Art Masters Who Inspire (3): Yayoi Kusama, Queen of Polka Dots

Yayoi Kusama is a Japanese conceptual artist inspired by Andy Warhol & Allan Kaprow and whose long-lived career has brought her success across the globe She has worked in a variety of media, like painting, collage, performance art, sculpture and installations. She is most famous for her clashing colors and repeat patterns of dots, lines and figurative elements that includes eyes, faces and flowers.

Yayoi Kusama with her recent works in Tokyo 2016

Named by Artsy as one of the “Top 10 Living Artists of 2015” and by “Time” magazine as one of the 100 most influential people, the prolific 87-year-old artist opened two exhibitions simultaneously at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in Washington, DC, called, “Infinity Mirrors” from Feb 23 to May 14, 2017 and at the National Art Center, Tokyo, called “My Eternal Soul” from Feb 27 to May 27, 2017.

While her trademark dots were already part of her style back then, the “My Eternal Soul” exhibition in Tokyo tracked her progression from her earliest drawings to her current period, some of her work that are significantly in style, including “Sex Obsession” and “Flowers that Bloom” series.

Another of her trademark work is a oversized, vivid yellow pumpkin covered with an optical pattern of black spots painting and sculpture, following the success of her project at the Venice Biennale in 1993—a dazzling mirror room filled with pumpkin sculptures,. She also went on to produce major outdoor sculptural commissions, mostly in the form of brightly hued, monstrous plants and flowers.

Pumpkins Sulpture

Yoyoi Kusama’s splash of dots also arrived in the realm of fashions from the luxury brand, Louis Vuitton bags, sunglasses, shoes and coats, showcased at its French  boutiques around the world.

Louis Vuilton Boutique

She said, “Our earth is only one polka dot among a million stars in the cosmos. Polka dots are a way to infinity”. "I want to create a thousand paintings, maybe 2,000 paintings, as many as I can draw, I will keep painting until I die.” Is seems that the wealth of art as she continues to produce near her 90th birthday, is more than just a passion, it is her lifetime.



Paints life for art installation 2012