Yayoi Kusama

Yayoi Kusama is a Japanese artist and writer.

Her exhibition in London sold out in an instant. Even after extending the duration of the exhibition, all more tickets were sold out.

I finally managed to get a ticket and filmed the scene.

For her, the experience of art is not just about looking. It was also about entering into the work.

She began painting at an early age, despite her family's disapproval.

She spent her youth in New York and tried to express herself even in the anti-Japanese atmosphere of the post-war period.

However, after returning to Japan, she began to suffer from mental problems and began to have acute hallucinations throughout her life. It was both painful for her and her art itself.

In her visual hallucinations, she has the sensation of dots covering her as far as she can see. Kusama's art invites us to share in this self-obliteration. Normally, when we experience art, there should be a clear distinction between ourselves and the work. However, Kusama deliberately confuses this. She asks us to become part of the room.

I could understand from this exhibition that her art inevitably comes from herself.

▶︎Video

▶About Yayoi Kusama

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