During Fujiwara’s research into Marie Antoinette and her position as an early modern celebrity figure, he visited the prison cell that Antoinette was held in before her execution. After the revolution and during the brief period a monarchy was restored in France, the new regime wanted to ‘rebrand’ the royal legacy, and turned the cell into a chapel that was open to the public for tourists to visit and reflect on the greatness of the royals. As part of the renovation, they painted silver tears onto the wall in a monogram pattern. Described as a manipulative ‘emotionalization’ of architecture, Fujiwara was interested in the use of the monogram as early as the 1830s. The monogram as a form of visual communication has since been used heavily by brands such as Louis Vuitton and the concept of repetition as a form of visual colonization was heavily explored by Andy Warhol. Fujiwara traced each of the hand painted tears and formed three dimensional jewel versions of the tears cast in bronze. In its most simple form, the gilded tears speak of a current societal condition where the association of wealth, power and sadness form an irresistible social narrative that is constantly repeated, what the artist calls a ‘narrative monogram’.

His works were shown in prominent institutions such as Lafayette Anticipations, Paris; Kunsthaus Bregenz; Kunsthalle Düsseldorf; Whitechapel Gallery, London; MAXXI, Rome; 9th Berlin Biennale; Guggenheim Museum, New York; Centre Pompidou, Paris.
Simon Fujiwara’s works are part of numerous prestigious collections including The Tate Collection, London; MoMa, New York; Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York; Sammlung Verbund, Vienna; The Israel Museum, Jerusalem; Galeries Lafayette, Paris; The Prada Collection, Milan amongst others.