KUB Billboards

Simon Fujiwara
Campaign

21 | 04 | 2017 — 07 | 01 | 2018
Seestraße, Bregenz

The billboards along Seestraße have become a fixture of Kunsthaus Bregenz’s presence in public space. The almost square billboards are made available to artists who are able to display ideas especially conceived for the site. After beginning with a display of past designs for the KUB façade to celebrate the anniversary year, from April, Simon Fujiwara (*1982) will be curating the billboards.  

The work of the British-Japanese artist can be seen as an exploration of the increasing drive towards self-presentation and individuality that the forces of new technologies offer to his generation. In a special commission Fujiwara conceived of a self-initiated advertising campaign for the Kunsthaus Bregenz that takes place across multiple platforms, from the billboards to various online platforms. Subverting the role of the artist-institution structure, Fujiwara casts himself in the role of PR consultant, reimagining the museum’s public image. Expanding on his 2016 project Joanne, Fujiwara employs his former art teacher, amongst others, to become the »face« of the Kunsthaus Bregenz media campaign. Joanne Salley - former beauty queen, artist, champion boxer and victim of a tabloid nudity scandal in Britain – became the subject of an image rebranding campaign by Fujiwara in which he sought to rehabilitate her public image after the national media scandal destroyed her career in 2010.

Expanding on the principals characterised by artists including Sturtevant and Andy Warhol, Fujiwara’s Campaign presents a complex and uneasy relationship between artist and »muse« in which Fujiwara works with his former teacher as a »readymade« in the form of stock image, whose commercially appealing form can be applied to the promotion of endless products.