Joanne
Simon Fujiwara
Born in 1982 at London (England), lives and works in Berlin (Germany).
Date:
2016
Medium:
Video installation, photographies, 2 lightbox, LED screen
Courtesy the artist ; Esther Schipper, Berlin ; Dvir GAllery, Tel Aviv ; Taro Nasu, Tokyo. Commissioned by Film and Video Umbrella, The Photographers’ Gallery and Ishikawa Foundation. Supported by Arts Council England. Photo : Andrea Rossetti
Simon Fujiwara’s installation Joanne presents a new public image for Joanne Salley, who was his former secondary school art teacher in London.
Joanne Salley, winner of the 1998 Miss Northern Ireland beauty pageant, artist, teacher and champion boxer, nurtured Fujiwara’s interest in art as a scholarship student at the prestigious Harrow School for boys. Some years after his departure, Joanne found herself at the centre of a damaging tabloid scandal after students discovered and circulated topless photographs of her that had been taken privately. The national media campaign that followed branded her as the ‘Topless Teacher’ and played on stereotypes of women to tarnish her reputation as a teacher and public persona. Five years on, Fujiwara and Joanne collaborated on a project to restore her public image by employing a range of experts and techniques from the media, advertising and fashion industries.
Courtesy the artist ; Esther Schipper, Berlin ; Dvir GAllery, Tel Aviv ; Taro Nasu, Tokyo. Commissioned by Film and Video Umbrella, The Photographers’ Gallery and Ishikawa Foundation. Supported by Arts Council England. Photo : Andrea Rossetti
Courtesy the artist ; Esther Schipper, Berlin ; Dvir GAllery, Tel Aviv ; Taro Nasu, Tokyo. Commissioned by Film and Video Umbrella, The Photographers’ Gallery and Ishikawa Foundation. Supported by Arts Council England. Photo : Andrea Rossetti