Yayoi Kusama (Japanese, born 1929), 草間彌生


Infinity-Net 1959 circa 1979signed and titled in English on the reverseacrylic on canvas45.5 x 38.0 cm (17 15/16 x 14 15/16 in)This work was executed circa 1979.
|This work is registered in the archives of Kusama Enterprise, Tokyo, under application no. 1127.ProvenanceFuji Television Gallery, TokyoPrivate Collection, Japan草間彌生無限之網 1959壓克力畫布約1979年作背面簽名: YAYOI KUSAMA 1959 INFINITY-NET此作品已在東京草間彌生工作室註冊，編號1127來源東京富士電視畫廊日本私人收藏Hypnotic and mesmerizing, Infinity-Net 1959 comprises cadmium yellow dots multiplying in variation and engulfed in thickly applied black nets, displaying Yayoi Kusama's most iconic infinite net and dot motifs. With black nets spiraling endlessly around yellow circular colonies, the present work is optically dazzling. At first glance, the yellow dots appear to be the top paint layer. Upon closer inspection, the process has been reversed, where the dots are engulfed by arcs of black acrylic, overlaid on a cadmium yellow colour field, resulting in a contrast that is dizzying yet striking. Kusama's infinite repetition of patterns is ultimately a form of self-obliteration rooted in a therapeutic need to gain control over hallucinations and extreme episodes of anxiety, which caused her to experience all-engulfing dots multiplying infinitely. With each mark on the canvas, Kusama gains control and overcomes her anxieties. At its very essence, through her act of multiplying patterns and repeating motifs, the painting becomes a temporal record of her mental strength.Kusama began her Infinity Net series shortly after her arrival in New York in 1958, during a creative explosion of radical movements that cemented New York as the world's art capital. The year 1959, as titled on the reverse of the painting, marks her inaugural solo exhibition in New York at the Brata Gallery on 10th street, in which she exhibited her Infinity Net canvases. The show attracted the attention of many critics, among them was Minimalist pioneer Donald Judd, who was also a close friend and neighbour of Kusama. Judd reviewed her canvases as "strong, advanced in concept and realized...the effect is both complex and simple." His reviews contributed to her widespread recognition, and with her Infinity Net paintings, Kusama found a distinctive style and secured herself as an influential figure among the New York avant-garde. In 1973, Kusama moved back to Japan and committed herself to a psychiatric hospital. During this period, she revisited themes and motifs of her works from New York, including her Infinity Nets. Executed circa 1979, Infinity-Net 1959 represents a rare body of paintings during this period rendered in her most celebrated style. What becomes apparent is a flatter surface, conveying a more stabilized and controlled act of infinite dots than her earlier compositions. Revisiting a signature style that remained crucial to her oeuvre, Kusama reinstated her success and relevance amidst her assimilation into the Japanese art scene.Kusama has undoubtedly built an enduring career of obsessively repeating patterns in endless variations, transforming simple gestures of marks into compositions filled with physical and emotional energy. Coming from a private collection and appearing on the market for the first time, Infinity-Net 1959 is a testament to Kusama's remarkable sense of control brought forward by the act of obsessive repetition. 《無限的網 1959》的畫面中，厚重的黑網包覆著密密麻麻的鎘黃色圓點，這件引人入勝的作品所畫的無限網和圓點，便是主宰草間彌生一生創作的標誌性母題。無止盡的黑網團團包圍黃點，讓人眼花撩亂。乍看之下，黃點好像在畫面的表層，近看才發現這一片鎘黃其實是被黑色壓克力顏料羅織而成的網絡吞沒，撞色的安排，賦予畫面迷亂又震撼的視覺效果。重複性圖案是草間彌生常見的創作手法，這是她為了控制幻覺和嚴重焦慮症所採取的一種自我消去法。由於患有這些病症，她會看到源源不絕的圓點，但是透過落下的每一筆，讓她獲得掌握和安撫焦慮的慰藉。這樣看來，她不斷重複繪畫圖案和主題的行為，似乎成為自己精神力量的一種紀錄。「無限的網」是草間彌生在一九五八年移居紐約後不久開始創作的系列。當時前衛藝術運動方興未艾，紐約成為世界的藝術中心。這件作品名稱中的一九五九年，恰是草間彌生在紐約第十街布拉塔畫廊（Brata Gallery）舉辦首次個展的那一年，並在個展中展出「無限的網」系列繪畫。這個展覽吸引許多藝評人的目光，低限主義先鋒唐納德・賈德（Donald Judd）也開始關注她的藝術。賈德是草間彌生的鄰居也是好友，對於她的畫作有這樣的評語：「概念強烈先進，實現出......既複雜又單純的效果。」賈德的評語提高了草間彌生的知名度，自從發表「無限的網」之後，她找到獨一無二的個人語彙，躍升為紐約前衛藝術家中舉足輕重的人物。在一九七三年搬回日本後，草間彌生自願住進精神病院。在療養院的時光，她重拾紐約時期的主題和花紋並完成了許多精彩作品，其中包括「無限的網」，《無限的網 1959》即出自於此系列。作品畫面上的無限圓點，看得出平衡感和掌控力比早期更強。草間彌生回到她重要的創作母題，不啻是再次宣告她重新融入日本藝術界所得到的成功與重視。草間彌生將簡單的圖案幻化為散發出身心靈力量的構圖，原本因強迫症所苦而不斷重複的圖案，反而造就了其歷久不衰的的藝術生命，《無限的網 1959》便是草間彌生驚人意志力的最佳明證。此作來自珍貴日本私人收藏，在市場上第一次釋出，是草間體現堅強意志的最佳寫照。