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Infinity Net: The Autobiography of Yayoi Kusama
Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama presents Infinity Net , a remarkable memoir that reveals her to be a fascinating figure, channeling her obsessive neurosis into an art that transcends cultural barriers.
Kusama describes arriving in New York in 1957 as a poverty-stricken artist and later becoming the doyenne of an alternative art scene. She tells of her relationships with Georgia O’Keeffe, Donald Judd, Andy Warhol, and the reclusive Joseph Cornell. She candidly discusses the obsessive visions that have haunted her throughout her life; returning to Japan in the early 1970s, Kusama admitted herself to the psychiatric hospital in Tokyo where she lives today, and from which she has produced the seemingly endless stream of artworks and writings that have won her acclaim across the globe.
Includes black-and-white illustrations
Kusama describes arriving in New York in 1957 as a poverty-stricken artist and later becoming the doyenne of an alternative art scene. She tells of her relationships with Georgia O’Keeffe, Donald Judd, Andy Warhol, and the reclusive Joseph Cornell. She candidly discusses the obsessive visions that have haunted her throughout her life; returning to Japan in the early 1970s, Kusama admitted herself to the psychiatric hospital in Tokyo where she lives today, and from which she has produced the seemingly endless stream of artworks and writings that have won her acclaim across the globe.
Includes black-and-white illustrations
240 pages, Paperback
First published March 31, 2003
196 people are currently reading
2934 people want to read
About the author
Yayoi Kusama
67 books110 followersAvant-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.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 164 reviews
March 9, 2016
If you're a fan of Yayoi Kusama, contemporary art, or just strong women in general, this is a great book. It has been translated from its original Japanese version, so at times the writing is a bit rigid, but it's straightforward which is enjoyable in its own way, almost like a casual conversation. I've seen a few people on here complain about he self promotion and bragging in the book, which certainly exists, she has moments where she rattles off one award she's won or praise she's received after another, but I think it's well deserved, and it personally was news to me how acclaimed she is. Kusama has always been overshadowed in the art world by male contemporary artists, who she has claimed in previous essays she's written have even ripped her off. At the opening of the Claes oldenburg show where he premiered his soft sculpture calendar he allegedly saw her at the opening and said "sorry yayoi" because he blatantly appropriated her soft sculpture method, and in turn became more famous than her for it. For all she has achieved she should be a household name to the public, up there with Warhol and pollock, yet she's still not. So for me, I enjoyed hearing about all her accomplishments, even if it was a tad heavy on the bragging, because I actually wasn't even aware she had such a prolific history. I didn't learn about her in art school in any of my art history classes until I took an Asian art history class, despite the fact that she's clearly an international art star, for whatever reason the writing of history seems to be undermining her contributions.
She talks quite a bit in the book about her up and down relationship with Japan over the years, which I really loved, especially her descriptions of its natural beauty. The book focuses mostly on growing up there, her move to NY and the art she made in the 60's, then for the last few decades she jumps around a bit and it's quite sparse and unbalanced at times. In the end I liked it for that reason though because she wrote it in a very natural and instinctual way, only focusing on what she thought was the most important. It all felt very personal, conscious, and unrehearsed. A really special read!
She talks quite a bit in the book about her up and down relationship with Japan over the years, which I really loved, especially her descriptions of its natural beauty. The book focuses mostly on growing up there, her move to NY and the art she made in the 60's, then for the last few decades she jumps around a bit and it's quite sparse and unbalanced at times. In the end I liked it for that reason though because she wrote it in a very natural and instinctual way, only focusing on what she thought was the most important. It all felt very personal, conscious, and unrehearsed. A really special read!
March 28, 2023
It's good, but I expected a more personal touch regarding mrs. Kusama's art and experiences, given that it's an autobiography. There are personal stories, but about 50% of the book reads like her Wikipedia page, just recounting exhibitions and copy-pasted reviews received. I wanted more of her artistic process and how she makes art.
August 18, 2019
A concise and engrossing narrative of the life of one of today’s greatest living artists who transformed a psychosomatic illness into art.
