Jessica Fahy Art Historian

This lecture will explore the life and work of the extraordinary Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama who recently passed away at the age of 97. She has long been a favourite of mine and I never miss a chance to be transported by her works. Join me to explore her fascinating life and and trace her impressive seventy-year career and how she became one of the most influential and commercially successful avant-garde artists of the modern era. There is so much to discover from from her early "Infinity Net" paintings to her provocative, anti-war performance art in 1960s New York, where she challenged the boundaries of Pop Art and Minimalism while constantly facing sexism and racism. In fact there may be evidence to suggest some of her contemporaries appropriated her pioneering concepts.The lecture will deeply examine her unique philosophy of "self-obliteration"—a creative coping mechanism driven by lifelong psychological hallucinations that translated internal vulnerability into universally resonant art. Kusama moved so smoothly with the times, arguably creating art that speaks for the 'Selfie-age' which a so intriguing to examine especially in relation to her world-renowned Infinity Mirror Rooms. While she is perhaps better known today simply for her 'dots' there is so much more to her art and her legacy.