During the artist’s own period of infection and fevers associated with syphilis he began to research the history of the disease only to find a broad legacy of great artist heroes of his who had all suffered from the same disease. These portraits of artists are on the one hand tributes to his “comrades” but in their hysterical almost architectural forms also become mausoleums of themselves. The use of their own masterpieces within the framing of their bodies presents them as a series of mad clowns, ready to be consumed for our entertainment relating to the personal fears of Fujiwara associated with producing work in the age of social media and entertainment.
Simon Fujiwara evokes national heraldic shields and family crests in this work that depicts the contraction of syphilis, from which the artist suffered, as a badge of honour. The imagery comes from multiple sources from the first depiction of syphilis in the history of art by Albrecht Dürer in the centre of the piece, to logos and branding of gay bars and clubs the artist frequents in Berlin and eventually lead to his infection. The work’s collage nature presents his syphilitic heritage as a playful game - the light pastel palette and simplistic forms bring pleasure and nativity to a subject that has for centuries been considered morally corrupt.
During the artist’s own period of infection and fevers associated with syphilis he began to research the history of the disease only to find a broad legacy of great artist heroes of his who had all suffered from the same disease. These portraits of artists are on the one hand tributes to his “comrades” but in their hysterical almost architectural forms also become mausoleums of themselves. The use of their own masterpieces within the framing of their bodies presents them as a series of mad clowns, ready to be consumed for our entertainment relating to the personal fears of Fujiwara associated with producing work in the age of social media and entertainment.