I was drawn to the work of Yayoi Kusama when I visited one of her Infinity Rooms at the Art Gallery of Ontario recently. I picked up her autobiography the same day at the art gallery’s gift shop. Repetition and Multiplication is her approach, whether it be the mirror balls in the Infinity Room or the multitude of polka dots of her first exhibition in New York in 1959, or the profusion of penises that followed and send her down the road into the sexual revolution of the 60’s and ‘70’s.
Kusama served her time as a starving artist in New York in her early years, living in a garret and eating potatoes, and all the while creating, creating, creating. From a young age she could see auras of individuals and heard the voices of animals and plants; she saw hallucinations of lights. Painting was born out of a fever of desperation to find a cure for her mental state. She had a morbid distaste for sex, given that her father was a prolific womanizer, and her mother forced her to follow him and find out what he was up to. “Create and Obliterate” became her mantra: create the very thing that revolted her, and create lots of it (hence the legion of penises), and thereby cut through the revulsion.
Even though the book starts with her arrival and rough beginning in New York, Kusama reveals to us gradually that she was already an upcoming artist in Japan during her early twenties, and through a persistent correspondence with American artists and other financial benefactors, such as Georgia O’Keefe, she wound her way to New York in 1957, the place she had always wanted to be. Her first exhibition in the Big Apple two years later placed her on the road to success, from which she never deviated. Soon, she was exhibiting all over America and Europe, and later evolved into the Happening, a performance art piece performed in the open, where the actors would end up stripping naked and having sex while a fully clothed Kusama would paint polka dots on their bodies. This led to brushes with the law, for Kusama’s performance art skirted the borders of legal propriety even in the permissive west. Given the Vietnam war occurring at the time, flag and bible burnings were introduced into the act, and I wondered how she managed to keep her US visa from being cancelled. Unfazed, she ventured into other forms of art: publishing, theatre, fashion, clothing, and organized them along business lines. She is also liberal in sprinkling the narrative with the many kudos she received from prominent arts figures, that sometimes turns this book into a glory parade.
Her ambivalence towards sex is interesting. She claims that inasmuch as she arranged orgies for both heterosexuals and homosexuals, she never participated in the act, her childhood fear and loathing of sex being so strong. Yet she had a lover in Joseph Cornell, the artist, who himself was a sexual cripple. Sex for them was getting naked and sketching each other; in their ten-year relationship they never had sex. Salvador Dali was another close friend.
The last half of the book covers her return to Japan in 1973. Now famous and artistically developed, she sees how much Japan’s spirituality has been lost in its quest to become an economic superpower. Money was chasing culture, there was no investment in developing art, and Japanese artists disparaged each other, whereas elsewhere artists helped each other. Her Happenings got busted by the police in Japan. She dismisses her home country as a corrupt fourth-rate state where the patriarchy is firmly entrenched. And yet, when her mental illness began to overcome her, she permanently hospitalized herself in Japan in 1975, and has never left the hospital to this day. She built a studio in the hospital to continue her work and launched another phase of her career with single minded focus; she became a novelist, short story writer and poet (in Japanese) in addition to being an artist, and has won many Japanese awards.
Today, she is a recluse from the art world, furiously creating at the age of 90, with the clock racing against her. Her new subject: death.
I was drawn to the work of Yayoi Kusama when I visited one of her Infinity Rooms at the Art Gallery of Ontario recently. I picked up her autobiography the same day at the art gallery’s gift shop. Repetition and Multiplication is her approach, whether it be the mirror balls in the Infinity Room or the multitude of polka dots of her first exhibition in New York in 1959, or the profusion of penises that followed and send her down the road into the sexual revolution of the 60’s and ‘70’s.
Kusama served her time as a starving artist in New York in her early years, living in a garret and eating potatoes, and all the while creating, creating, creating. From a young age she could see auras of individuals and heard the voices of animals and plants; she saw hallucinations of lights. Painting was born out of a fever of desperation to find a cure for her mental state. She had a morbid distaste for sex, given that her father was a prolific womanizer, and her mother forced her to follow him and find out what he was up to. “Create and Obliterate” became her mantra: create the very thing that revolted her, and create lots of it (hence the legion of penises), and thereby cut through the revulsion.
