Yayoi Kusama: Prints

Ota Fine Arts Singapore presents “Yayoi Kusama: Prints“, a solo exhibition featuring a range of prints created between 2011 and 2012 based on 33 small size paintings executed around 2004. These expressions were then developed into the large scale canvases such as “Love Forever” – a series of black and white drawings on canvas, and “My Eternal Soul” – the artist’s most recent and ongoing series which is a remarkable exploration of colours.

Renowned for the use of repetitive and accumulative motifs, Yayoi Kusama’s (b. 1929) artistic practice spans paintings, sculptures, installations and other artistic fields. She also started to pursue print making in 1979, and continues in her artistic practice up to the present time. Throughout the years, Kusama’s visionary philosophy remains constant: it harkens to the universe, elevating her very self to the realm of the cosmic.

In these series of prints, Kusama repeats motifs of eyes, women’s profiles and dotted organisms on single-coloured bases covered in bright colours of red, yellow, green and blue. The exuberant images derived from clear colours and doubtless lines strongly catch our eye. They have a humorous sensibility, and their repetitions make a strong impact on the viewer. What we see here is somewhat different from the pumpkins, butterflies, grapes and hats that usually fill the entire surface of ‘Kusama prints’; but instead, we have an improvised expression of free lines, surprising us and adding a new field to Kusama’s prints. Amidst this, her signature technique and style remains, making all her works instantly recognizable.

What has remained constant throughout Kusama’s long career as an artist is the unique sensibility created by the infinite repetition of a pattern of objects such as nets or polka dots. Behind this lies the unique obsession that Kusama has struggled with since childhood, but one can’t help but be amazed by the extremely diverse variations that this simple method of single-minded repetition continues to produce. Similarly, Kusama seeks for new expressions when she creates these prints. Choosing thick stately papers with various textures, mixing different print techniques such as silkscreen, etching, embossing and stencils, it is as if, in these prints, she is reflecting on her way of life. A life as an artist who is in constant change in order to pursue an artistic revolution. With the realization of this exhibition, Ota Fine Arts Singapore presents an insight into the fascinating world of Yayoi Kusama.