Who the Bær by Simon Fujiwara

Fondazione Prada will reopen its doors in Milan on 2 March 2021 presenting its new exhibition "Who the Bær" by Simon Fujiwara (London, UK, 1982; lives and works in Berlin).

For this new site-specific project, Simon Fujiwara introduces audiences to the fairytale world of Who the Bær, an original cartoon character that inhabits a fantasy universe. Who the Bær is a cartoon bear without a clear character – "Who" as they are known, seems to have not yet developed a strong personality or instincts, they have no history, defined gender or even sexuality.

Within a giant labyrinth made almost entirely from cardboard and recyclable materials and forming the shape of a giant bear, Fujiwara introduces the public to a coming-of-age story and post-modern fairytale, made of several cheerful and traumatic events. From focus groups to therapy sessions, from plastic surgery to global travels, from sexual fantasies to dystopian dreams, the artist portrays the formative process of a fictitious character as they interpret and appropriate the "real world" of images, distorting everything they see into the absurd logic of their personal universe.

Furthermore, the story of Who the Bær is intended to have a digital life shared with potential followers through their new Instagram account, @whothebaer.

WHO THE BÆR BY SIMON FUJIWARA

MARCH 2 - SEPTEMBER 27, 2021

FONDAZIONE PRADA | MILAN, ITALY