Awesome Acrylic Artists series………Yayoi Kusama

{ March 22, 2012 @ 1:38 pm } · { Uncategorized }
{ Tags: 5 million dollars, acrylic, japan, Yayoi Kusama }

A clip showing the artist and her career.

A clip showing the many mediums used by the artist.

Sculpture and installations done by the artist.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to this artist today on March 22. She was born in 1929. One of the foremost artists of Japan working in a variety of visual mediums as well as writing.

low price range: for small pumpkin sculptures around 5,000 prints from 5,000  and up

high price range: for an acrylic she has garnered $5.1 million. This artist set the record for a living female artist at auction! Awesome!

mediums used: acrylics, oils, screenprint, silkscreen, ink, pastel, installations, sculpture, etchings, video art, fashion design, collage

surfaces used: canvas, paper

The artist is highly collected and known for repetitious patterns and explosive color.  Some of her favorite subjects are butterflies, flowers, and pumpkins. I just love the willingness of the artist to learn a new medium.

She was born in Japan to an upper middle class family. The artist was taught a strictly Japanese style way to paint and didn’t enjoy it. She studied American and European artists and moved to New York City. She became a fan of the Ab-Ex movement and did several works in this style during the 1950s.  Her work stood next to the other great Pop Artists of the day such as Andy Warhol and George Segal.

Another theme of the artist is the dot. The artist gained some fame during the 1960s for organizing festivals where all the participants were naked save for painted polka dots.

In the early 1970s she moved back to Japan and became an art dealer. The country’s art scene wasn’t the same as New York. The artist’s business failed and she checked herself into a hospital on her own will for mental problems.  She still lives in a hospital but went on to resume her artwork and published a series of books including an autobiography.

I find it inspiring that someone who is similar to Van Gogh in having mental issues, is so productive in her artistic output. Writing books, designing clothes, making video art, installations, and sculpture. It seems that she feels at ease when she is doing something artistic and you have to admire that!

Has had many shows at museums such as the Tate modern and Museum of Modern Art.

How about trying a different medium today in honor of this artist’s birthday!

Happy creating!

D