Unquestionably one of the most famous contemporary artists in the world, Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama is also a very unique individual. Easily recognizable thanks to her red bob haircut, she is known for creating a monumental body of work, including paintings, sculptures and installations that are often bathed in a sea of colorful polka dots. Illustration: picture from Kusama Infinity movie, by Heather Lenz (2018).
A famous contemporary artist known for her polka dots
Polka dots and color
Yayoi Kusama was born in Matsumoto, Japan in 1929. She is now one of the most famous modern artists with a prolific body of work and is highly-skilled in various artistic media: painting, sculpture, installations and even writing and singing.
Her work is based on the idea of the only constant thing we know - the self - and exploring its place within the immense universe. In her work, this concept of the self is represented by a polka dot. Kusama stated, “Our earth is one polka dot among a million stars in the cosmos. Polka dots are a way to infinity. When we obliterate nature and our bodies with polka dots we become part of the unity of our environment.” She explores this concept through a wide range of techniques, including abstract expressionism, pop art, minimalism and outsider art.
She began using this polka dot motif as a young child, they are omnipresent and have become a hallmark of her work and installations.
The effects of a mental illness
When she was 10 years old, she suffered from hallucinations that plunged her into a room filled with polka dots of all sizes and colors. The only relief she found from this engulfing environment was drawing it. To this day, Yayoi Kusama draws inspiration from this hallucinatory state where color and shape reign.
Yayoi Kusama's famous Pumpkin. A giant sculpture of this pumpkin was one of Japan’s most recognizable works of modern art. It stood at the end of a pier on the “art island” of Naoshima since 1994 but was badly damaged during a recent typhoon.
A career path entirely dedicated to art
As a child, Kusama attended the Kyoto Municipal School of Arts and Crafts. After the outbreak of the Second World War, she was called upon to work making parachutes for up to twelve hours a day. This grueling schedule did not keep her from continuing to create art.
From the 1950s onwards, she devoted herself to exploring more abstract forms of art that gained recognition in Japanese art circles. The first exhibition she organized in 1952 was a success. However, the traditional hierarchical Japanese society structure seemed to hamper her enjoyment and development as an artist.
For a while, she planned to move to Paris but finally decided to move to America in 1957 after corresponding with another famous female contemporary artist, the American Georgia O'Keeffe - an American modernist who is famous for her abstract art. Years later, Kusama declared: "For art like mine, [Japan] was too small, too servile, too feudal and too scornful of women. My art needed a more unlimited freedom, and a larger world."
A famous contemporary artist recognized late in life
In New York, Yayoi Kusama studied at the Arts Students League. She began creating her now-iconic series "Infinity Net," characterized by a rippling arrangement of dexterously swirling arcs. "Infinity Net" is also the title of her autobiography.
At that time, critics classified her under the Eccentric Abstraction artistic movement, a movement used to explore art as neither depiction nor imprint but as a representation of something else, creating works of art that establish a relationship with the viewer on the artwork’s own terms. These pieces were created to establish a physical relationship with the viewers, who were often invited to interact with the works of art. Kusama had her first installation at the famous Gertrude Stein Gallery in New York.
Yayoi Kusama gained international recognition in the 1990s. Today, she is one of the most famous modern artists and is known for her signature polka dot covered installations.
One of the world's most famous contemporary artist’s major achievements
A prolific modern artist, Yayoi Kusama sometimes worked obsessively, up to 50 hours at a time. Although her ascension to international fame was gradual, she quickly became a central figure in the New York art scene, becoming part of the Pop art milieu and frequenting famous artists like Andy Warhol and Claes Oldenburg.
Floor Show
Her art combined an avant-garde and non-conformist approach, which she managed to constantly reinvent while maintaining a firm grasp on her signature style. For example, in 1965, her highly-acclaimed installation “Floor Show” featured at Castellane Gallery in New York allowed visitors to immerse themselves in a space filled with large mirrors and polka dot covered helium-inflated balloons.
Venice
In 1966, in response to not being invited to the 33rd Venice Biennale, Yayoi Kusama littered 1,500 shimmering metal balls on the lawn of the pavilion. The installation was aimed at critiquing art world consumerism as she sold each ball for the equivalent of $2.
Kusama Art
Today, this famous modern artist is considered an eminent signature in the art world. Her boundless creativity makes it difficult to classify her work, so much so that some critics refer to her art as its own movement - "Kusama Art.”
Yayoi Kusama's colorful patterns are used in many other creative sectors, including fashion (designer handbags and clothing), furniture and even architectural designs.
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