Even though the book starts with her arrival and rough beginning in New York, Kusama reveals to us gradually that she was already an upcoming artist in Japan during her early twenties, and through a persistent correspondence with American artists and other financial benefactors, such as Georgia O’Keefe, she wound her way to New York in 1957, the place she had always wanted to be. Her first exhibition in the Big Apple two years later placed her on the road to success, from which she never deviated. Soon, she was exhibiting all over America and Europe, and later evolved into the Happening, a performance art piece performed in the open, where the actors would end up stripping naked and having sex while a fully clothed Kusama would paint polka dots on their bodies. This led to brushes with the law, for Kusama’s performance art skirted the borders of legal propriety even in the permissive west. Given the Vietnam war occurring at the time, flag and bible burnings were introduced into the act, and I wondered how she managed to keep her US visa from being cancelled. Unfazed, she ventured into other forms of art: publishing, theatre, fashion, clothing, and organized them along business lines. She is also liberal in sprinkling the narrative with the many kudos she received from prominent arts figures, that sometimes turns this book into a glory parade.
Her ambivalence towards sex is interesting. She claims that inasmuch as she arranged orgies for both heterosexuals and homosexuals, she never participated in the act, her childhood fear and loathing of sex being so strong. Yet she had a lover in Joseph Cornell, the artist, who himself was a sexual cripple. Sex for them was getting naked and sketching each other; in their ten-year relationship they never had sex. Salvador Dali was another close friend.
The last half of the book covers her return to Japan in 1973. Now famous and artistically developed, she sees how much Japan’s spirituality has been lost in its quest to become an economic superpower. Money was chasing culture, there was no investment in developing art, and Japanese artists disparaged each other, whereas elsewhere artists helped each other. Her Happenings got busted by the police in Japan. She dismisses her home country as a corrupt fourth-rate state where the patriarchy is firmly entrenched. And yet, when her mental illness began to overcome her, she permanently hospitalized herself in Japan in 1975, and has never left the hospital to this day. She built a studio in the hospital to continue her work and launched another phase of her career with single minded focus; she became a novelist, short story writer and poet (in Japanese) in addition to being an artist, and has won many Japanese awards.
Today, she is a recluse from the art world, furiously creating at the age of 90, with the clock racing against her. Her new subject: death.
June 11, 2021
My first foray into the bizarre, surreal and utterly magical world of Yayoi Kusama was back in 2012 at the Tate Modern. Since then, my admiration and adoration has only increased tenfold.
“Infinity Net” is an all to brief, but still incredibly eye-opening and engaging account that documents the fascinating life of Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama.
Throughout her career Kusama has continuously innovated and re-invented her artistic “style”. Most well known for her repeating dot patterns, her art encompasses a plethora of techniques and media which has made her one of the most prominent contemporary artist of our time. From her avant-garde performance pieces in the early 60’s, such as “Happenings” and those controversial public orgies -in protest of the Vietnam War, to her paintings, sculptures and installations, born out of a not-so quiet desperation, to help temper her ongoing battles with obsessive and hallucinogenic neurosis.
Conversational in tone, this memoir reveals her rather repressed and conservative early life in rural Japan, and the sheer desperation and longing to pursue an artistic career in the promising land of America.
Kusama candidly (and perhaps not so candidly) describes how she slowly but surely, managed to fight her way into the early alternative NY art scene.
Slight caveat -I must admit like others who’ve read this book before me, I was slightly unsettled by her rather “full on” self promotion. Though the more I think about it, the more I think - HECK, YOU GO GIRL!
This was a woman who’s identity was deemed an “outsider” from the get go. Not only was she a female artist in a HEAVILY male dominated society (and one I’d like to add, that has no qualms with promoting themselves!), but she was also a Japanese woman, creating such new and exciting pieces, in a still very Western art world. And, to top it off, was also the unfortunate victim of her own pervasively neurotic dispositions.
Basically, let the woman be and have her moment to not only shine, but be proud of herself and her many achievements!
Of course over time, such ongoing battles with her mental health did eventual take their toll. And in the early 70’s kusama decided to return to Japan, admitting herself into a psychiatric hospital, where she still lives -and thankfully, continues to create and write today!
“I fight pain, anxiety, and fear everyday, and the only method I have found that relieves my illness is to keep creating art. I followed the thread of art and somehow discovered a path that would allow me to live."
