Yayoi Kusama
1929Spirit of Glasses, 1975
Signed and dated 'Yayoi Kusama 1975' lower right; Signed, dated and titled verso ' Yayoi Kusama YAYOI KUSAMA 1975', 'Kusama Yayoi Spirit of Glasses'
Collage, pastel and ink on paper
15 1/2 x 21 3/8 in, 39.4 x 54.3 cm
Yayoi Kusama is one of the most recognisable artists working today and Japan’s most prominent. Her bold style and immersive installations have captured imaginations and led to the opening of...
Yayoi Kusama is one of the most recognisable artists working today and Japan’s most prominent. Her bold style and immersive installations have captured imaginations and led to the opening of her own gallery in Tokyo in 2017. As seen here in 'Spirit of Glasses' Kusama’s work mixes Surrealism, Minimalism, Pop Art, Eccentric Abstraction, the Nul and Zero movements, refusing to be placed in just one classification.
Under the advice of Georgia O’Keefe, Kusama moved to New York in 1958 remaining there until 1975- the year this work was created. Kusama credited America as “the country that raised me”. Although Kusama often presented herself as an outsider, wearing full Japanese dress to events, while in the city she befriended some of the most influential artists of the time including Andy Warhol and Donald Judd.
Having made her own clothes from a young age, Kusama’s fashion and epitomise use of dots has garnered much attention. In 2012 Kusama worked with Louis Vuitton, producing the fashion house’s most extensive collaboration with any artist. Kusama is often seen wearing sunglasses, and in 'Spirit of Glasses' they act as a form of self portrait and representation of the artist. The detailed pattern in the lenses relates to Kusama’s 'Infinity Nets' – a series which she has continually worked on from the 1950s and reference the hallucinations she has suffered from since childhood.
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 honour 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; Tate Modern, London 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.
Under the advice of Georgia O’Keefe, Kusama moved to New York in 1958 remaining there until 1975- the year this work was created. Kusama credited America as “the country that raised me”. Although Kusama often presented herself as an outsider, wearing full Japanese dress to events, while in the city she befriended some of the most influential artists of the time including Andy Warhol and Donald Judd.
Having made her own clothes from a young age, Kusama’s fashion and epitomise use of dots has garnered much attention. In 2012 Kusama worked with Louis Vuitton, producing the fashion house’s most extensive collaboration with any artist. Kusama is often seen wearing sunglasses, and in 'Spirit of Glasses' they act as a form of self portrait and representation of the artist. The detailed pattern in the lenses relates to Kusama’s 'Infinity Nets' – a series which she has continually worked on from the 1950s and reference the hallucinations she has suffered from since childhood.
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 honour 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; Tate Modern, London 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.
Provenance
Nishimura Gallery, TokyoSakurado Fine Arts, Tokyo
Private Collection (acquired from the above 2016)