Infinity-Nets (OQRWHN), 2008
Acrylic on canvas
194×194 cm (76.4×76.4 inches)
Titled in Japanese, signed ‘Yayoi Kusama INFINITY-NETS (OQRWHN) 2008’ (on the reverse)

 

Provenance
Ota Fine Arts, Tokyo, Japan
Gallery Hyundai, Seoul, Korea
Private Collection, Europe

 

Christie’s Hong-Kong: 22 November 2019
HKD 10,925,000 / USD 1,396,184

Source: Christie’s
YAYOI KUSAMA (B. 1929) (christies.com)

 

Infinity Nets OQRWHN is vivid, instantly arresting, and a prime archetype of Kusama’s oeuvre. In this monochromatic work, the dots evoke a hypnotic effect as they weave through the canvas in an undulating arrangement. The patterns aim at interacting, inducing and changing each other in a back and forth manner to create movement similar to Alber’s orange square. As the eye dances across the canvas, it draws you deeper into the rhythmic folds of the composition. Just like that, the illusion allows one to immerse completely inside of Kusama’s stimulating mindscape, with each dot acting as a testimony to Kusama’s long artistic journey. Piece by piece, we come to understand her side of the story – a story that one should not just look, but also to feel beyond what has been set in front of them.

Executed in 2008, Infinity Nets OQRWHN is an extension of Kusama’s original monochromatic paintings. The artist retained her choice of using acrylic paint, a medium that represented the key transition the artist undertook in the late 1970s, paying homage to her roots as she first established her artistic career specializing Nihonga, which was a type of traditional Japanese watercolor painting. The quick drying properties of acrylic goes hand in hand with Kusama’s practice, allowing her the freedom to concentrate on one work, whilst displaying the stamina and endurance that is required for such caliber of art.