3.5 stars
“Infinity Net” is an all to brief, but still incredibly eye-opening and engaging account that documents the fascinating life of Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama.
Throughout her career Kusama has continuously innovated and re-invented her artistic “style”. Most well known for her repeating dot patterns, her art encompasses a plethora of techniques and media which has made her one of the most prominent contemporary artist of our time. From her avant-garde performance pieces in the early 60’s, such as “Happenings” and those controversial public orgies -in protest of the Vietnam War, to her paintings, sculptures and installations, born out of a not-so quiet desperation, to help temper her ongoing battles with obsessive and hallucinogenic neurosis.
Conversational in tone, this memoir reveals her rather repressed and conservative early life in rural Japan, and the sheer desperation and longing to pursue an artistic career in the promising land of America.
Kusama candidly (and perhaps not so candidly) describes how she slowly but surely, managed to fight her way into the early alternative NY art scene.
Slight caveat -I must admit like others who’ve read this book before me, I was slightly unsettled by her rather “full on” self promotion. Though the more I think about it, the more I think - HECK, YOU GO GIRL!
This was a woman who’s identity was deemed an “outsider” from the get go. Not only was she a female artist in a HEAVILY male dominated society (and one I’d like to add, that has no qualms with promoting themselves!), but she was also a Japanese woman, creating such new and exciting pieces, in a still very Western art world. And, to top it off, was also the unfortunate victim of her own pervasively neurotic dispositions.
Basically, let the woman be and have her moment to not only shine, but be proud of herself and her many achievements!
Of course over time, such ongoing battles with her mental health did eventual take their toll. And in the early 70’s kusama decided to return to Japan, admitting herself into a psychiatric hospital, where she still lives -and thankfully, continues to create and write today!
“I fight pain, anxiety, and fear everyday, and the only method I have found that relieves my illness is to keep creating art. I followed the thread of art and somehow discovered a path that would allow me to live."
3.5 stars
January 20, 2015
An easy to read autobiography that spans across Yayoi's life. With some elegant prose and lovely imagery, she details her life as a young Japanese artist making her way in New York.
I did struggle with her ego in this book, not one for great moments of humility or reflection on how she (appeared) to treat people. As an artist myself, I wanted to know more about how she used her art as a way to manage her mental instability, and this book almost skimmed across that.
There are some nice moments in this story, some insights into the raw mentality she has in approaching work. We know she is a big name, so I personally found her name dropping, endless review excerpts and gallery listing pointless and excessive to what she was trying to say.
I did struggle with her ego in this book, not one for great moments of humility or reflection on how she (appeared) to treat people. As an artist myself, I wanted to know more about how she used her art as a way to manage her mental instability, and this book almost skimmed across that.
There are some nice moments in this story, some insights into the raw mentality she has in approaching work. We know she is a big name, so I personally found her name dropping, endless review excerpts and gallery listing pointless and excessive to what she was trying to say.
May 5, 2018
I have been fascinated with Yayoi Kusama and her art since visiting two of her mirrored rooms at the Mattress Factory a few years ago. Such a remarkable woman and artist, and this is a wonderful autobiography. Yayoi writes beautifully, openly, unflinchingly about her life, her art, her mental illness, her dreams and aspirations. Anyone interested in Yayoi Kusama will enjoy this book, and gain a broader understanding into both her life and her incredible, amazing, inspiring art.
January 11, 2024
Hoo boy! This was a case of "I love me, who do you love?!"
This wasn't so much an autobiography as an artist listing all their accolades and seemingly reprinting every positive review ever written about them!!!! We even get bold claims that famous art movements in New York were started and influenced by her! Narcissistic much?!
On a serious note, I was keen to read this as Kusama's art seems to be influenced by her mental health issues. These are only briefly touched upon, as is her difficult relationship with her parents and her "escape" from Japan as a youth. Kusama seems keen to keep people at arms length and this autobio (if it can even be called that as it is more just a showcase of her work) does just that. There is literally a scratched surface before Kusama returns to talking about her art.
