As an exhibition title, I Who Have Arrived in Heaven has shades of the posthumous retrospective about it, but Yayoi Kusama is still going strong – stronger than most people could hope for at 84. The extraordinary Japanese artist is producing work as vibrant as ever, and her latest collection is currently filling the three-building David Zwirner gallery in New York, where she moved to in the 1950s after a brief period of study in Kyoto.
Spanning both the pop-art and minimalism movements, Kusama’s six decade career has been a phenomenon, and any suggestions that it was winding down greatly exaggerated; projects such as the collaboration with Marc Jacobs for Luis Vuitton in 2011 stand as testament to her continued relevance and appeal. In I Who Have Arrived in Heaven, Kusama continues to move forward, while at the same time looking back at the themes and signature motifs of her previous work – the polka dotted stalagmites and stalagtites of Love is Calling and the lashed eyes of My Heart and Dance Party Night are quintessential Kusama. The exhibition ends 21 December.
Yayoi Kusama
Infinity Mirrored Room
The Souls of Millions of Light Years Away, 2013
Wood, metal, glass mirrors, plastic, acrylic panel,
rubber, LED lighting system, and acrylic balls
113 x 163 3/8 x 168 1/8 inches (287 x 415 x 427 cm)
Courtesy David Zwirner and Yayoi Kusama Studio Inc.
Photo: Maris Hutchinson.
Yayoi Kusama
Photo by Gautier Deblonde
Courtesy David Zwirner, New York/London
Yayoi Kusama
Love Is Calling, 2013
Wood, metal, glass mirrors, tile, acrylic panel, rubber,
blowers, lighting element, speakers, and sound
174 1/2 x 340 5/8 x 239 3/8 inches (443 x 865 x 608 cm)
Courtesy David Zwirner and Yayoi Kusama Studio Inc.
Installation view of
Yayoi Kusama’s 2013 solo exhibition
I Who Have Arrived In Heaven
at David Zwirner, New York.
Courtesy David Zwirner and Yayoi Kusama Studio Inc.
Photo: Maris Hutchinson.
Yayoi Kusama
My Heart, 2013
Acrylic on canvas
76 3/8 x 76 3/8 inches (194 x 194 cm)
Courtesy David Zwirner and Yayoi Kusama Studio Inc.
Installation view of
Yayoi Kusama’s 2013 solo exhibition
I Who Have Arrived In Heaven
at David Zwirner, New York.
Courtesy David Zwirner and Yayoi Kusama Studio Inc.
Photo: Maris Hutchinson.
Yayoi Kusama
Pensive Night, 2013
Acrylic on canvas
76 3/8 x 76 3/8 inches (194 x 194 cm)
Courtesy David Zwirner and Yayoi Kusama Studio Inc.
Yayoi Kusama
Photo by Gautier Deblonde
Courtesy David Zwirner, New York/London
