° 1929
Born in Matsumoto (JP).
Well known for her use of dense patterns of polka dots and nets, as well as her intense, large-scale environments, Yayoi Kusama works in a variety of media, including painting, drawing, sculpture, film, performance, and immersive installation. Born in Japan in 1929, Kusama came to the United States in 1957 and quickly found herself at the epicenter of the New York avant-garde. She established her name with her enormous *Infinity Net* paintings and her gallery-filling installations, which ensconce the visitor in thousands of colorful little stuffed textile protrusions – often phallus-like. Kusama's fame also spread thanks to the succès de scandale surrounding her public happenings, which have included men and women performing naked in the streets of New York. In 1973, mental health problems prompted Kusama to return to Japan, where she continued to play a prominent role in the world of art. In the West she gradually disappeared from the radar until about a decade ago, when a new art public became acquainted with her work. Working across several disciplines, Kusama continues to develop an increasingly diverse, rich and multilayered oeuvre. Her interest in sensory experiences and space-filling installations combined with her radical and obsessive history has had a marked impact on a number of prominent trends in contemporary art.
>Raoul van den Boom, Yayoi Kusama, Kusama’s studio (New York), 1967.Photography, print on baryta, 65 x 207.5 cm.
>Yayoi Kusama, Polka dots all over (The Hague), 1967.Photography, colour photo on paper, 6 x (40 x 60 cm), 2 x (20 x 30 cm).
>Yayoi Kusama, Kusama’s Self-Obliteration, 1967.Video, colour, sound, 24 min .
>Yayoi Kusama, The Burning of St Mark’s Church, 1985.Book, language: Japanese, publisher: Tokyo: PARCO Shuppan.
>Yayoi Kusama, Woodstock Phallus Cutter, 1988.Book, ink, paper, language: Japanese, publisher: Tokyo: Peyotoru Kobo.
>Yayoi Kusama, Between Heaven and Earth, 1988.Book, ink, paper, language: Japanese, publisher: Tokyo: Jiritsu Shobo.
>Yayoi Kusama, Double Suicide at Sakuragazuka, 1989.Book, language: Japanese, publisher: Tokyo: Jiritsu Shobo.
>Yayoi Kusama, Aching Chandelier, 1989.Book, ink, paper, language: Japanese, publisher: Tokyo: Peyotoru Kobo.
>Yayoi Kusama, Angels in Cape Cod, 1990.Book, ink, paper, language: Japanese, publisher: Tokyo: Jiritsu Shobo.
>Yayoi Kusama, Lost in Swampland, 1992.Book, ink, paper, language: Japanese, publisher: Tokyo: Jiritsu Shobo.
>Yayoi Kusama, The New York Story, 1993.Book, ink, paper, language: Japanese, publisher: Tokyo: Jiritsu Shobo.
>Yayoi Kusama, Violet Obsession, 1998.Book, ink, paper, language: Japanese, publisher: Tokyo: Sakuhinsha.
>Yayoi Kusama, The Hustler’s Grotto of Christopher Street, 1998.Book, ink, paper, 21.5 x 13.8 cm, 164 p, language: English, publisher: Berkeley, California: Wandering Mind Books, ISBN: 0-9653304-2-7.
>Yayoi Kusama, Manhattan Suicide Addict, 2005.Book, ink, paper, 23.8 x 17 cm, 255 p, language: French, publisher: Dijon: Les presses du réel, ISBN: 2-84066-115-2.
> Exhibition: Book Lovers 4.0 (Pop-up Bookstore). 28 January 2014 - 02 February 2014.
> Exhibition: EURASIA − A Landscape of Mutability. 08 October 2021 - 23 January 2022.
> Exhibition: Museum in Motion. 16 September 2022 - 08 January 2023.
No image
> Exhibition: Museum in Motion - Yayoi Kusama. 16 September 2022 - 08 January 2023.
> Exhibition: THE BOOK LOVERS - A Project about Artist Novels. 25 January 2013 - 09 March 2013.
> Exhibition: The City Collection: IN/SIGHT. 16 May 2024 - 06 January 2025.
> Exhibition: The Preparation of the Novel (Book Lovers 5.0). 18 July 2014 - 05 September 2014.
> Exhibition: WHAT HAPPENS WHEN THE ARTWORK BECOMES A NOVEL?. 07 December 2012 - 21 April 2013.
No image
> Ensemble: 2022.
> Ensemble: The Artist's Novel.
> Ensemble: The City Collection / De Stadscollectie / La collection municipale.