As for the art, hmmm, Kusama lists "movements" and "happenings" that she deems profound and provoking. Erm she painted people in polka dots and let them cavort about naked! Granted this was in 50's/60's/70's America where it seems they were afraid of a naked body or two at the time, but to say that a naked body painted in polka dots is a profound statement is a bit of a stretch! I think Kusama was lucky to plug into a niche and really mine it for all it was worth. Her work is kooky maybe but not the radical or life-changing masterpieces that she thinks they are.
And here's a thought, when talking about the nuance of shade and colour in her work, try adding some colour photographs instead of black and white! Kinda helps!
A rather disappointing vacuous autobiography from an artist with a very inflated sense of ego.
This wasn't so much an autobiography as an artist listing all their accolades and seemingly reprinting every positive review ever written about them!!!! We even get bold claims that famous art movements in New York were started and influenced by her! Narcissistic much?!
On a serious note, I was keen to read this as Kusama's art seems to be influenced by her mental health issues. These are only briefly touched upon, as is her difficult relationship with her parents and her "escape" from Japan as a youth. Kusama seems keen to keep people at arms length and this autobio (if it can even be called that as it is more just a showcase of her work) does just that. There is literally a scratched surface before Kusama returns to talking about her art.
As for the art, hmmm, Kusama lists "movements" and "happenings" that she deems profound and provoking. Erm she painted people in polka dots and let them cavort about naked! Granted this was in 50's/60's/70's America where it seems they were afraid of a naked body or two at the time, but to say that a naked body painted in polka dots is a profound statement is a bit of a stretch! I think Kusama was lucky to plug into a niche and really mine it for all it was worth. Her work is kooky maybe but not the radical or life-changing masterpieces that she thinks they are.
And here's a thought, when talking about the nuance of shade and colour in her work, try adding some colour photographs instead of black and white! Kinda helps!
A rather disappointing vacuous autobiography from an artist with a very inflated sense of ego.
March 21, 2015
This is one of the strangest books I've ever read and I ended up with a real love/hate relationship with it. I really liked the part about her art and especially about her relationships with other artists. And it was fascinating from a mental health perspective. But there was an awful lot of self promotion – since she is such an esteemed artist, I wonder why she felt that necessary.
August 28, 2019
Yayoi Kusama is an amazing artist and storyteller. This book is her memoir of her life in art. Growing up in Japan, she wanted to be an artist, but was discouraged by her mother. She left Japan for the United States in her twenties and she became apart of the New York art scene during the 1950s and 1960s. She became known for both her abstract art as well as her performance art. In the 1970's she returned to Japan and eventually entered a psychiatric hospital where she has spent the rest of her days. She has a studio across the street where she creates her art. Since returning to Japan, she has also been writing and publishing novels. She turned 90 in March 22, 2019. In the last 10 years her 10 top selling works of art ranged from 2 million dollars to 7 million. All but two of these were created in the fifties and sixties. She is one of the few artists who has lived long enough to see the value of her art rise in price.
November 22, 2023
Relectura inmediata para disfrutarlo aún más y llenarlo de post it y marcas.
Esta autobiografía está llena de frases inspiradoras y ayuda a entender el arte de esta creadora genial, cuyas obras me tienen fascinada por completo.
Esta autobiografía está llena de frases inspiradoras y ayuda a entender el arte de esta creadora genial, cuyas obras me tienen fascinada por completo.
July 21, 2017
Beautiful spirit. A life devoted to her art and self-expression and seeing just how far she could go.
July 1, 2023
ta loca
February 14, 2024
Siendo justos, es más bien un 3.5 que un 3.
"La Red Infinita" da cuenta (de forma no lineal) de la vida de Yayoi Kusama.
Durante su carrera, siempre decidió innovar con base en sus creencias, sus sentimientos y para acallar sus enfermedades mentales. Es por eso que nunca ha dejado de crear, incluso hasta el día de hoy, cada vez más cerca de los 100 años de edad.
El libro está narrado casi de forma conversacional. A momentos, pareciera ser un bombo infinito de autopromoción, lo cual llega a hastiar de repente (sobre todo cuando cita a ciertos críticos del mundo del arte y cómo visualizan su trabajo). A momentos, cuando uno se da cuenta de todo lo que se le fue arrebatado por ser una mujer japonesa viviendo en Nueva York, uno dice YOU GO GURL! y deja de importarle la autopromoción.
