SINGAPORE, June 6 — World famous Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama wants her works to give people hope for their lives.
The 88-year-old artist who is known for her trademark polka dots and mirrors along with huge, amorphous inflatable objects, said: “Today, the world is threatened by terrorism and war. So many people suffer from widening disparity between the rich and the poor. I stake my life on my art to deepen people’s hope for their lives and for world peace and distribution of love.”
She is even more motivated to spread this message of hope by the younger generations. “I am moved that the younger generations are sincere to themselves, trying to create a world of warmth for peace and for those who suffer.”
For the first time in Singapore, visitors to the National Gallery Singapore will get to experience this message of hope.
Titled “Yayoi Kusama: Life Is the Heart of a Rainbow,” the exhibition running from June 9 to September 13, features over 120 works, including new, never-before-seen pieces.
The exhibition explores Kusama’s long career spanning seven decades through the development of her iconic themes, showcasing works from a range of diverse media from paintings, sculptures, collages and video to large-scale installations.
Visitors will get to view Kusama’s signature pieces as well, such as her infinity net paintings and infinity mirror rooms, along with more recent works on canvas, such as the epic series Love Forever (2004-2007) and My Eternal Soul (2009-ongoing), and never seen before newly commissioned works.
In addition, Kusama’s mirrored peep room, I Want to Love on Festival Night has been specially created for the Gallery.
Curated by Russell Storer, National Gallery Singapore’s deputy director (curatorial and collections development), and curator Adele Tan, this collaboration between National Gallery Singapore and Queensland Art Gallery and Gallery of Modern Art will also travel to the museum in Brisbane after its showing here.
Earlier this year, her works were also on show in Washington DC at The Smithsonian’s Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, where it attracted record breaking numbers — 160,000 people visited “Yayoi Kusama: Infinity Mirrors”, the first exhibition to feature six of Yayoi Kusama’s dazzling Infinity Mirror Rooms, in its world debut that began on February 23 and closed on May 14.
When asked why she decided to showcase her works at museums around the world such as Hirshhorn museum and National Gallery Singapore, Kusama said: “As an artist I have been dedicated to art all my life, struggling day and night to create it for the future, human love and world peace. It is a great pleasure to hear that my art and spirit has been felt and shared throughout the world and I would never forget this experience.”
The avant-garde Japanese artist was an influential figure in the post-war New York art scene in the 1950s and 60s, staging provocative happenings and exhibiting works such as her Infinity Nets, hallucinatory paintings of loops and dots.
She returned to Japan in the 1970s and checked into a psychiatric hospital after suffering a mental breakdown where she continues to live by choice.
Kusama, who creates works reflecting the hallucinations and psychological trauma she endured since young, said, “Since childhood I had a strong will of becoming an artist and worked very hard to create paintings and sculptures. I was motivated by the hope to deliver the message of my life through exhibiting my art.” — TODAY
*“Yayoi Kusama: Life Is the Heart of a Rainbow” runs from June 9 to September 13 at the National Gallery Singapore.
