A Message From Yayoi Kusama To The Whole World

 

In the face of uncertain times celebrated Japanese contemporary artist Yayoi Kusama offered up a brief moment of pause on Wednesday through the power of a poem she wrote about the coronavirus pandemic. Her bold works have long tackled current events, from the Vietnam War to same-sex marriage; from Asian-American stereotype to gender roles.

"Today, with the world facing COVID-19, I feel the necessity to address it with this message," reads her message on the Victoria Miro gallery website.

The poem that follows extends words of hope, love and defiance: "To COVID-19 that stands in our way," she writes, "I say Disappear from this earth."

The 91-year-old artist, famous for her polka dot artwork says now is the time "to stand up," expressing gratitude to those "who are already fighting." She signs off as, "Revolutionist of the world of the Art." 

Kusama, is one of the most well-known, influential and beloved artists alive today. Her work is based in conceptual art and shows some attributes to feminism. minimalism, surrealism, Art Brut, pop art and abstract expressionism  and is infused with autobiographical content.and  is characterised by obsessiveness and a desire to escape psychological trauma.
Open about her own mental-health issues, she has lived voluntarily in a Japanese psychiatric institution since 1977. It was in this stable environment, nurtured by doctors interested in art therapy, that she began to rehabilitate her career and her mental health. From a workspace at the hospital and from her studio nearby in Shinjuku, aided by assistants, she began to churn out work, from paintings and sculptures to novels, poems, and other literature.

Her famous polka-dots were inspired by a psychotic episode during her childhood, after which she painted them. She described the experience as such: “One day, I was looking at the red flower patterns of the tablecloth on a table, and when I looked up I saw the same pattern covering the ceiling, the windows and the walls, and finally all over the room, my body and the universe.” The polka-dot .has since become Kusama’s most defining and well-recognized motif, appearing in her art throughout her career.

After a period of relative isolation, Kusama reentered the international art world in the Venice Biennale in 1993. Her dotted pumpkin sculptures were very successful and became a staple of her work from the 1990s to now. It came to represent a kind of alter-ego. She has  become hugely popular in recent years with her art tours in America and Europe, as well as her large-scale solo exhibitions in Mexico City, Rio de Janeiro, Seoul and Taiwan. In 2017, a five-story museum dedicated to her work opened in Tokyo.  

Kasuma's work old and new, continue to draw huge crowds. Her most well-known work is her set of ‘Infinity Rooms,’that in the past  five years has drawn over  5 million people around the globe to step inside her feature rooms with mirrored walls and ceilings, giving the viewer the sense that they are within infinity itself..Kusama’s work exemplifies the experience of humanity within infinity: we are dually connected to infinity and lost within it. 

The artist, like many others, have had their exhibitions delayed, postponed and some altogether cancelled in these difficult and unprecedented times. Kusama’s  exhibition at Tate Modern was supposed to open in May to celebrate the gallery’s 20th birthday, but it is now closed until further notice, with no revised opening date announced yet. They would have  featured  two of her rooms: Infinity Mirrored Room — Filled With the Brilliance of Life (one of the Kusama's largest-ever installations) and Chandelier of Grief (a room that appears as an endless universe of rotating crystal chandeliers). For now you can read her poem of hope in dark times in its entirety below,

A MESSAGE FROM YAYOI KUSAMA TO THE WHOLE WORLD
 

Though it glistens just out of reach, I continue to pray for hope to shine through
Its glimmer lighting our way
This long awaited great cosmic glow

Now that we find ourselves on the dark side of the world
The gods will be there to strengthen the hope we have spread throughout the
universe

For those left behind, each person’s story and that of their loved ones
It is time to seek a hymn of love for our souls
In the midst of this historic menace, a brief burst of light points to the future
Let us joyfully sing this song of a splendid future
Let's go

Embraced in deep love and the efforts of people all over the world
Now is the time to overcome, to bring peace
We gathered for love and I hope to fulfil that desire
The time has come to fight and overcome our unhappiness

To COVID-19 that stands in our way
I say Disappear from this earth
We shall fight
We shall fight this terrible monster

Now is the time for people all over the world to stand up
My deep gratitude goes to all those who are already fighting.

Revolutionist of the world by the Art
From Yayoi Kusama