Lo más importante del libro es el sentimiento que da Kusama a su obra, donde habla de la obliteración y la auto-obliteración, donde ella deja de existir en el mundo y se incorpora completamente. Deja de ser un yo para pertenecer a un colectivo y, sin embargo, siempre ha querido ser más.
Es una persona que uno puede decir que sufrió y pasó hambre por su arte. Habla de cómo se calla a las nuevas generaciones, que prefieren hacer un arte que da dinero y mina su creatividad. Y es una lástima que, en el mismo libro, se narra cómo ella fue visionaria y reconocida en muchos lugares antes de ser tomada en cuenta en Japón.
Si bien uno puede o no estar de acuerdo con su obra y puede o no ver algo especial en ella, no es para menos decir que Kusama es un nombre poco conocido de la escena vanguardista (siendo amiga-rival de Warhol) pero con gran importancia para su tiempo. Una profeta en tierra de nadie.
"La Red Infinita" da cuenta (de forma no lineal) de la vida de Yayoi Kusama.
Durante su carrera, siempre decidió innovar con base en sus creencias, sus sentimientos y para acallar sus enfermedades mentales. Es por eso que nunca ha dejado de crear, incluso hasta el día de hoy, cada vez más cerca de los 100 años de edad.
El libro está narrado casi de forma conversacional. A momentos, pareciera ser un bombo infinito de autopromoción, lo cual llega a hastiar de repente (sobre todo cuando cita a ciertos críticos del mundo del arte y cómo visualizan su trabajo). A momentos, cuando uno se da cuenta de todo lo que se le fue arrebatado por ser una mujer japonesa viviendo en Nueva York, uno dice YOU GO GURL! y deja de importarle la autopromoción.
Lo más importante del libro es el sentimiento que da Kusama a su obra, donde habla de la obliteración y la auto-obliteración, donde ella deja de existir en el mundo y se incorpora completamente. Deja de ser un yo para pertenecer a un colectivo y, sin embargo, siempre ha querido ser más.
Es una persona que uno puede decir que sufrió y pasó hambre por su arte. Habla de cómo se calla a las nuevas generaciones, que prefieren hacer un arte que da dinero y mina su creatividad. Y es una lástima que, en el mismo libro, se narra cómo ella fue visionaria y reconocida en muchos lugares antes de ser tomada en cuenta en Japón.
Si bien uno puede o no estar de acuerdo con su obra y puede o no ver algo especial en ella, no es para menos decir que Kusama es un nombre poco conocido de la escena vanguardista (siendo amiga-rival de Warhol) pero con gran importancia para su tiempo. Una profeta en tierra de nadie.
Read
September 26, 2019If you're a Kusama fan I totally recommend hearing her own point of view. I've read a solid amount of stuff around her work and life in the art world, and this cleared up a lot of tales. Also beautifully written, ofcourse.
March 24, 2015
I was introduced to Yayoi Kusama back in university, where my "obsessive" works were subtly likened to Kusama's process with repetition. The first time I truly paid attention to her was two or three years ago. Occasionally having read up on her, I bumped into one of her small pumpkins at an art fair. It was green with black polka dots like growth, disease, dreams, and a glossy overlay that shrouded the object in material status (art fair, high art, luxury) and wonderful absurdity (the hope and bleakness of repetition/obsession, of art itself). I started to find out more about her works and her story -- she became one of the artists I'd look at when I need to recalibrate my negotiations between art and life, life and death.
This autobiography, then, could be nothing short of fantastic for me. Having access to Kusama's narration of her own history is something I'll forever be grateful to this book for. There's so much in this that's relatable, inspiring, so much that's relevant to what I obsess with on a daily basis. Her tensed relationship with (and criticisms of) her home country, for one, hit some familiar nerves.
The poems and photos included in the book filled up the voids left by the prose. I did wish some of the pages didn't read too much like a list of her struggles or victories. At some points the narrative was choppy and the language dry -- I imagine it might be difficult to get through some of these pages without sufficient curiosity for Kusama's life and works. This doesn't discount the importance of this book, though. It serves as a documentation of an artistic life and the creative process. How sometimes there isn't much that distinguishes the process of making work with the process of navigating personal terrains -- how sometimes the one consumes the other, and an obliteration occurs. Through process, the Self is both destroyed and rejuvenated. A must-read in understanding Kusama's history and body of work.
