seiichi Motohashi. more...