Infinity Net

by Kusama, Yayoi; McCarthy, Ralph

• ISBN13: 9780226464985
• ISBN10: 0226464989
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2011-12-22
• Publisher: Univ of Chicago Pr

Summary

In 1957, encouraged by Georgia O'Keeffe, artist Yayoi Kusama left Japan for New York City to become a star. By the time she returned to her home country in 1973, she had established herself as a leader of New York's avant-garde movement, known for creating happenings and public orgies to protest the Vietnam War and for the polka dots that had become a trademark of her work. Her sculptures, videos, paintings, and installations are to this day included in major international exhibitions. Available for the first time in English, Infinity Netpaints a multilayered portrait of this fascinating artist. Taking us from her oppressive childhood in postwar Japan to her present life in the psychiatric hospital where she voluntarily stays-and is still productive-Kusama's autobiography offers insight into the persona of mental illness that has informed her work. While she vibrantly describes the hallucinatory episodes she experiences, her tale is punctuated by stories of her pluck and drive in making her artistic voice heard. Conveying the breadth and ambition of her own work, Kusama also offers a dazzling snapshot of 1960s and 1970s New York City and her encounters with its artists-she collaborates with Andy Warhol, shares an apartment with Donald Judd, and becomes romantically entangled with Joseph Cornell. Replete with the sense of the sheer necessity within an artist to create, Infinity Netis an energetic and juicy page-turner that offers a glimpse into Kusama's exhilarating world.

Table of Contents

Prologue	p. 6
To New York: My Debut as an Avant-garde Artist 1957/1966	p. 9
Before Leaving Home: Awakening as an Artist 1929/1957	p. 59
No More War: The Queen of Peace: Avant-garde Performance Art for the People 1967/1974	p. 97
People I've Known, People I've Loved: Georgia O'Keeffe, Joseph Cornell, Donald Judd, Andy Warhol, and Others	p. 155
Made in Japan: Worldwide Kusamania 1975/2002	p. 189
Index	p. 234
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