Download - Opera Gallery

With respect to dots, Kusama declared on
Kusama was often invited to appear on
numerous occasions:
Japanese television. Such moments promoted
her fame, while leaving impressions
“My life is a Dot lost among thousands
Her encounter with the American sculptor
that would play an important role in her future
It is precisely this rebirth period, from 1981
of other dots.”
and experimental filmmaker Joseph Cornell
literary works.
to the present, which is highlighted in the
would strongly influence her creative pro-
exhibition organized by Opera Gallery,
Kusama Yayoi is definitely one of the
cess. Cornell’s fantastic imagination can be
The 70s were, however, a dark period
Hong Kong.
world’s most distinctive and influential mul-
Her European travels and exhibitions
characterized by the assembly of lost and
in Kusama’s creative life. Following the
In that same year, both the Tokyo and Kyoto
tidisciplinary conceptual artists. After 70
inspired the artist’s “Accumulation” series:
found objects, making him a pioneer in this
death of her partner Joseph Cornell, and
Modern Art Museums included Kusama in
years of active practice, her works continue
with touches of absurdity and exuberance
type of artistic expression. André Breton
shortly thereafter of her own father,
a list of the most important painters of the
to amaze us, with such an incredible feeling
covering ordinary objects and furniture with
would say: “he enjoys an experience that
Kusama’s health (psychic but also physical),
1960s, with her works highlighted in an
of creative power radiating from her works.
phallic protuberances. This series was ac-
upsets the conventions of how we use
started to deteriorate. She created new
exhibition called The 1960s: A Decade of
claimed by famous artists like Oldenburg,
objects”. Their relationship illuminated and
collages (“Message of Death from Hades”)
Change in Contemporary Japanese Art.
Started in 2011, and scheduled to continue
Morris, Warhol, Lichtenstein, Wesselmann,
enriched Kusama’s private life, and conti-
which were exhibited in Tokyo’s Nishimura
It was, in fact, this total reappraisal of Kusama
throughout 2012, Yayoi Kusama’s solo
or feminist culture critic Lucy Lippard (who
nued until Cornell’s death in 1973.
Gallery. This eccentric exhibition, so em-
as an artist, by her own country and by the
exhibition has been hosted by the most
proclaimed Kusama as the precursor of
otionally striking, grabbed the attention of
international art world, that gave a new im-
preeminent contemporary art museums
Eccentric Abstraction).
From 1965, Kusama shared a studio with
art critic Akira Tatehata, who would play an
pulse to her creativity.
worldwide - in Madrid, Paris, London and
well-known Japanese artist On Kawara, who
important role in Kusama’s future.
New York.
would become one of the most important
From 1981, numerous and remarkable
conceptual artists in Asia. In the same year,
After a few short stays in Tokyo, and, more
retrospectives would contribute to her
In response to Frances Morris, the curator
Kusama produced her famous “Infinity
importantly, after a suicide attempt, exhaus-
international reputation, culminating with
of Tate Modern show in London, Kusama said:
Mirror Room - Phalli’s Field” (or “Floor Show”).
ted, Kusama decided to return to Japan for
the famous solo exhibition Kusamatrix, or-
Towards the end of the 60s, Kusama began
good. As of 1977, she became a permanent
resident of a psychiatric clinic in Tokyo. Un-
ganized by the Mori Art Museum, Tokyo in
2004. The exhibit attracted more than half a
Dots 1999, acrylic on canvas, 33,3 x 24,2 cm
“I have a flood of ideas in my mind…
I just follow my vision”.
her first “happenings’’ (public theater):
der such depressing conditions, she edited
million visitors.
The show combines a variety of works from
poems and an art album (“7”). As of this
Kusama’s eclectic and rich pallet, including
Galina COULOT
“Obliterate your personality with polka
sadly remarkable year, her artistic creativity
In 1993, Kusama was selected to represent
the famous pumpkins, infinity nets and dots
Art Historian critic
dots
declined and she remained in the shadows
Japan at the Venice Biennial. She chose one
paintings.
Become one with eternity
until 1981.
of her main subjects, pumpkins, to create
Become part of your environment…
the installation “Mirror Room - Pumpkins”.
Kusama’s obsession with dots from such
Flames 1990, acrylic on canvas, 53 x 45,5 cm
Take off your clothes
Forget yourself
This magnificent and unforgettable work
again depicted the red line of her plastic
a young age is probably related to the hallucinations
she suffered as a child. These
Make love
creation, a concept comprised of accumu-
famous dots of various forms, shapes and
Self-distraction is the only way to peace.”
lation, repetition and infinity.
colours would become her trademark; for
the first time in 1965, she proposed polka
These slogans perfectly illustrate Kusama’s
dots combined with mirrors (Phalli’s Field).
artistic spirit of the period.
Dots became an integral part of her “hap-
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penings” or experimental movies, as an expression
of her opposition to the Vietnam
War. She used the visual capacity of the
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dots to “break” an object by destroying the
details of shape or silhouette.