This autobiography, then, could be nothing short of fantastic for me. Having access to Kusama's narration of her own history is something I'll forever be grateful to this book for. There's so much in this that's relatable, inspiring, so much that's relevant to what I obsess with on a daily basis. Her tensed relationship with (and criticisms of) her home country, for one, hit some familiar nerves.
The poems and photos included in the book filled up the voids left by the prose. I did wish some of the pages didn't read too much like a list of her struggles or victories. At some points the narrative was choppy and the language dry -- I imagine it might be difficult to get through some of these pages without sufficient curiosity for Kusama's life and works. This doesn't discount the importance of this book, though. It serves as a documentation of an artistic life and the creative process. How sometimes there isn't much that distinguishes the process of making work with the process of navigating personal terrains -- how sometimes the one consumes the other, and an obliteration occurs. Through process, the Self is both destroyed and rejuvenated. A must-read in understanding Kusama's history and body of work.
September 27, 2017
Question: what is the normal amount of times to cry while reading an autobiography, because I think I may have exceeded that amount??
This was incredible. Incredible person, incredible artist, incredible message. It reads less like an account of someone's life and more like having a cool conversation with an older relative about their wild life in their 20s, now that you're old enough to understand all the scandalizing stuff they did. My only regret is that I read it after seeing her 2017 US retrospective tour and not beforehand.
It also felt remarkably personal and freeing for someone so casually mention "I had to cancel this event because of panic attacks but my friend got lunch with me anyway" and to read such an in-depth description of what it was like having sex repulsion (whether Kusama identifies as ace idk) in the middle of the free love movement. Kusama's accounts of her hallucination experiences, her depression, and suicidal thoughts were also hard to get through at times, but that says a lot for how honest she was about her own mental health. It was…freeing, in a way, to hear someone talk about very hard times in their youth and early adulthood and read their words now about how time, life, art are all precious, and they want to live as much as they are able.
The whole thing was great!!!!! When will the award-winning biopic be made!!!!!!!
This was incredible. Incredible person, incredible artist, incredible message. It reads less like an account of someone's life and more like having a cool conversation with an older relative about their wild life in their 20s, now that you're old enough to understand all the scandalizing stuff they did. My only regret is that I read it after seeing her 2017 US retrospective tour and not beforehand.
It also felt remarkably personal and freeing for someone so casually mention "I had to cancel this event because of panic attacks but my friend got lunch with me anyway" and to read such an in-depth description of what it was like having sex repulsion (whether Kusama identifies as ace idk) in the middle of the free love movement. Kusama's accounts of her hallucination experiences, her depression, and suicidal thoughts were also hard to get through at times, but that says a lot for how honest she was about her own mental health. It was…freeing, in a way, to hear someone talk about very hard times in their youth and early adulthood and read their words now about how time, life, art are all precious, and they want to live as much as they are able.
The whole thing was great!!!!! When will the award-winning biopic be made!!!!!!!
April 9, 2013
A little weird, but I really liked it. It was a bit hard to understand what she meant because it was translated from japanese, but it was overall enjoyable and def worth reading. The link between her mental illness and her work is told from her perspective versus outsiders, as she vividly describes hallucinations that are eventually depicted in her crazy psychedelic designs (which I thought was valuable if you are trying to understand where her inspiration comes from). Also cool to see 70's New York from an insiders point of view, as she was a part of the network of artists and musicians that created modern art and classic rock.
October 25, 2017
There aren't many artists (or people) like Yayoi Kusama. Her autobiography is fascinating and an important counterpoint to her current depiction in mainstream media. The recent traveling exhibition of her work, Infinity Mirrors, glosses over her deeply radical sexual and antiwar politics in the 1960s and 1970s, and downplays the anguish and fear that propelled some of her most challenging work. Her autobiography reveals a fiercely uncompromising artist with a truly original vision.
May 4, 2014
I know Yayoi Kusama thanks to my son. I fall in love with her art from the first moment.
