Descrizione
Yayoi Kusama (1929 -)
Born in Matsumoto (Japan), she studied art only briefly between 1948 and 1949 in Kyoto, but the family conflicts and her will to become a well-known artist forced her to leave Japan and move to the USA. In New York she became a central personality in the avant-garde movements, and she started creating her Infinity Net paintings, composed by countless dots that create a hypnotic sensation in the viewer. Obsessive repetition is a constant theme in her work, even in her installations, such as Infinity Mirror Room-Phalli’s Field (1965). She is mostly famous for the use of small or big dots, and for experimenting various styles and way of expression: from minimalism to pop art, from sculpture to performance to painting. Her creations stand for anti-war and freedom ideals, often displaying nudity or shocking subjects. In 1973 she returned to Japan and from 1977 on she decided to live into a psychiatric hospital, not giving up his activity: she kept producing art and books. The following years were filled with exhibitions: she represented Japan at Venice Biennale in 1993, and retrospectives were organized in Los Angeles, Tokyo, Minneapolis, New York, until the opening of a Museum dedicated to her work in Tokyo in 2017, near her studio.
