Yayoi Kusama
Repetition GL.A, 1996
Acrylic and collage on canvas
16 1/8 x 12 1/2 in, 41 x 31.8 cm
Signed and dated 'Yayoi Kusama 1996' and titled in Japanese verso
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Yayoi Kusama’s imagery is amongst the most recognisable in the world today. Her bold style and extraordinary story has captured the imagination of museum curators, collectors and the general public,...
Yayoi Kusama’s imagery is amongst the most recognisable in the world today. Her bold style and extraordinary story has captured the imagination of museum curators, collectors and the general public, leading to the opening of her own gallery in Tokyo in 2017. ‘Repetition GL.A’ belongs to one of her most iconic series of works – the infinity nets. As seen here, Kusama’s work mixes Surrealism, Minimalism, Pop Art, Eccentric Abstraction, the Nul and Zero movements, refusing to be placed in just one classification.
Kusama began the infinity net series in 1958, the year she moved to New York under the advice of Georgia O’Keefe. Although Kusama often presented herself as an outsider, wearing full Japanese dress to events, while in the city she befriended and was part of the inner group of some of the most influential artists of the time including Andy Warhol and Donald Judd.
Suffering from vivid hallucinations throughout her life, Kusama’s artistic practice is a form of self therapy, a way of escaping her mind and re-creating the infinite repetitions which are haunting her. She described how “The nets that I paint not only transcend me, they transcend the canvas. These nets continue to spread the walls, and the ceiling. Ultimately, they cover the entire universe”. The enthralling and mesmeric nature of ‘Repetition GL.A’ gives a unique insight into Kusama’s vision and deft handling of conceptual and spatial abstraction.
In 2016 Kusama was presented with the Order of Culture, one of the highest honours to be bestowed by the Imperial Family. She is the first woman to receive the award for drawing and sculpture. The same year she was also named one of Time Magazine’s World’s 100 Most Influential People. Having represented Japan in the 1993 Venice Biennale, Kusama has gone on to have a touring retrospective at Centre Pompidou, Paris and Whitney Museum of American Art, New York. She has also had solo exhibitions at such institutions as The Broad, Los Angeles; Museum of Modern Art, New York; Gallery of Modern Art, Brisbane and The National Museum of Art, Osaka. Tate Modern is currently holding a sell out exhibition of her infinity rooms.
Kusama began the infinity net series in 1958, the year she moved to New York under the advice of Georgia O’Keefe. Although Kusama often presented herself as an outsider, wearing full Japanese dress to events, while in the city she befriended and was part of the inner group of some of the most influential artists of the time including Andy Warhol and Donald Judd.
Suffering from vivid hallucinations throughout her life, Kusama’s artistic practice is a form of self therapy, a way of escaping her mind and re-creating the infinite repetitions which are haunting her. She described how “The nets that I paint not only transcend me, they transcend the canvas. These nets continue to spread the walls, and the ceiling. Ultimately, they cover the entire universe”. The enthralling and mesmeric nature of ‘Repetition GL.A’ gives a unique insight into Kusama’s vision and deft handling of conceptual and spatial abstraction.
In 2016 Kusama was presented with the Order of Culture, one of the highest honours to be bestowed by the Imperial Family. She is the first woman to receive the award for drawing and sculpture. The same year she was also named one of Time Magazine’s World’s 100 Most Influential People. Having represented Japan in the 1993 Venice Biennale, Kusama has gone on to have a touring retrospective at Centre Pompidou, Paris and Whitney Museum of American Art, New York. She has also had solo exhibitions at such institutions as The Broad, Los Angeles; Museum of Modern Art, New York; Gallery of Modern Art, Brisbane and The National Museum of Art, Osaka. Tate Modern is currently holding a sell out exhibition of her infinity rooms.
Provenance
Shinwa Auction, 23 November 2014, lot 145Private Collection (acquired at the above)
Bonhams, Hong Kong, 11 June 2016, lot 26
Private Collection, Asia (acquired at the above)