Yayoi Kusama

Yayoi Kusama

Japan 1929 -

“More and more, I think about the role of the arts, and as an artist,

I think that it's important that I share the love and peace”

Yayoi Kusama is a Japanese contemporary artist who works primarily in sculpture and installation but is also active in painting, performance, film, fashion, poetry, fiction, and other arts. Quite simply she says, “I am the modern Alice in Wonderland”. Her work is based on conceptual art and shows some attributes of feminism, minimalism, and surrealism. It seems to have taken every minute of her 93+ years to achieve the status of one of the most highly sought after artists in the world, and the top selling female artist.

Born in Japan in 1929, Kusama came to the United States in 1957 after an exchange of letters with the artist Georgia O'Keeffe, who encouraged her. She quickly found herself at the epicenter of the New York avant-garde. Navigating the art scene in NY is a daunting task for any artist at any time, but at that time it was very much a world of a few big- name stars, like Andy Warhol and Frank Stella. It took her many decades of perseverance to have her work shown in galleries , and to gain acceptance. After achieving fame through groundbreaking exhibitions and "Art Happenings” she returned to her native country in 1973 and is now one of Japan’s most prominent contemporary artists. Her installations, paintings, sculptures, and interactive pieces have been on exhibition at all of the major museums and galleries including the Venice Biennale . She has been the recipient of numerous international awards and prizes including, The Education Minister's Art Encouragement Prize and Foreign-Minister's Commendations , the Asahi Prize, the French Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, and the Nagano Governor Prize (for the contribution in encouragement of art and culture), the National Lifetime Achievement Awards, the Order of the Rising Sun, the Premium Imperiale Painting Prize and the Golden prize from the Italian Academy of Arts.

“Since my childhood, I have always made works with polka dots. Earth, moon, sun and human beings all represent dots; a single particle among billions”

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 Over the past two weeks, we contrasted the paintings from one of the oldest cultures: Indigenous Art of Australia, to one of the most contemporary artists working today, Yayoi Kusama. They are very similar in style and application. Using patterns, dots and symbols to tell a story and bright acrylic colors, their art connects the dots from ancient to modern art.