ALL EYES ON YAYOI KUSAMA

21 Feb 2012
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Louis Vuitton’s latest artistic collaborator is Yayoi Kusama, an 82-year-old Japanese artist. Kusama is considered one of today’s most significant and influential artists and editor Jackie Burger believes she is a big name to watch.

Kusama is known for her obsession with repeating polka dots – she has said in a Bloomberg.com interview that dots represent her life: ‘a single particle among billions’ – and her work over the last six decades makes her a woman to be reckoned with in the art world. Now she has turned her hand to fashion with a limited-edition collection of Louis Vuitton leather goods, accessories, shoes, watches and ready-to-wear clothing set to launch in July this year under the Infinitely Kusama label.

Artist Yoyoi Kusama

Yoyoi Kusama

Why do we love Kusama? Well, what’s not to love? She has been creating art with brushes and charcoal and moulding sculptures for almost her whole life and shows no signs of slowing down. Like most artistic geniuses she’s eccentric and there is nothing run of the mill about her. In 1977 she voluntarily moved into a psychiatric hospital and has been living there since, having suffered mental imbalances since childhood, but nevertheless has completed over 100 works since 2010. In the 1960s, Kusama orchestrated a series of live events, orgies and naked interventions in protest against the war in Vietnam. ‘The body is too beautiful to be killed in warfare’ she explained. Maybe her admiration for the human body explains the limited-edition packaging she created for Lancôme Juicy Tubes.

Kusama’s ‘infinity mirror room’, a large scale mirrored installation was part of her solo exhibition ‘floor show’ at the castellane gallery, new york, 1965

Art

Kusama’s ‘obliteration room’ at queensland art gallery

YayoiKusama

What’s next? It’s hard to predict and we are not putting anything past her. The red wig and polka dots that she wears to most of her openings alone make her impossible to ignore. Meanwhile, the fascination with Yoyoi Kusama is growing worldwide.

London’s Tate Modern is hosting one of the most comprehensive exhibitions of her work until 5 June – if you are lucky enough to be in town, put a visit on your to-do list.

Images from: Designboom

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