Yayoi Kusama

Victoria Miro Gallery, London
Acquired from the above by the present owner in 2013

This work is in very good condition overall. There is evidence of light wear and handling to the edges of the canvas, which are only visible upon close inspection. Under close inspection there is evidence of a minor ¼ inch pigment loss in the lower left quadrant approximately 21½ inches from the left edge and 35 inches from the bottom edge. Under Ultraviolet light inspection, there is no evidence of restoration. Under Ultraviolet light inspection, scattered minor surface accretions and the aforementioned pigment loss fluoresce faintly. Unframed. This work is accompanied by an artwork registration card issued by the artist's studio.
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“My desire was to predict and measure the infinity of the unbounded universe, from my own position in it, with dots – an accumulation of particles forming the negative spaces in the net. How deep was the mystery? Did infinities exist beyond our universe? In exploring these questions I wanted to examine the single dot that was my own life.” Yayoi Kusama

Yayoi Kusama remains one of the most delightfully eccentric and fantastically prolific figures in the contemporary art world today. The present work, Infinity-Nets [YASOP] is a striking example from Kusama’s most celebrated series, the Infinity Nets. Arguably her most visually complex and conceptually provocative body of works, the Infinity Nets stand out from the artist’s diverse oeuvre as particularly poignant contributions to the conversation of 20^th century art. Having first emerged in the late 1950s, the Infinity Net paintings represent an astounding half-century long expression of the artist’s own obsessional neurosis and persistent use of art production to “self-obliterate” hallucinatory visions through the process of compulsive reproduction of painted spots. "This was my epic, summing up all I was" Kusama once remarked. "And the spell of the dots and the mesh enfolded me in a magical curtain of mysterious, invisible power” (Yayoi Kusama, Infinity Net, London 2011, p. 23). 

Following her move from Japan to Seattle in 1957 and then to New York in 1958, Kusama exhibited five large-scale, white net paintings in her first New York solo show in October 1959. In a published review of this exhibition, Donald Judd (who self-identified primarily as a writer rather than an artist at the time) described the works as “strong, advanced in concept and realized...The strokes are applied with a great assurance and strength which even a small area conveys. The total quality suggests an analogy to a large, fragile, but vigorously carved grill or to a massive, solid lace. The expression transcends the question of whether it is Oriental or American. Although it is something of both, certainly of such Americans as Rothko, Still and Newman, it is not at all a synthesis and is thoroughly independent” (Donald Judd, “Reviews and Previews: New Names This Month,” ARTNews, October 1959).

To the artist, these paintings have provided a vital form of personal art therapy. To the art world more broadly, they have served an equally important role as they outlined a pivotal re-examination of the most significant movements from the latter half of the 20th century. At once meditatively simple and fascinatingly complex, the Infinity Nets occupy a distinct liminality somewhere between gestural abstract expressionism, contemplative minimalism and even ritualistic performance. Kusama’s practice has a unique ability to function along both parallel and intersecting paths with each of the preeminent movements from the past half-century. Comparable to Robert Ryman’s monochrome paintings, Kusama’s use of texture creates nuanced shadows which bring a distinct tonality to the painting’s surface. As Kusama builds up her lace-like surfaces, she artfully develops a vivid luminosity through her application of lush impasto brushstrokes bringing a heightened depth and dynamism to the canvas. With an emphasis on seriality and grasp of materiality, the artist’s practice links strongly to crucial tenets of Minimalism and Post-Minimalism, possibly a result of her close relationships with artists including Donald Judd and Eva Hesse. However, her painting goes much further than its sheer physicality as it transcends into a more mystical realm, suggestive also of works by Richard Pousette-Dart who has often described his own rather spiritual paintings as a “reflection of being.” Having produced many of her nets in extended, uninterrupted sessions, sometimes up to 48 continuous hours, Kusama’s work is imbued with a performative or ritualistic element which distinguishes it again from the Abstract Expressionists and Minimalists of her time.

From their inception, Kusama’s Infinity Nets ever so quietly dispelled traditional rules and expectations of pictorial space, painterly narratives and calculated compositions. Instead, through their rather organic production, works such as Infinity-Nets [YASOP] celebrate the sheer materiality of Kusama’s canvas and oils while delving into a dizzying exploration of optical sensations. While not entirely random nor overly precise, the artist’s carefully painted dots and arcs weave together a mesmerizing web. Kusama herself has described her Infinity Nets as paintings "without beginning, end, or center. The entire canvas would be occupied by [a] monochromatic net. This endless repetition caused a kind of dizzy, empty, hypnotic feeling” (Yayoi Kusama in conversation with Gordon Brown in 1964 in: Laura Hoptman, Yayoi Kusama, London 2000, p. 103). Infinity-Nets [YASOP] serves as a magnificent representation of Kusama’s painting at its best. For all the flurry of countless brushstrokes across this grand canvas, with its elegant palette and intricate construction, the work remains entirely serene and utterly spellbinding to the artist and viewer alike.