YAYOI KUSAMA
NEW YORK | MUCCIACCIA GALLERY
9 November 2019 – 15 February 2020
Yayoi Kusama, Mushrooms, 2005, acrylic on canvas, 24.5 x 33.5 cm | 9 5/8 x 13 1/4 in
PRESS RELEASE:
YAYOI KUSAMA
Mucciaccia Gallery opens its first New York based gallery in the heart of Chelsea, on 24th Street. With galleries already in Rome, Singapore, London and Cortina d’Ampezzo, New York is the fifth addition. To inaugurate the new branch, Mucciaccia Gallery is proud to present the exhibition devoted to the illustrious Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama.
A highly curated selection of paintings, sculptures and works on paper are brought together with the aim at offering a journey into Kusama’s artistic achievements. 28 works in total, dating from 1951 to 2008 are on display from November 9, 2019 to February 15, 2020.
The exhibition features her iconic sculpture pieces from her series Hi, Konnichiwa (Hello)! which were first presented in the solo exhibition KUSAMATRIX, held in 2004 at the Mori Art Museum. The show attracted over half a million visitors.
The exhibition includes also her signature Infinity polka dots paintings. The artist once said “In the universe, there is the sun, the moon, the earth, and hundreds of millions of stars.” and she portrayed her life as one dot among thousands of other dots. Kusama associated the polka dots with the Sun and the Moon, as the dots had their same shape, whereby the Sun symbolized energy and the Moon tranquility.
Also on view are her magnificent works on paper, raging from 1951 to 1981. Kusama first came to New York in 1958, bringing with her over 2,000 drawings. She later disclosed that the drawings were the source of her artistic ideas which she explored over six decades.
Dates: until February 15, 2020
Location
520 West 24th Street New York, NY 10011
For more information please contact
newyork@mucciaccia.com
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Yayoi Kusama (b. 1929, Matsumoto, Japan)
Japanese artist known for her extensive use of polka dots and for her infinity installations. She works in various mediums including painting, sculpture, performance art, and installations in a variety of styles, including Pop art and Minimalism.
Kusama begins to paint as a child, at about the time she experiences hallucinations also of fields of dots. The hallucinations and the theme of dots would continue to appear in her art throughout her life.
She moves to the United States in 1957, where she begins to create what she refers to as “infinity net” paintings, which consist of thousands of tiny marks obsessively repeated across large canvases without considering the borders, as if they continue into infinity. These works explore the physical and psychological boundaries of painting, where the endless repetition of the marks create an almost hypnotic effect for both the viewer and the artist. Her paintings from that period anticipate the emerging Minimalist movement, but her work soon shifts to Pop art and performance art. She becomes a central figure in the New York avant-garde, and she exhibits alongside artists as Donald Judd, Claes Oldenburg, and Andy Warhol.
In the late 1960s, she begins to stage body painting festivals, fashion shows and anti-war demonstrations.
She returns to Japan in 1973, where she continues to create her art as well as begins to write novels and realize open air sculpture pieces. From1998 to 1999, a major retrospective of Kusama’s works opens at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and travels to the Museum of Modern Art, New York, the Walker Art Center and the Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo.
Kusama is recipient of numerous prizes and awards including the Asahi Prize in 2001, the Medal with Dark Navy Blue Ribbon in 2002, the French Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (Officier), and the Nagano Governor Prize (for the contribution in encouragement of art and culture) in 2003, National Lifetime Achievement Awards in 2006, the Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Losette and The Praemium Imperiale -Painting- in 2006.
In 2009, Kusama is honored as Person of Cultural Merits in Japan.
ABOUT THE GALLERY
Massimiliano Mucciaccia opened his first gallery, Galleria Mucciaccia, in the historical centre of Rome, in 2006. Residing now in Largo della Fontanella Borghese, the gallery focusses on XX and XXI century modern and contemporary art, and has held exhibitions ranging from Futurism to Transavanguardia, from metaphysics to the School of Piazza del Popolo. Shortly after, Massimiliano opened a second space in the beautiful setting of the Dolomite Mountains. Over the years, it has come to be known as an exclusive corner in Cortina d’Ampezzo where art lovers and collectors gather together during the winter season.
Mucciaccia Gallery landed in Singapore in 2012. The gallery focuses on showcasing XX century artists that have proven to be historically important. It holds first-time solo exhibition for their international artists, as well as showcases artists from the region. Located in the prestigious and green district of Gillman Barracks, the gallery is a cultural hub and hosts a well-diverse events programme for artistic thought-provoking debates. In 2016, Mucciaccia Gallery opened in London. The gallery’s vision is to explore the works of numerous artists and sculptors who sought new approaches to art, with a particular attention to the XXI century.
Exhibitions include David LaChapelle; Michelangelo Pistoletto: The Third Paradise; Frank Holliday; Richard Patterson | Ged Quinn; Gianni Piacentino 1966 – 2017; Georges Mathieu 1952 – 1986; Superimposition | Paul Morrison, Barry Reigate, Michael Stubbs, Mark Titchner; Oliviero Rainaldi – White on Black; Jacques Villeglé. Retrospettiva; Italian Passion from 1956 | Carla Accardi, Alighiero Boetti, Alberto Burri, Enrico Castellani, Lucio Fontana, Jannis Kounellis, Piero Manzoni, Paolo Scheggi; Giosetta Fioroni | Silver Years; Cristiano Pintaldi. Suspended Animations; Piero Pizzi Cannella. Interiors and Landscapes; Oramai è tempo | Anselmo, Castellani, Nagasawa, The Glass of The Shadows – Form and Image in Agostino Bonalumi.
