yayoi kusama: I want to live forever

yayoi kusama: I want to live forever
PAC padiglione d'arte contemporanea, milan
on now until february 14th, 2010

under the curatorshop of akira tatehata(director of osaka national museum of art), in partnership with
the milan city council-councillorship for culture and 24 ORE motta cultura, PAC(padiglione d'arte
contemporanea) is now presenting an exhibition on japanese artist, yayoi kusama entitled,
'I want to live forever'. this is an exclusive event for italy, dedicated to the contemporary work of
the artist. focusing on her paintings, sculptures and installations from the last decade, there are also
a selection of her formative drawings from the 1950s and 60s.

the characteristics of kusama's work are driven by a mental illness that has afflicted her since childhood.
she has always been caught up in a powerful obsession to fill space with identical patterns.
the artist's work has been discussed in terms of the sites where it has been made and the forms
which she has used. her work moves between impulsiveness and deliberation, and although working
since the 1950s, she continues to produce new variations on her work which are ultimately derived
the same principle. her work is not just hallucinations, but rather a precise and obsessive research
into the troubling elements of perception: dots, nets, mirrors...

'polka dots are a way to infinity.' - YK


one is welcomed to PAC by a wall of kusama's all consuming dots.
alongside are her 'flowers that bloom at midnight' sculptures, 2009
image © designboom


flowers that bloom at midnight S2A, 2009
fiberglass reinforced plastic, metal, urethane paint
136 x 220 x 228 cm
image © designboom

these are kusama's most recent group of monumental sculptures.
vividly painted, baroque flowers which measure in height between 1.5 to 5 metres.


flowers that bloom at midnight S2A, 2009
fiberglass reinforced plastic, metal, urethane paint
304 x 201 x 198 cm
image © designboom


detail
image © designboom


installation view
image © designboom


pumpkin: large, 2008
fiberglass reinforced plastic, paint
250 x 200 x 220 cm
image © designboom

the vibrant, yellow pumpkins are covered in an optical pattern of black spots, and are a kind of
alter ego for the artist.


pumpkin: small, 2009
fiberglass reinforced plastic, paint
90 x 130 x 130 cm
image © designboom


detail of yayoi kusama's signature on pumpkin: small, 2009
image © designboom


dots-obsession(TOBBQW), 2008
urethane paint on canvas
194 x 194
image © designboom


dots-obsession(TOBBQW), 2008
urethane paint on canvas
194 x 194
image © designboom


life(repetitive vision), 1998
mixed media
image © designboom


detail
image © designboom


I want to live forever, 2008
acrylic on canvas, five panels
227.3 x 908 cm
image © designboom


detail
image © designboom


installation view
image © designboom


passing winter, 2005
mirror and glass
190 x 80 x 80 cm
image © designboom

passing winter is a hand-beveled mirrored cube that yields to the abyss of endlessly repeating
self-portraits of the viewer.


looking into passing winter, 2005
image © designboom


detail inside
image © designboom


detail
image © designboom


solitude of the earth, 1994
mixed media
image © designboom


detail of cabinet
image © designboom


detail of table
image © designboom


installation view
image © designboom


narcissus garden, 1966
set of 888 metal balls, diam. 30 cm each
image © designboom

first exhibited at the 33rd annual venice art biennale in 1966, kusama's interactive narcissus garden,
with the assistance of lucio fontana, consists of 1500 mirror balls spread on the gallery floor.


image © designboom


image © designboom


universe fireballs, 2008
acrylic on canvas
194 x 194 cm
image © designboom


death is inevitable, 2008
acrylic on canvas
194 x 194 cm
image © designboom


aftermath of obliteration of eternity, 2009
wood, plastic, acrylic, LEDs, aluminum
415 x 415 x 287.4 cm
image © designboom

the complex environment of 'aftermath of obliteration of eternity' operates on a system of
simple optical devices. in a dark void, a delicate shimmering mirage unfolds around the viewer,
a myriad of gleaming golden lights that reproduce and reflect endlessly into space.


inside aftermath of obliteration of eternity, 2009
wood, plastic, acrylic, LEDs, aluminum
415 x 415 x 287.4 cm
image © designboom


infinity nets(TXXAA), 2008
acrylic on canvas
145.4 x 145.4 cm
image © designboom

the infinity net paintings are isotropic fields painted with evenly painted elements, either in monochromes
or vibrant contrasting and psychedelic hues.


cosmic space, 2008
acrylic on canvas
194 x 194 cm
image © designboom

kusama's cosmic space paintings are her most recent figurative paintings, in which eyes,
amoebae and other biomorphic forms abound, reflecting a preoccupation with mortality,
as well as enlightenment, solitude, nothingness, and the mysteries of the physical
and metaphysical universe.


detail
image © designboom


cosmic space(TWBBAA), 2008
acrylic on canvas
130.3 x 130.3 cm
image © designboom

yayoi kusama was born in matsumoto city, japan in 1929.
her work is in the collections of leading museums, internationally, including the MoMA new york,
LACMA, los angeles, tate modern, london, centre pompidou, paris, stedelijk museum, amsterdam.
at the age of 89, kusama has recently completed several outdoor sculptural commissions,
her 'flowers that bloom at midnight', for public and private institutions including fukuoka municipal
museum of art in japan, eurolille in lille, france and most recently, the beverly hills city council in
los angeles. kusama currently lives and works in tokyo.