YAYOI KUSAMA
INFINITY-NETS (GMBKA), 2013
Acrylic on canvas
162×131 cm (63.8×51.6 inches)
Signed, titled and dated ‘”GMBKA INFINITY-NETS” YAYOI KUSAMA 2013’ on the reverse

 

Provenance
David Zwirner, New York
Private Collection, USA (acquired from the above in 2013)
Phillips, Hong Kong, 24 November 2019, lot 28
Acquired at the above sale by the present owner

Auction History

Phillips Hong-Kong: 1 December 2022
Estimated: HKD 12,000,000 – 18,000,000
HKD 12,592,000 / USD 1,618,965

Yayoi Kusama – 20th Century & Conte… Lot 12 December 2022 | Phillips

REPEAT SALE

Phillips Hong-Kong: 23 November 2019
Estimated: HKD 6,000,000 – 8,000,000
HKD 7,710,000 / USD 985,380

Yayoi Kusama – 20th Century & Conte… Lot 28 November 2019 | Phillips

 

INFINITY-NETS (GMBKA) presents the viewer with a glittering black canvas adorned by a meticulously applied web of golden-orange. Rendered in congregations of varying density, the individually painted lines generate an entrancing optical sensation as they expand and contract across the large canvas with a steady pulse. From afar, the repeated iterations of a single touch of the brush establish a spellbinding sense of pictorial space. Upon closer examination, the incessant quality of this calculated gesture reveals a dizzying, labor-intensive technique that envelops both the viewer and the artist in the concept of the infinite. Created approximately 60 years after she began her expansive Infinity Nets series, INFINITY-NETS (GMBKA) exemplifies the contemporary artist Yayoi Kusama’s most celebrated and best-known motif. Expanding her palette to include vibrant colors, INFINITY-NETS (GMBKA) represents a mature, archetype work from the artist’s oeuvre rendered in acrylic paint instead of oil, a pivotal transition that Kusama undertook in the late 1970s.

Resplendent with endlessly repeating strokes of golden-orange atop a glistening black canvas, INFINITY-NETS (GMBKA) is a remarkable example from the artist’s iconic Infinity Nets series. The series serves as a cornerstone to her artistic practice, acting as the foundation in which Kusama develops many of her sculptures and installations. Meticulously rendered in delicate lattices of loops and swirls, Kusama’s webs appear to be expanding outward, mesmerizing as they draw the viewer towards the shimmering spaces contained within the tightly woven blanket of paint. A closer examination of the work reveals a scintillating layer of black impasto behind waves of brilliant golden loops, inviting the viewer to immerse themselves within the depths of the painting amongst the brilliance of an endless expanse of shimmering stars.