Kusama—Life, Death, Etc., at Gagosian Gallery
http://www.thirteen.org/sundayarts/blog/visual-art/kusama%E2%80%94life-death-etc/709/
A self-portrait hangs in the entryway. Kusama’s cartoonish figure is composed of dots of varying colors and sizes; they hover like microwaved atoms threatening to disperse or explode with a gust of air. Recent infinity net and dot paintings make up a bulk of the show. They seem to possess an even greater “inner life” than her previous work, to my memory, anyway. Certain massings or color densities proscribe something approximate to geography or foliage. For example, Enlightenment Means Living a Life Unconcernedly (2008), in black and white, has a terrifyingly biological aspect to it. If it started to spread down the wall and across the floor, it wouldn’t be much of a surprise.
Aftermath of Obliteration of Eternity (2009), the exhibition’s crowning achievement, sits in the back gallery, within a stand alone room that you enter one or a few at a time. It’s lined with mirrors; many small, low wattage lights hang at varying heights. The cycle begins in darkness, and the golden lights brighten imperceptibly until they form a heartbreakingly gorgeous phosphorous surround. They dim, pitching you back into darkness. I doubt there has ever been a more concise parable of birth, life, and death. Of life’s possibilities coming into focus or receding just as quickly.
If you can manage to shut your jaw after exiting Aftermath, the paintings take on an added resonance upon re-viewing. And the pumpkins now seem to be laughing with you instead of at you. Or vice versa.
Photo: Aftermath of Obliteration of Eternity, (2008) Copyright Yayoi Kusama, Courtesy Gagosian Gallery New York.
No comments:
Post a Comment