Yayoi Kusama (b. 1929) is a leading contemporary artist and known worldwide as a frontrunner of avant-garde art in Japan. Though she has been active since the late 1950s, she has been particularly prominent on the art scene since the 2000s.
Kusama began creating art from around age 10, painting patterns of polka dots and netting — motifs that she still uses today. Her work has featured in large-scale exhibitions, including the 45th Venice Biennale in 1993 and a retrospective at the Museum of Modern Art, New York, in 1998. Her current international retrospective exhibition, which started at the Museo Nacional Centro De Arte Reina Sofia, Madrid, in May last year, is now showing at the Pompidou Centre in Paris before it moves on to the Tate Modern in London.
This show presents her most recent works, for which she uses bright colors and repeated patterns. Also on show are some of her recent sculptures; till April 8.
The National Museum of Art, Osaka; (06) 6447-4680; 4-2-55 Nakanoshima, Kita-ku, Osaka; 5-min. walk southwest of Watanabebashi Station (Exit 2), Keihan Nakanoshima Line, or 10-min. walk west of Higobashi Station (Exit 3), Yotsubashi Line. 10 a.m.-5 p.m. (Fri., till 7 p.m.) ¥1,400. Closed Mon. www.asahi.com/kusama.
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