Infinity Nets (quadriptych), 2005
Acrylic on canvas
Each 194×130 cm (76.4×51.2 inches)
Signed and titled in English and dated 2005 on the reverse

Provenance
Moma Contemporary, Fukuoka
Private Collection, Asia
Sotheby’s, New York, 13 May, 2009, lot 151

 

Sotheby’s Hong-Kong: 5 October 2013
HKD 10,840,000 / USD 1,397,898

Source: Sotheby’s
(#51) Yayoi Kusama (sothebys.com)

 

Presenting endless repetitions of solid red arcs above a layer of acrylic green paint on a monumental canvas surface, measuring over 5 meters long, Infinity Nets (quadriptych) perfectly illustrates the meticulous skill and stamina of Yayoi Kusama that made her reach the top of the art world in New York and Europe. The rare combination of red and green colors also contributes to the exceptional appearance of the work, bridging with the underlying monochromatic aesthetics of the first Infinity Nets paintings the artist created starting from the late 1950s. At the same time, the rendering of the acrylic paint found here would also reflect an important stylistic move by the artist in the 1980s, when she shifted from using the oil paint medium.

Thus, the textural surface can certainly be seen as a link between the early thickly coated paintings from New York, and the esthetically refined works after her return to Japan. In 2005, the artist had produced an array of installations work and paintings that transcended onto a new aesthetics plane. Among all these creations, the Infinity Nets can be considered to be a rare and raw encapsulation of the artist’s inner drive in tracing back to the absolute origin of her much celebrated kaleidoscopic artistic practice.