Yayoi Kusama: World Art Summarized

The Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama is one of the truly great artists of our time, partly because her art reaches all people in the world across all ethnicities and cultures.

In a literal sense, too, she has achieved this – hardly any artist has been present at more exhibitions in the most remote corners of the world between 1945 and today; every art fan whose art world has more to offer than Leonardo da Vinci, Rembrandt and the artists who staged a media-effective riot last week knows the Japanese artist and her work.

why Yayoi Kusama is not an art star and never wanted to be one, but needs art as a survival strategy just as much as art needs its ideas for animation. “Yayoi Kusama: A World Built from Art” explains

Now we turn to Kusama's work, which is quite extensive for an artist who turned 89 on March 22, 2018, and who worked continuously throughout her life:

Kusama and dots and New York and hippie era: It fits perfectly

After a more than unpleasant youth and a similarly unpleasant start as an artist, Kusama seized the first opportunity in the early 1950s to leave Japan (her parents' home) for the USA. After a brief stopover (which already included an exhibition) in Seattle, she finally reached the art capital in 1958 and was ready to conquer it. Which she did, and in a relatively short time:

Yayoi Kusama lived predominantly in New York; her most famous artworks, actions, and happenings were created during this time.

Initially, life wasn't exactly rosy; surviving in New York as a young immigrant without financial support is no walk in the park, even for those less sensitive to hardship. Kusama likely barely scraped by selling her paintings (she reportedly became known in the New York art scene for walking from gallery to gallery, asking for exhibition and sales space), but she did live off her paintings – for someone of her caliber and mental state, probably more important than the expensive trend on her plate or the fashionable brand on her shoes.

However, the art world is a very fragile "soul-saver" for women, and female artists need to be able to cope well with frustration. While talented female artists can find plenty of experts in all art centers who credibly assess their talent and help even chronic doubters finally believe in their abilities and their art, financial success often remains elusive and is frequently reaped by less talented men.

For someone who is constantly working at the threshold of their stress limit, this is certainly not a very favorable situation, which is why Yayoi Kusama sought psychiatric treatment again in 1961 during her time in New York.

Nevertheless, the work continued, and in 1961 fabric sculptures as an artistic means of expression. Furniture and other household objects were completely covered with phallus-shaped rolls of fabric, which were so soft that they could not harm anything or anyone.

“Accumulation No. 1” dates from 1961 and was exhibited (along with works by Andy Warholothers) at the Green Gallery in 1962: mo.ma/2Jb7jAv

“Accumulation No. 2” is from 1962, pictured here including the artist: bit.ly/2JkqUS5

Here are a few more penis-themed pieces with the artist in the middle: mo.ma/2xHA5Hk, in the foreground the sculpture “Traveling Life” from 1964. This ladder is overgrown with phallic forms, each step of which is climbed by women's shoes. This is usually interpreted as a symbolic representation of the arduous path to success in a male-dominated art scene, but it could also express entirely different ideas.

From the mid- 1960s followed photographic phase, often featuring the artist in a highly exposed manner, e.g., nude and painted with dots – certainly not a bad way to make her work better known. From there, the step to happenings, events, and performances was not far. These were definitely trendy anyway and, for Kusama, a means of exploring the boundaries between art, humanity, and the environment.

“Narcissus Garden” from 1966, bit.ly/2LfM1lM, with its 1500 mirrored spheres, is simply breathtakingly beautiful and also gave the artist the opportunity to gain international recognition with a rather bold action: After her work was not selected for the Venice Biennale, even though both its popularity and quality would have suggested its inclusion, Kusama set up “Narcissus Garden” in front of the exhibition hall and sold the spheres individually to passers-by.

Those who were successful at the “Narcisium For Sale” with 1200 Lire (around 200 Euros) before the police ended the event (Kusama was already the most famous artist at this Biennale) should consider themselves lucky today.

Happenings in New York followed: Kusama on the sidewalk amidst white cushions with red dots (14th Street Happening) and Kusama in a pink kimono and an umbrella decorated with plastic flowers on a walk through New York (Walking Piece), both from 1966.

In 1967, Kusama preferred to paint other people (naked and in public) with dots in his “Bodypainting Events” or practiced “Self Obliteration,” which can be seen in this film from 1967 at the Brooklyn Bridge, featuring truly relaxed horses, frogs, cats, men, and a bit of art porn, if you make it to the end: bit.ly/2JkvrUz.

It probably goes without saying that most of these events were broken up by the police (or rather, especially for the apolitical part of our youth, so they know what awaits them if they don't wake up soon).

From the late 1960s onwards, for Kusama, as for many others, the time had come to “explore her ideas thoughtfully”: She adopted and tested ideas from the hippie movement , from anarchism to nudism, from pacifism to free love.

In the early 1970s, she also experimented with capitalismby founding several companies, including “Kusama Fashions” and the adult-oriented magazine “Kusama’s Orgy.” This was the final straw for the artist, and in the early 1970s, Kusama decided to return to her native Japan.

