Posts tagged Yayoi Kusama
Vociferous Whimsy
Midnight ramblings by a young art critic
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Roman Ondák discusses Performance 4, Measuring the Universe, at MoMA New York.
The gallery space allows for different participatory acts. The viewer is encouraged to take risks and have fun. In the past passivity was all that was expected - to look and appreciate. Today viewers frequently produce the artwork under the direction or suggestion of the artist.
Measuring up the Universe is formed entirely by gallery goers having their height, name and date recorded on the gallery wall. The installation would look different every day as the black marks increased and darkened the walls. This is a very versatile idea, I’d love to see it replicated in Australia, perhaps with white text on a black wall. Lighting up the universe.
Roman Ondák (b. 1966, Zilina, Slovakia) is widely regarded as one of the most important neo-conceptual artists working today. His work is characterized by a minimal use of materials paired with a subtle humor. Inviting strangers to participate in the production of his works is also a common strategy for the artist. Ondák lives and works in Bratislava, Slovakia.
You might also like Yayoi Kusama’s The Obliteration Room at the Queensland Art Gallery/Gallery of Modern Art.
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Review | Yayoi Kusama: ‘Look Now, See Forever’
Yayoi Kusama
Dots Obsession 2011
Vinyl balloons, dot sheets, paint, mirrors
Image: Exhibition catalogue
Yayoi Kusama is a Japanese artist whose paintings, sculptures, performances and installations have influenced generations of artists from minimalists in New York to contemporary practitioners the world over. Kusama was born in 1929, in Japan where she studied for one year before moving to New York in 1957/58 (reports differ). At the time New York was living in the shadow of Abstract Expressionism, a movement which had thrust the city to the centre of the art world. Kusama’s influence was to be profound as she defied definition, experimented and captivated everyone with her eccentric persona. In 1973 Kusama returned to Japan and her profiled waned in the US until retrospectives of her work brought her international attention, particularly the 45th Venice Biennale in 1993. During the exhibition she began selling the silver spheres which made up her installation Narcissus Garden for the equivalent of $2. Reuben Keehan, Curator, Contemporary Asian Art, Queensland Art Gallery/Gallery of Modern Art suggests this was clearly a critique of the institutionalisation of contemporary art. This is just one example where her work defies the expectation of genre, audience and authority.
Kusama has been continually influenced by the hallucinations she had as a child in which she was surrounded by colourful dots, flowers and patterns. Kusama’s mental illness is not extensively written of, nor does it need to be. She has an obsessive compulsive disorder. In Japan she chose to live at the Seiwa Hospital in Tokyo. She continues to live there, painting everyday. Her art and her life are inseparable.
An exhibition of Kusama’s recent installation, and well as video and sculpture is on display at the Queensland Art Gallery/Gallery of Modern Art. Her exhibition ‘Look Now, See Forever’ features samples from her diverse output, but is perhaps less indicative of her defiance of genre and authority than earlier exhibitions. This exhibition, however, is highly engaging and sure to excite return visits.
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Yayoi Kusama - An Introduction. (Via KusamaDocumentary).
An exhibition of Kusama’s work is currently on display at the Queensland Art Gallery/Gallery of Modern Art, Brisbane, until 11 March 2012.
