Don't MIS It: Yayoi Kusama at the Whitney

Yayoi Kusama's current exhibition at the Whitney introduced me to one of the most interesting and talented artists that I have ever encountered. Kusama's breadth of work, spanning from the 1940's to the present, has such incredible variety including painting, sculpture, large scale installations and public art. Kusama has lived in a psychiatric hospital, by her own decree, for the past 30 years, and continues to create.
Kusama is known for her work with polka dots; from covering canvasses with white dots, to naked people in red dots, to her current large scale bright and graphic canvas paintings, each piece speaks volumes. To pay homage to her my friend Piper, my grandma, and I wore polka dots when we visited the show a few weeks ago.

Each of us left with a different favorite period or piece of work, but all of us felt fortunate to know more about such an interesting woman after visiting the exhibit. Upon exiting we each entered 'Fireflies on the Water' which was a meditative and eye opening experience. This installation was inspired by a previous work of Kusama, and was a room of mirrors, with hanging strands of lights, and a small platform surrounded by water- where each of us got to spend a minute alone viewing ourselves amongst the endless abyss of lights, before we exited into the reality of the museum and the city.

Piper gained her own inspiration from Kusama and shot an incredible self portrait series incorporating Kusama's signature red dots. Let Kusama inspire you as well when you visit her exhibit at the Whitney through September 30,2012. This is one not to MIS!

Enjoy,

Margo Isadora