Infinity-Nets (POWTY), 2014
Acrylic on canvas
145.5×145.5 cm (57.2×57.2 inches)
Signed and titled in English and dated 2014 on the reverse

 

Provenance
Victoria Miro Gallery, London
Acquired from the above by the present owner

 

Sotheby’s Hong-Kong: 1 October 2018
HKD 6,120,000 / USD 781,798

Source: Sotheby’s
(#1088) KUSAMA YAYOI | Infinity-Nets (POWTY) (sothebys.com)

 

A scintillating, enigmatic and resplendent work from Kusama Yayoi’s most iconic and celebrated series rendered in a distinctive palette of deep copper and green, Infinity-Nets (POWTY) evinces a sublime duality that pairs the patterned feminine intricacy of lacework with the engulfing heroism of a Pollock canvas. The painting manifests riveting fluid hues of dark gold coalesced with copper: delicate lapses between green polka-dots and the shifting metallic color fields activate a glistening aura that is regal, brooding and seductive.

The singular pairing of green and gold creates an especially alluring optical effect: at first glance, the green dots are the obvious top layer; upon closer inspection, one detects that Kusama has created the hundreds of tiny dots through a reverse process, where a sea of dexterous arcs of copperish gold are overlaid on a green foundation. Created from infinite quiet repetitive strokes, the work pulses with a rhythmically flowing surface that seems to alternately expand and recede from the viewer, evoking the signature hypnotic serenity that epitomizes Kusama’s entire legendary oeuvre.