Renowned artist Yayoi Kusama passed away on August 14 at the age of 97.
Born in Japan, she moved to New York when she was 27 because she felt Japan was “too small, too servile, too feudalistic, and too scornful of women.” She quickly established her reputation as a leader in the avant-garde movement and received praise for her work from the anarchist art critic Herbert Read.
In June 1963, one of Kusama’s soft sculpture pieces, a couch covered with phallus-like protrusions she had sewn, was exhibited at the Green Gallery. Included in the same exhibition was a papier-mache sculpture by Claes Oldenburg, who had not worked in soft sculpture.Kusama’s piece received the most attention from attendees and critics, and by September, Oldenburg was exhibiting sewn soft sculpture, some pieces of which were very similar to Kusama’s. Oldenburg’s wife apologized to Kusama at the exhibit. His soft sculpture pieces which made him an international star. Seeing her artwork stolen and turned into someone else’s success sent Yayoi into a depression.
A few months after the Oldenburg incident, Yayoi had her first solo exhibition entitled “Aggregation: One Thousands Boats Show.” It consisted of a rowboat and oars that she had covered in soft sculpture phallic shapes. 999 photographs of the boat completely covering the walls of the space. Andy Warhol visited the installment and complimented her on the piece, specifically commenting on the walls. In April 1966, Warhol debuted his “Cow Wallpaper” installation which featured an entire room covered with the single image of a cow. Warhol never credited Yayoi either. He claimed that art dealer Ivan Karp gave him the idea.
In recent years, Yayoi’s infinity mirror room exhibits have gone viral, prompting Los Angeles contemporary art museum The Broad to limit each guest’s time in the exhibit to one minute. Yayoi began her mirror/infinity room work in 1963, but Lucas Samaras became famous for his 1966 Mirrored Room exhibit at the prestigious Pace Gallery.
