Shanghai is seeing spots

Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama, 84, has her paintings, installations and crossover projects featuring psychedelic colours and repeated patterns – especially polka dots – at the Shanghai Museum of Contemporary Art.
Although she didn’t attend the opening of “A Dream I Dreamed”, she sent a message on a video clip, in which she wore her signature red wig, bright makeup and dotted outfit in neon colours. In the clip she apologised for the Japanese military invasion of China in the 1930s and the misery it caused in other Asian countries.
This is the first time Kusama has held a large-scale solo exhibition in China. There are more than 100 paintings, prints, sculptures, videos and large installations.
They include important pieces from her 60-year career – pumpkins, polka dots and other repetitive patterns and prints – says Kim Sun-hee, director of the Daegu Art Museum in South Korea and curator of Kusama’s current Asian “tour”.
The tour started at the Daegu and after Shanghai will return to Seoul for another show, and then go to Macao, Taipei and New Delhi.
Kusama lived in New York in the 1970s, when she was a pioneer in the pop art, minimalist and feminist art movements, drawing influenced from the likes of Andy Warhol.
Her “Infinity Mirrored Room” series was the most popular attraction in Daegu, Kim says. These installations feature a complex cluster of neon-coloured balls in a closed space covered with mirrored glass. The kaleidoscope-like illusions create a fantastic experience for viewers.
“I hope that, through this Asian tour, more visitors will be able to experience the charm of Yayoi Kusama’s artworks, which goes beyond the boundaries of nation and politics to bring out feelings of love, hope and friendship,” says Kim.
Cao Jingxing, a scholar and TV commentator, made two visits to Kusama’s studio in Japan during preparations for the Shanghai show.
“I was amazed at the contrast of her small size and great personality,” he says. When Cao asked about the pattern of an eye that recurs in Kusama’s new paintings, she replied, “It’s my eye. I see the world with them.”
She paints diligently every day, since art is the most important thing in her life, Cao says. “She used to say she won’t stop creating until death,” adds Kim. “But now she says she might still be doing art even after death.”
Three exhibitions of Kusama’s work are touring the world at the same time, Kim says – one in Japan and another in South America.

 ALL DONE WITH MIRRORS
 “Kusama Yayoi: A Dream I Dreamed” continues through March at the Shanghai Museum of Contemporary Art.
For more information, see www.MoCAShanghai.org.