Yayoi Kusama was born in Nagano Prefecture in Matsumoto in 1929
He began making art at the age of 10 and painted dots from childhood. Some childhood episodes mark her artistic style, in particular Kusama says that when she drew, as a child, her mother came from behind and snatched the drawings from her hands: the climate of panic and hysteria of that situation mixed with the need to conclude what that she was drawing before was taken away from her, as her mother did, influenced her creative process leading her to quickly and furiously finish the drawing. Among the inspirations of her training period are the paintings of the artist Georgia O’Keeffe, which Kusama sees exhibited, and which push her to write her a personal letter, the two begin a correspondence and Kusama in New York in 1958, driven both by O’Keeffe’s encouragement from the art scene of the time. Later his production was noticed and he obtained the opportunity to exhibit at the Brata gallery, already a launching pad for other artists such as Franz Kline; Kusama’s popularity grew further when the critic John Donn praised her paintings which were extremely different from the works of the abstract expressionists popular in the period. In the 1960s he dedicated himself to the development of new works of art, for example Accumulatium or Sex Obsession. Starting in 1966, Kusama created numerous provocative and risqué performances by painting the participants’ bodies with polka dots or making them “enter” her works. He returned to Japan in 1973, where he began writing surreal poems and novels. In 1993 he produced a dazzling hall of mirrors for the Venice Biennale with pumpkins inserted, which became his alter ego. From this moment Kusama invents other works on commission, mostly giant flowers or colored plants and her works are permanently exhibited in important museums worldwide such as the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis, at the Tate Modern in London and at the National Museum of Modern Art in Tokyo.
He became known to the general public for his collaboration with Peter Gabriel for the video clip of the song Lovetown (1994), in which all his obsessions – polka dots, fences, food and sex – end up in the hypertrophic world of the ex Genesis’ song. Another opportunity for fame came in 2012 thanks to Marc Jacobs, artistic director of Louis Vuitton, with whom he carried out one of the greatest artistic collaborations for the French maison. Numerous items of clothing are created on which the usual polka dots are reproduced, very large and colorful, and the characteristic ribs that distinguish Kusama’s art: in addition to the bags, in which the classic Monogram canvas is replaced with the more prestigious Monogram Vernis leather Dots Infinity, small leather goods, bangle bracelets, pumps and ballerinas, as well as beach towels, sarongs and scarves were created. Since 1977 Kusama has lived in Seiwa psychiatric hospital, Japan, by personal choice. He paints almost daily in his studio in Shinjuku.
Style and inspiration One of the most beloved Japanese artists, Yayoi Kusama has managed to create her own world through the iconic polka dots and pumpkins. His artwork is predominantly based on conceptual art, minimalism and surrealism. Among his most famous works we find the Infinity Room and the Pumpkins. A defining moment in his career was the meeting with the master of Pop Art, Andy Warhol, who was also the first buyer of Yayoi Kusama’s works. The collaboration with Louis Vuitton in 2012 is famous and has also been renewed in 2022. Yayoi Kusama’s works are predominantly based on conceptual art as well as including different influences from styles such as minimalism, surrealism, art brut, pop art and abstract expressionism, all united by the use of her emblematic polka dots . Her work is based on conceptual art and shows some attributes of feminism, minimalism, surrealism, art brut, pop art and abstract expressionism all united by the polka dot technique. Works1958 – Pacific Ocean – Painting that Kusama says represents the origin of that series of paintings known as Infinity Net. In 1959 he created his first works in the Infinity Net series, large canvases almost ten meters long. In the 1960s, the artist produced paintings, drawings, sculptures, Happenings, installations, fashion and films, to name a few: in 1964 he presented “One Thousand Boat Show” at the Gertrude Stein gallery: in this work he challenged patriarchy through countless phallic forms;
The polka dots are also part of his first performance, which took place in 1966, when he lay down on a sidewalk on East 14th Street; -another unforgettable performance, which took place in the same year, caused havoc at the Venice Biennale. Showing up uninvited, Yayoi Kusama began throwing 1,500 floating spheres into the city’s canals as part of the “Daffodil Garden” work; -“Infinity Mirror Room” is another masterpiece: passing from the two-dimensional surface of the canvases to an environment of specular reflection, thanks to the kaleidoscopic effect of the mirrored surfaces, the human body is fragmented and then reproduced an infinite number of times; -Finally, we cannot fail to mention the installation “Gleaming lights of the Souls” in which the artist used a room entirely covered in mirrors, making it a sort of optical box from whose ceiling dozens of LED lights descend and emit intermittent light . In 1969 he founded Kusama Enterprises, a commercial outlet that sold clothing, bags and even cars; these products feature his singular aesthetic, characterized by his liberal use of polka dots and dense, repeating patterns to create a sense of infinity. She has been recognized as one of Japan’s most important living artists.