I’m a fan of Yayoi Kusama’s psychedelic eccentricity and gaily polka-dotted work. The Japanese artist is 87 today, and for the past 20 years has been living in a Tokyo mental hospital, from where she has continued to produce artworks in a variety of mediums, as well as launching a literary career by publishing several novels, a poetry collection and an autobiography.
She famously said: “My art originates from hallucinations only I can see.”
In the sixties, Yayoi Kusama was part of the New York avant-garde scene, having her works exhibited alongside the likes of Andy Warhol, Claes Oldenburg and George Segal.
In her honor, Artnet News has published a lovely article entitled:
14 Yayoi Kusama Quotes on Her 87th Birthday (Article by Alyssa Buffenstein)
You can find it here. (I borrowed the photographs from them, many thanks.)
Fascinating !!!!
Sorry to say that I had never heard of Ms Kusama until today….. what an ignoramus..
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I know many people haven’t, so I thought it might be a good idea to show her stuff
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Wow have never heard of her but this art is amazing!
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This artist is new to me. What color. I especially like the middle piece. 🙂 ❤
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She also makes some lovely spotty pumpkins!
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Thanks for introducing her. Her work is so different.
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Amazing work this is and so true to her own saying, as you have mentioned in the beginning.
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I’m not familiar with her but I love her artistic style. Thanks for introducing her!
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Her art is amazing!
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I love Kusama too…when I found out she carried around a box of faces she had cut out of magazines, I was hooked! Very interesting life. Thanks for the link to the quotes too. (K)
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Yes, I think she’s special. And what an unusual life…
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Nice tribute! What beautiful colors!! By the way, I found your blog via Janice’s party.
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Hi Michelle! Thanks for dropping by. I’ll reciprocate as soon as I have a minute.
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Thanks for sharing, I’ve never heard of her before, and I particularly like the first one – so colourful.
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Like so many other commenters before me, I never heard of her up to now, but I agree her art is fascinating! Many thanks for sharing 🙂
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Striking pieces.
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Hi Marina,
Thanks for inviting me to check out your post. The red and white photo is amazingly cool!
Janice
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Wow, i’ve admired Yayoi Kusama’s artwork before, but i had NO idea she lived in a mental hospital. I never knew that much about her; i figured she was just a delightfully eccentric older lady who didn’t let age get in the way of her amazing creativity. Now you’ve got me wanting to know more about her. I see one of the other commenters mentions that the artist carries a box of cutout faces from magazines with her. My curiosity is piqued! Thankyou.
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She’s fascinating, isn’t she? I didn’t know that about her before, either.
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She really is. It made me sad to read about her abusive mother 😦 I have a newfound respect and interest in Ms Kusama and her work now. Thankyou for posting about her. (And thankyou for kindly having a little look at my silly blog! I’m always conscious that people might feel pressured to do that when i make random comments on people’s interesting posts! But i’m very grateful for people taking time out of their day to do so . Hope you have a lovely day 🙂 )
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Thank you, Jack!
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