It's not always quieter at home

In Japan, Kusama did not move near her parents in the temperate small town of Matsumoto, but to bustling Tokyo; after all, she was used to life in a metropolis from New York.

However, Tokyo had then, as now, around 1.5 million more inhabitants than New York, and the metropolitan area is even inhabited by roughly twice as many people (37.5 million compared to 20 million). Even the capital city in her familiar homeland soon proved to be an unsuitable environment for her frayed nerves, which is why Yayoi Kusama retreated in 1977 to the quiet, protected atmosphere of a psychiatric clinic on the outskirts of the city.

Since then, she has been pursuing her daily artistic work in a neighboring studio, apparently a good situation for artists who work best in a low-stimulus environment.

Because she was destined to become even more famous worldwide with the works she created/designed there; here are some examples:

1998, mural in the Oriente Metro station, Lisbon, Portugal: bit.ly/2kGA0dU

If you ever find yourself near this subway station: be sure to set aside some time to take a look; this subway station was designed for the World's Fair and is a veritable art exhibition.

2012, Kusama showed with “Obliteration Rooms”that obliteration can also be more colorful; the following video shows its creation:

were available Silver bullets in Brazil in 2009: bit.ly/2LSnftc

In 2015, Yayoi Kusama reached the point of luminous dots, “The Souls of Millions of Light Years Away”: n.pr/2kJe6qr

In 2015, she was celebrated in the press as the world's most famous artist because of these luminous dots: Huffpost.

Yayoi Kusama – Victoria Miro London Exhibiton (Infinity Mirrors)

Exhibition career

However, becoming the world's most famous artist is not solely due to working in seclusion; Yayoi Kusama can also look back on a breathtaking exhibition history :

in 187 solo exhibitions to date; since 1995, 5 to 15 solo exhibitions have been held annually in various corners of the world, exclusively featuring the artist's works.

group exhibitions ; even the list of biennials and triennials (when will the Quadronale and Quintonale come?) inspires awe:

• 1993 Venice Biennale
• 1998 Taipei Biennial
• 2000 12th Biennale of Sydney
• 2001 Yokohama International Triennale of Contemporary Art
• 2002 Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art
• 2003 7th Biennale de Lyon + Echigo-Tsumari Art Triennial 2003
• 2004 Whitney Biennial
• 2005 Venice Biennale
• 2006 Singapore Biennale
• 2007 International Incheon Women Artist's Biennale
• 2008 Liverpool Biennial + Biennale Arts Le Havre
• 2010 Aichi Triennale + 17th Biennale of Sydney
• 2012 Echigo-Tsumari Art Triennale 2012 + ARSENALE = Ukrainian Biennale of Contemporary Art
• 2015 ArtZuid Biennale Amsterdam
• 2016 Setouchi Triennale
• 2017 Socle du Monde Biennale

In 2006, Yayoi Kusama was awarded the Praemium Imperiale ('Nobel Prize of the Arts') in the category of painting.

for the Japanese Bunka Kōrōsha, a person of special cultural merit, one of 832 special people who have been selected for this award in a country with 126 million inhabitants across all sciences, arts and professions in almost 70 years.

In autumn 2017, the artist opened her own museum in Tokyo. It is run by a foundation whose purpose is to ensure that her work is preserved for humanity after her death, instead of being devoured by the art world's money-grubbers. That's for the best; Yayoi Kusama's works are currently in higher demand than ever.

Imagine what else could come of it!

Yayoi Kusama makes art that appeals internationally – according to Yasuaki Ishizaka (former head of Sotheby's Japan), Kusama is one of the first Japanese artists, or perhaps even the only Japanese artist, to have a large international fan base spanning all age groups in Asia, Europe and the USA.

Therefore, it can also stimulate new trends all over the world, e.g. in German homes or in German design.

of polka dots is really crazy.

And they undoubtedly lift your spirits, especially when they involve such anarchistic and innovative points as those used by Yayoi Kusama.

Yayoi Kusama's "Obliteration Rooms" come in many, many forms, and all these "writable rooms" were stark white when the first museum visitors entered. While not everyone will appreciate the whimsical "ball pit" look, the collaborative approach can be easily adapted to other design ideas and is generally expandable: These days, everyone groans when faced with painting a room.

Imagine a company that sells foil, brushes, and colorful wall paint in a package, complete with a fun invitation to friends for a painting party—or, if not enough friends are available, even connects them with artistically gifted students. Our homes would be more beautiful, whether with one wall in vibrant colors, all the walls in delicately tinted stripes, or a variety of birds as a white-on-white pattern on the ceiling…

tothotornot.com: Can be viewed with children, but also crafted with children (small ones, made of paper).

What Yayoi Kusama actually demanded or urged with her dot-based universes: davidzwirnerbooks.com/product/yayoi-kusama-give-me-love, would be very relevant to our times right now…

A selection of remarkable art by Yayoi Kusama – collected on Pinterest:

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Have fun browsing and discovering!