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Project Overview

Joanne is seeking to reclaim her name. Mindful, for much of her life, of how her identity has rested more on how she looks than the many things she has gone on to achieve, this former model and beauty queen (and also, because it is sometimes glossed over, teacher, artist, TV presenter, sportswoman, charity fundraiser et al) became even more aware of how a particular image could permanently define her when private semi-nude photos of her were found circulating at the school at which she taught. No longer able to choose which face she wished to present to the world, she would instead become branded as the ‘topless teacher’ – a label she worries she will be unable to shake off no matter what else she does.

Before that incident, though, she was, simply, Miss Salley, art teacher, to a cohort of pupils at Harrow School for Boys; among them the young Simon Fujiwara, who confided in her about his artistic aspirations, and his more personal drives and dreams. Now an internationally exhibited artist, acclaimed for his sensitivity to the complexities of the mediated image, Fujiwara agrees to work together with Joanne to consider how she might re-present and re-position herself. One way to do this, they feel, is to try and harness the new possibilities of social media: a realm where emotions are readily shared, where everyone is always on first-name terms and where an easy familiarity is a staple of the new internet etiquette. Yet in a world where full self-disclosure is valued as the hallmark of authenticity and relatability, Joanne realises she must meet her new public’s demands with another form of exposure – this time emotional. But when authenticity and fantasy are prized in equal measure, which new mask should Joanne adopt?

Conspiring and confounding, transparently manipulative but also genuinely moving, Joanne (the film) does not pretend to portray Joanne the woman. What it does do is hint that the faith we place in the power of the image to project us, transform us or redeem us is often illusory. But keeping faith that it can still work its magic is, for many, still the name of the game.

Project details

Joanne

Revolution, Lafayette Anticipations, Paris

13 October 2018 - 6 January 2019

Joanne

Galerie Wedding, Berlin

21 April 2018 - 26 May 2018

Joanne

Kunsthaus, Bregenz

27 January 2018 - 8 April 2018

Joanne

Si Shang Art Museum, Beijing

21 March 2017 - 20 November 2017

Joanne

Kunsthalle Dusseldorf, Germany

17 December 2016 - 5 March 2017

Joanne

Okayama Art Summit, Japan

9 October 2016 - 27 November 2016

Joanne

The Photographers' Gallery, London

7 October 2016 - 29 January 2017

Joanne

IFFR 2017, Rotterdam

29 January 2017 - 31 January 2017

Joanne

Lichter Filmfest Frankfurt International

1 April 2017 - 4 November 2024

Joanne

Kino der Kunst, Munich

21 April 2017 - 4 November 2024

More information

Commissioned by Film and Video Umbrella, The Photographers’ Gallery and Ishikawa Foundation. Supported by Arts Council England.

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Media

'Joanne' at Kunsthalle Düsseldorf
Image Gallery

'Joanne' at Kunsthalle Düsseldorf

'Joanne' at Okayama Art Summit
Image Gallery

'Joanne' at Okayama Art Summit

'Joanne' at The Photographers' Gallery, London
Image Gallery

'Joanne' at The Photographers' Gallery, London

Audio

Artist talk: Simon Fujiwara discusses 'Joanne' at The Photographers' Gallery, London by FVU

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Press

The Art Newspaper | 'Simon Fujiwara teams up with former Harrow teacher who became tabloid news'

6 September 2016
Link to article

The Guardian | Adrian Searle | 'A weird journey out of sex scandal, via avocado'

14 October 2016
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Wallpaper | Tom Howells | 'Simon Fujiwara delves into self-identity and scandal'

13 October 2016
Link to article

Artsy | 'Fujiwara’s latest film draws attention to the crucial mentorship art teachers provide'

9 October 2016
Link to article

Asia Art Pacific | Piers Masterson | 'Simon Fujiwara, Joanne'

9 January 2017
Link to article

Broadly | 'How a pageant queen turned a topless tabloid scandal into art'

21 October 2016
Link to article

Belfast Telegraph | 'Ex-pupil makes film about Tyrone teacher's life after topless pictures leaked'

18 October 2016
Link to article

e-flux | 'Kunsthalle Düsseldorf - Simon Fujiwara: Figures in a Landscape'

6 January 2017
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