Infinity Nets I. N. PQR, 2007
Acrylic on canvas
145.8×145.8 cm (57.4×57.4 inches)
Signed, titled, dated and inscribed in Japanese (on the reverse)

Provenance
Galerie Piece Unique, Paris
Acquired from the above by the present owner

 

Christie’s London: 1 July 2014
GBP 290,500 / USD 498,626

Source: Christie’s
Yayoi Kusama (B. 1929) (christies.com)

 

Infinity Nets PQR, 2007, is a mesmeric example from Yayoi Kusama’s ongoing Infinity Nets series that she began at the start of her career in the late 1950s. Spanning one and a half meters, this both delicate and monumental work appears from a distance almost monochromatic, but on closer inspection the intricacy of the surface becomes clear. Small arched semi-circles of vivid red almost completely cover the surface of the canvas and appear to extend beyond the picture plane, enhancing the works potential to expand ad infinitum.

The meticulous and undulating swirls present themselves with a hypnotic vitality. The vivid intensity of the bright red paint replicates her painstaking application of paint and begins to pulsate with energy, causing one’s perception of figure and ground to fluctuate. Enveloping the viewer in a shimmering web, Kusama’s uncompromising vision can be seen in rhythmic formations, sending the eye on a frenetic journey of discovery with every twist and turn of the brush.