Now I read her autobiography and I fall in love with her life and her thoughts.
Kusama is a strong woman who fought hard against her family and the rules which tying all women in that years.
Kusama is not a mental patient, she dreams a better world this is only her illness.
Now I read her autobiography and I fall in love with her life and her thoughts.
Kusama is a strong woman who fought hard against her family and the rules which tying all women in that years.
Kusama is not a mental patient, she dreams a better world this is only her illness.
May 1, 2023
- "I fight pain, anxiety, and fear everyday and the only method I have found that relieves my illness is to keep creating art".
Es un memoir muy interesante donde la famosa artista avant-garde habla sobre el desarrollo de su arte, el cuál ha sido un medio para que ella descargue sus emociones que son intentificadas por un desorden obsesivo compulsivo, ataques de pánico y alucinaciones que sufre de forma constante.
Aunque me hubiera gustado que profundizara un poco más en detalles de su vida, en este libro, Yayoi abre su mente y permite entender como convierte sus obsesiones y miedos en formas; y también hace uso de su creatividad para crear reflexión política y social.
Una mujer claramente enfocada, que siempre tuvo una meta fija y hasta el día de hoy sigue buscando expresarse no sólo como artísta plástica con la pintura y la escultura, sino que también ha incursionado en otros medios como la literatura escribiendo novelas y poemas.
Es un memoir muy interesante donde la famosa artista avant-garde habla sobre el desarrollo de su arte, el cuál ha sido un medio para que ella descargue sus emociones que son intentificadas por un desorden obsesivo compulsivo, ataques de pánico y alucinaciones que sufre de forma constante.
Aunque me hubiera gustado que profundizara un poco más en detalles de su vida, en este libro, Yayoi abre su mente y permite entender como convierte sus obsesiones y miedos en formas; y también hace uso de su creatividad para crear reflexión política y social.
Una mujer claramente enfocada, que siempre tuvo una meta fija y hasta el día de hoy sigue buscando expresarse no sólo como artísta plástica con la pintura y la escultura, sino que también ha incursionado en otros medios como la literatura escribiendo novelas y poemas.
October 30, 2024
Es interesante descubrir la obra de Yayoi más allá de los puntos y las calabazas. Me han sorprendido mucho sus happenings y performances de finales de los 60s. Ha roto completamente la visión que tenía de ella.
November 2, 2021
Sort que el seu art és millor que aquest llibre, que sinó...
October 30, 2022
Una gran autobiografía, repasando desde sus inicios hasta la actualidad. Perfecto para adentrarse en su mundo.
December 7, 2023
lugesin muuseumis istudes paari tunniga läbi. kerge lugemine ja lahe naine! (also, ainus tuntud inimene kellel minuga minu teada samal päeval sünnipäev on:-)
December 22, 2024
Yayoi Kusama's life is incredible. Shes got an incredible way of seeing the world and explaining it though her traumatic experiences. omg omgomgomgomg
February 20, 2025
Such a strong and important position in contemporary art. At parts really relatable and throughout inspiring. Love her uncompromising and confident approach.
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January 9, 2023YAYOI SLAYED. Now miss girl has an Ai generated robot in the Louis Vuitton store in New York??? she’s really doing it all. A good writer and an amazing artist?? Like pls let other ppl have some talent😩
I support Yayoi Kusama world domination cause this woman is EVERYWHERE & as she should.
I support Yayoi Kusama world domination cause this woman is EVERYWHERE & as she should.
February 18, 2023
I like the little poems
August 2, 2024
3-3.5. It was good & I learned a lot about her but maybe I also learned nothing?? No no I did learn stuff! Idk!
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May 5, 2020Like Andy Warhol, I like the persona of Yayoi Kusama much, much more than her art, most of which I find (decades after the fact) to leave me cold (like Warhol, she had good theory and dull application). But she proves far more interesting as a memoirist, and there are some fantastically memorable moments, especially those involving her relationship with misunderstood genius and Norman Bates of the art world Joseph Cornell. Her descriptions of her inner states, too, somehow resonated, even as alien as her experience was. Even though at times it seemed hacked together, the charm was irrepressible. I don't know why I liked listening to her so much.
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