Yayoi Kusama at All Price Points
About ten days ago I went to the opening of Yayoi Kusama’s newest exhibition in New York City. The show is at David Zwirner; it’s the first time that Kusama shows with him – and it is an immersive pop-dot-kaleidoscopic experience that takes up all of the three spaces of this massive gallery on West 19th Street. Kusama created more than 25 paintings in a square format, most of which are over 6 feet tall – all of them brightly colored and incredibly beautiful, like most of her pieces are. I also saw several fiberglass sculptures of high-heel shoes and potted sunflowers, happy representations of day-to-day objects covered in Kusama’s trademark polka dots.
What mesmerized me the most where the two newest mirrored infinity rooms: one is called The Souls of Millions of Light Years Away which invites people to stand on a platform that is suspended over a water pond that reflects hundreds of multicolored LED lights that are hanging at varying heights from the ceiling. The second mirrored room titled Love Is Calling, is a psychedelic experience complete with multicolor inflatable tentacles covered in black polka dots. In the contiguous room, there is a video projection playing non-stop, where Kusama herself is reciting a poem called Manhattan Suicide Addict.
This show has a uniquely compelling visual quality and the engagement with the audience is undeniable. Most of the paintings are in the high-six figures or even the low seven figures. Definitely not accessible to most. But Kusama has had a prolific career and produced limited edition prints, multiples, objects and many other interesting things that range from a few hundred to a few thousand. Here is my selection and where to find them.
PLATES
The Whitney Museum released a collection of Kusama plates last year in conjunction with her retrospective. I bought a couple and mix them with other art plates, more of which can be seen here.
SOFT SCULPTURES
The pumpkin sculpture is one of my favorites. I put two in my kids' room by the windowsill. They are an excellent complement to their space and conversation pieces by themselves.
LIMITED EDITION PRINTS
Kusama's signed limited edition prints range from $3,500 depending on the design and the size of the edition to $55,000 or so. Here are a few of my favorites, which can be found here.
