Simon Fujiwara is one of the most distinctive artists of his generation, renowned for a practice that examines how identity is constructed, performed and consumed in contemporary culture. Working across installation, sculpture, film, performance and drawing, he creates works that combine humour, fiction and autobiography to explore the systems through which personal and collective identities are shaped.

Born in London to a Japanese father and British mother, Fujiwara’s work frequently navigates the intersections of history, memory, sexuality, politics and popular culture. Over the past decade, he has become known for ambitious projects that interrogate how narratives are created and circulated, often focusing on subjects that sit at the intersection of personal experience and broader cultural mythologies. Whether reconstructing historical sites, reimagining public figures or creating entirely new fictional worlds, his work consistently questions the mechanisms through which meaning and identity are produced.

In 2022, Fujiwara collaborated with CIRCA on Hello Who?, a major public commission introducing Who the Bær to audiences across London, Berlin, Los Angeles, Melbourne, Milan, New York and Seoul. Originally developed during the first COVID-19 lockdown, Who the Bær is a “cartoon character as conceptual artwork”, a figure without fixed race, gender or sexuality who searches for an authentic self in a world dominated by images. Through stop-motion animation, humour and philosophical inquiry, Hello Who? transformed public screens into platforms for reflection on belonging, representation and the complexities of identity in the digital age. Accompanied by a series of editions published by CIRCA, the project marked the first time Who the Bær entered public space on a global scale.

Fujiwara’s work has been exhibited internationally at institutions including Fondazione Prada, Kunsthaus Bregenz, Lafayette Anticipations, the Museum of Modern Art, Tate, Centre Pompidou and the Guggenheim Museum. Through a practice that is at once playful and deeply critical, he continues to reveal how contemporary society constructs meaning, encouraging audiences to question the stories, images and assumptions that shape how we understand ourselves and others.