Daughter of art history : photographs /

The first American book on the work of photographer Morimura contains stylish reproductions of most of the artist's body of work. Morimura casts himself as the subject of well-known works in the history of art, from the Mona Lisa to Rembrandt's self-portraits to Velazquez's Infanta. These "mock masterpieces" are memorable if only for their technique and attention to re-creating the most minute detail of each copied work, as well as for the artist's Asian maleness. Gender issues, one of the artist's main preoccupations, are often evoked in the photographs from the vantage point of the man-in-woman's-clothing. This is arguably the only way Morimura deviates from the territory explored before him by Cindy Sherman, whose work concerns itself with the male viewer's gaze. Despite the seriousness with which the author explains his concepts, humor-intended or otherwise-often overwhelms any originality that might be found in these photographs. The essay by respected critic Donald Kuspit considers Morimura's art a seamless conceptual whole and "Wagnerian Gesamtkunstwerk" instead of what it really is: a derivative, one-note homage to Sherman and other major artists from previous centuries. Not recommended.-Douglas McClemont, New York (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.