Infinity Net: The Autobiography of Yayoi Kusama by Yayoi Kusama (5-Sep-2013) Paperback

by Yayoi Kusama

Genres: Nonfiction, Art, Autobiography

Paperback

About the author

Avant-garde Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama was an influential figure in the postwar New York art scene, staging provocative happenings and exhibiting works such as her “Infinity Nets”, hallucinatory paintings of loops and dots (and physical representations of the idea of infinity). Narcissus Garden, an installation of hundreds of mirrored balls, earned Kusama notoriety at the 1966 Venice Biennale, where she attempted to sell the individual spheres to passersby. Kusama counted Donald Judd and Eva Hesse among her close friends, and is often considered an influence on Andy Warhol and a precursor to Pop art. Since her return to Japan in the 1970s, Kusama's work has continued to appeal to the imagination and the senses, including dizzying walk-in installations, public sculptures, and the "Dots Obsessions" paintings.

Reviews

[Betty Tzavaras · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5☆

[Laurie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Compulsion Art.

I had no idea what I was picking up when I saw this in a used bookstore; I do not know anything about abstract art or performance art, but always intrigued - and her polka dots and pink hair certainly stood out.

What an incredible life, and what an artist. Mentally ill and compulsively pushing out art is one thing, but being the main force behind orgies, public body painting, and sexual Happenings around the globe in the 80s is quite another. Especially from a woman who has a large amount of work that expresses her disgust and fear of sexual organs.

Her autobiography in incredibly articulate, documenting her story while never hiding her relentless obsessiveness or her hallucinations or her observations - an absolutely fearless book, self-aggrandizing but never a hagiography; just who she is, how she sees the universe, and her constant hard work and commitment.

She is still alive, in her 90s, probably in a psychiatric hospital in rural Japan. I am going to find and download the 2018 documentary about her, and hit the Youtube rabbithole hard to study this fascinating and unique human being.

Recommended if you aren't afraid of strangeness and obsession and minimalism and heartfelt articulation of the pursuit of art.

[Amelia · Rating 5 out of 5]

"With or without such direct revelations from the natural world,....I seem drawn toward a most strange and curious realm. I wanted to liberate myself from this 'unknown something,' to pluck my spirit from the Stygian pools of emotion and fling it beyond eternity. And now, at last, I had set that spirit free in the very chaos of the vacuum."

"I followed the thread of art and somehow discovered a path that would allow me to live. If I had not found that path, I am sure I would have committed suicide early on, unable to bear the situation in which I found myself."

[Find Kim on Fable and Storygraph Holmes · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a translated work, written by the artist herself over 20 years ago. Ive been a fan of Kusama’s art for a long time. I’ve been fascinated by her as an artist and as a person who self-institutionalized for the later part of her life due to various mental health challenges. I have been wanting to read this biography to understand her path to her treatment and her art. This was a VERY fascinating book, but most of it was spent focused on her career in the 60s and I just feel like there was so much more I wanted to learn about.

[La · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you are a Kusama fan you should read this book. It was a gift after seeing her exhibition and I found it very interesting. Many times i had to go to the internet to look up the pieces she was talking about, to read about the various artists that she mentioned, and to expand my knowledge of this very advant-garde artist. I do find it strange that she never mentions her son and doesn't seem to have any close friends who aren't artists. An interesting read.

[Carol Stanley-Snow · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fantastic telling of the life of a great artist.