Yayoi Kusama: 1945 to Now

A major career survey of Yayoi Kusama, one of the most widely admired and popular artists of our time, published to accompany the major exhibition at M+ museum, Hong Kong. Yayoi Kusama is that rare thing: an artist who has achieved truly global acclaim. In a wide-ranging career spanning seven decades and multiple media, she has established profound connections with audiences around the world. Emerging at the forefront of artistic experimentation in Asia in the mid-20th century, Kusama soon became a central figure in the New York art scene of the 1960s. Now in her nineties, Kusama continues to communicate her highly personal and spiritual world view through her art. Yayoi Kusama: 1945 to Now is the most comprehensive survey of her work to date. Published to accompany a major Kusama retrospective at the new M+ museum in Hong Kong, the volume is structured around six thematic sections, ''Infinity'', ''Accumulation'', ''The Biocosmic'', ''Radical Connectivity'', ''Death'' and ''Joy of Life'', each of which is intended to elucidate the aesthetic and philosophical concerns at the heart of the artist''s oeuvre. This book features selections from Kusama''s hitherto unpublished writings, as well as correspondence with Georgia O''Keeffe, an interview with critic and curator Yoshie Yoshida, and a roundtable discussion from leading curators and Kusama experts. Also included are essays exploring different aspects of her practice, and a detailed illustrated chronology that places her life''s work in context. Appealing not only to those already familiar with Kusama and her work, but also to anyone discovering it for the first time, this monograph reveals an artist who, while shaped by international artistic currents, remains deeply connected to the traditions and culture of her native Japan.

Auteur

Doryun Chong is Deputy Director, Curatorial, and Chief Curator at M+, Hong Kong. Mika Yoshitake is an independent curator specializing in post-war Japanese art.