Jean Art Gallery, Seoul Dado Art Gallery, Seoul Christie's, New York, Post-War and Contemporary Art Day Sale, November 11, 2009, lot 199 Acquired from the above sale by the present owner
Catalogue Essay
”My infinity net paintings were about an obsession: infinite repletion. – Yayoi Kusama, 2000.
Yayoi Kusama collapses the boundaries between the interiors of her consciousness and the exteriors of the outside reality; she fills spaces, corners and crevices with her intensely worked paintings, as well as her isotropic illusions which inhale and exhale across the surfaces they inhabit. In Infinity Nets (Opreta), 2007, her iconic jet black and canary yellow patterns reach across the canvas, offering the viewer multiple vantages of the blanket of optical forms that abound the surface. Across the dark sea, a delicate and shimmering mirage of yellow folds and unfolds, allowing peaks of gleaming golden rays to shine through the onyx net that stretches across the void. The black and yellow pigments engage in a waltz as they brilliantly, yet silently glide together over and through the canvas. The thickly painted black loops collide to form indeterminate biomorphic forms, mirroring the mysteries of the physical and metaphysical universe in their steady, yet insistent pulse.
Infinity Nets (Opreta), 2007, is a transcendent space; the sequence sand repetitions of the lattice work embody the constant and manifold appeal of the imagination, as it mirrors the powerful physics of infinity itself. The network of thickly painted black loops sways in and out, to and fro, through and around the confines of the rectilinear space, infusing the two dimensional with three dimensional vigor. As one stands before the lush surface of the present lot, a sentient encounter occurs between the viewer and the painting; thesurface becomes alive and velvety as it crashes around the viewer in all its ebony and canary splendor.
Named "the world's most popular artist" in 2015, it's not hard to see why Yayoi Kusama continues to dazzle contemporary art audiences globally. From her signature polka dots—"fabulous," she calls them—to her mirror-and-light Infinity Rooms, Kusama's multi-dimensional practice of making art elevates the experience of immersion. To neatly pin an artistic movement onto Kusama would be for naught: She melds and transcends the aesthetics and theories of many late twentieth century movements, including Pop Art and Minimalism, without ever taking a singular path.
As an nonagenarian who still lives in Tokyo and steadfastly paints in her studio every day, Kusama honed her punchy cosmic style in New York City in the 1960s. During this period, she staged avant-garde happenings, which eventually thrust her onto the international stage with a series of groundbreaking exhibitions at the Museum of Modern Art in the 1980s and the 45th Venice Biennale in 1993. She continues to churn out paintings and installations at inspiring speed, exhibiting internationally in nearly every corner of the globe, and maintains a commanding presence on the primary market and at auction.
