Page 127 - 亚洲二十世纪及当代艺术

“One day, after gazing at a pattern of red which features the classic red flower as the
flowers on the tablecloth, I looked up to protagonist, combining Kusama’s classic artistic
see that the ceiling, the windows, and the vocabulary from “infinity net”, “polka dot”,
columns seemed to be plastered with “collage” and “blossom”.
the same red floral pattern. Flower of True Red Originating from
I saw the entire room, Childhood
my entire body, and the Yayoi Kusama’s depiction of the “flower” motif
entire universe covered can be traced back to her sketch Untitled
with red flowers, in her teens. During her childhood, Kusama
and in that instant suffered from loneliness in the conservative ᆄࢊٻ؇˙ ***‘dذ੹೥̺d76.6 x 101.6 cmd1928 ϋ
m y s o u l w a s and repressed Japanese society because of Ъdߕ਷ᕧ౶ਟߕஔ᎜ᔛdᆄࢊٻٙߎЍ *** މণගᏎ
obliterated and her parents’ neglection. The flower field of her ઼͛ٙႆ
I was restored, grandfather who ran the wholesale of plant seeds, however, became the exit to her salvation.
returned to infinity, Accompanied by nature for years, Kusama gradually had the illusion of flowers flickering and
to eternal time and whispering in her ears which greatly influenced Kusama’s later creations.
absolute space. This
was not an illusion In her confused days of youth, American artist O‘Keeffe was Kusama’s spiritual comfort. In
but reality itself. I was 1955, she came across O ‘Keeffe’s album of paintings, in which the huge red poppy unfurled
shocked to see to the freely like the petals of a woman’s body. Such an intense sensory beauty deeply attracted her.
depths of my soul.” After Kusama’s arrival in the United States, O’Keeffe offered her a lot of assistance, including
introducing her several American art agents. It is this story of mutual comprehension and
{{Yayoi Kusama support between women that has led to the generation of “polka-dot queen.” The red poppy

American art critic Gordon Brown is gorgeous, yet delusion-inducing, representing Kusama’s source of inspiration and self-
once said, “Americans think of Japanese expression: as early as in the 1960s, she published the soft sculptures of red poppies and
girls as hothouse flowers, Kusama appeared on the cover of American magazine Art Voices. In addition, she has repeatedly named
surprises them. She is rugged and her paintings of “red flowers” as Self-portrait. Throughout Kusama’s career, she has been
strong—a veritable human dynamo of blossoming like the red poppy in her consistent, and revolutionary artistic innovation of this
creative energy and artistic achievement.” motif to overcome her childhood trauma and reach a reconciliation with herself.
In 1959, the artist who broke through the Rebirth from the Ground: the Tenacious Flower of Life
shackles of foreign identity and gender Poppy was finished in 1982. Kusama, who was already well recognized in the United States,
boundaries became a blockbuster in New York, was maliciously criticized by the conservative media when she returned to Japan in 1970, being
the most active art centre in the world. Not only attacked as a “flower of heresy”. Despite the consistent criticism, Kusama insisted on artistic
did she compete with the important Western creation and finally in the 1980s, she broke through the ground like a blossoming flower, winning
artists at that time, but she also became the first back her own honour: in 1982, she held the biggest solo exhibition after returning to Japan in
female artist who independently represented Tokyo Fuji TV Gallery; in 1985, she wore a red dance dress, freely dancing in Tokyo’s Kuhonbutsu
Japan at the Venice Biennale in 1993. At the Jyoshinji Temple, setting off a “Kusama whirlwind.” Therefore, Poppy is a witness of her life and
present moment, more than 90 influential career at that time: she was like a charming and athletic poppy, regardless of the limitations of
institutions around world have been collecting her age, proudly blooming and singing the song of life that belongs to her own.
Kusama’s works. She is far more beyond one of
the most famous contemporary art pioneers in In this work, the flowers suggest the red dance dresses in the grass. With the wavy skirts
the world. After her cross-border cooperation elegantly gathered together, black polka dots are interspersed among them, seeming like
with Louis Vuitton, BMW, and other brands, the poppy seeds in the dance. Above the straight flower stems, green ovals stand in lines
she has become an absolute trend benchmark like a polka dot array of stem and leaf cells, delivering an infinite proliferation power of life.
in the world. This autumn auction will However, the dark background seems to denote the quiet and heavy land, silently supporting
present Yayoi Kusama’s rare and everything in the world. It connects the fresh green leaves of the poppy by the white “infinite
self-explanatory work that net”, showing the intimate relationship between creatures in the nature. The triangular
firstly appears at the “infinite network” in the leaf shape is the thin network lines seen on plants when Kusama was
auction–Poppy, young, which signifies a spiritual link of self-melting. If the viewer’s eyes follow the winding and
undulating lines in the painting, it seems that they will be captured and deeply immersed in the
mysterious order of the cosmos.
The more interesting fact is that Poppy is not only Kusama’s representative “red flower”, but
also the presentation of her collage techniques that she began creating in 1975. The blue jagged
fabric with white polka dots is collaged around the edges of the painting, creating a sense of
three-dimensional layering, as if a blue sky watching over the poppy. This special combination
of multi-media materials undoubtedly highlights the rarity of the work. The artist herself also
cherished it and emphasized it by publishing its print form in the same year of creation.

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