Yayoi Kusama? More like, Yayoi Cus-I'm-a Cooler than you

At a solid eighty-seven years old, Yayoi Kusama is still nailing it. As one of the most significant artists to have come out of Japan, a formidable voice of the avant-garde and a forerunner of minimalist, pop art and feminist movements, she has influenced those such as Claes Oldenburg and Andy Warhol. However, never having attached herself to one specific movement, Kusama’s work represents a dichotomy between outsider and insider. She was also a key practitioner at the inception of performance and action art, with the same theme being played out in her piece ‘Obliteration Room’, part of the exhibition she held at the Tate Modern in 2012.

She may have been around for a while, but impressively, she continues to cause a stir. If at all in doubt, check out her current exhibition at the Victoria Miro Gallery.

Until the end of July, Yoyoi Kusama has taken over Victoria Miro’s three locations and waterside garden, creating a fanatical world through her iconic dots, repetitive patterns and personal pumpkin motif - not to mention her psychedelic mirror rooms. Reflecting her long-standing obsession with cosmic infinity, these new works are both deeply personal and incredibly accessible. Kusama draws you into her world and, trust me, you won’t want to leave.

(The exhibition press release) (Crazy queues on opening night!)

The mirror rooms only allow individual entry, which is one reason why the queues for this exhibition are so long. Only one-by-one are visitors allowed into the small, magical capsules to soak up the illusionary excitement inside. The personalised experience she creates, is quite extraordinary; cherishing a few minutes to ourselves, Kusama transports us to some mystical universe.

(Chandelier of Grief, 2016)

Enthralled by pumpkins for the most part of her career, Kusama returns to incorporating them in a number of her works for this exhibition. Captured by their whimsical charm, she claims ‘what appealed to me most was the pumpkin’s generous unpretentiousness. That and its solid base’. In many ways, the pumpkin form has been a vehicle through which Kusama has explored her own self-identity. Growing up in Matsumoto, her family was in the wholesaling business, where their storehouse was always packed with Pumpkins. Connected deeply to her childhood nostalgia, pumpkins are a powerful force in Kusama’s world and work - expressed in both mirror room and sculpture in this exhibition. Watch a film of Kusama reading her poem On Pumpkins, 2010.

At the gallery’s Mayfair space, Kusama’s intoxicatingly vibrant paintings adorn the walls. Here, in her ongoing series, My Eternal Soul, the primordial surrealism and existentialism in her work is apparent. The brush-strokes bleed with impulsivity, each one capturing the unfailing energy of Kusama’s art.

If the queues that ran far past Victoria Miro's doors on press preview night (and have done pretty much every day since!) don’t speak loudly enough, head down to the gallery’s Mayfair and Wharf Road locations to check out what all the fuss is about. Not one to leave you disappointed, this crazy lady brings you an exhibition bursting with vibrant charm. Shame we can’t all be as cool as Yayoi Kusama.