JCC E-Magazine July 2017

During the talk.

A talk on the relevance of Yayoi Kusama’s art today was conducted by Mr Reuben Keehan at JCC (Japan Creative Centre) on Thursday, 15 June 2017. More than 60 guests attended the talk to learn about the relevance, popularity and cultural implications of Ms Yayoi Kusama in the present day, which was held in light of Yayoi Kusama: Life is the heart of a rainbow exhibition at National Gallery Singapore.

Mr Reuben Keehan, who has been the curator of Contemporary Asian Art at the Queensland Art Gallery and Gallery of Modern Art (QAGOMA) since 2011, began by introducing the past, upbringing and background of Ms Kusama. These included the stories of her hometown, family, education, the places she has lived in, what she has been through and experienced, as well as how she started her artistic journey and making her artwork from flowers and leaves to what we see today.

Highlights: Mr Reuben Keehan introducing the past, upbringing and background of Ms Yayoi Kusama.

Highlights: Mr Reuben Keehan showcasing some of Ms Yayoi Kusama’s renowned and ironic works – Mirror Room (Pumpkin) (1991).

Together with these stories, Mr Reuben showcased some of Ms Kusama’s most renowned and iconic artworks, such as Eye (1953), 10 meter net painting at New York (1961), her first creation in a room space entitled 1000 Boats (1963), Mirror Room (1965), Narcissus Garden (1966) to Pumpkins, Dots Obsession and The Obliteration Room (2011). Mr Reuben also explained some of her inspirations and major ideas behind these artworks: accumulation, proliferation, infinity and colour.

Mr Reuben further examined the styles, influences and where Ms Kusama fits in. These mainly included Late Japanese Surrealism, Abstract Expressionism, Pop Art, Minimalism, Post-minimalism, Concrete Art/”New Tendencies”, Expatriates, Asian art boom and Spectacle Art, as well as artists such as Georgia O’Keeffe and Joseph Cornell.

Highlights: Mr Reuben Keehan explaining some of the inspirations, influences and major ideas behind Ms Yayoi Kusama’s works.

Mr Reuben Keehan interacting with some of the audience after the talk.

Mr Reuben concluded that all of the above, together with factors such as Ms Kusama’s prominence of her installation art and on social media, having a rich vision and a robust, daily practice despite the attention, as well as simultaneous rediscovery as historical and contemporary figure illustrates a ‘parallel aesthetics’ that ‘structures the international’, contributed to the popularity and relevance of Ms Kusama’s art today.

Do not miss the opportunity to visit Ms Yayoi Kusama’s exhibition: Life is the heart of a rainbow, which is supported by The Japan Foundation, at National Gallery Singapore from now till Sunday, 3 September 2017, and view her artworks in person! For more details, please visit: https://www.nationalgallery.sg/see-do/highlights/yayoi-kusama-life-is-the-heart-of-a-rainbow

Mr Reuben Keehan during the talk.		Audiences during the talk.
Highlights: Mr Reuben Keehan introducing the past, upbringing and background of Ms Yayoi Kusama.		Highlights: Mr Reuben Keehan showcasing some of Ms Yayoi Kusama’s renowned and ironic works – The Obliteration Room (2011).
Highlights: Mr Reuben Keehan showcasing some of Ms Yayoi Kusama’s renowned and ironic works – Mirror Room (1965).

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