Thank you Yayoi

Last week, the world lost 𝐘𝐚𝐲𝐨𝐢 𝐊𝐮𝐬𝐚𝐦𝐚.

I lost a companion in painting. 😥 Some will remember her as crazy.

Others as an extraordinary artist.

𝐅𝐨𝐫 𝐦𝐞, 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐚𝐧 𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐟𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐨𝐦.

Like Jackson Pollock liberated the gesture in painting, Yayoi Kusama seemed to liberate the artist from the frame itself. For more than 30 years, she has influenced my own painting.

I was and I still am fascinated by all her work and not only the polka dots.

𝐈 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐫𝐞𝐟𝐮𝐬𝐚𝐥 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐲 𝐢𝐧 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞.

• Painting.

• Sculpture.

• Video.

• Performance.

• Installations.

• Happenings.
  

She constantly pushed beyond the boundaries of what an artwork was supposed to be. And then came the dots...

The perfect form.

• 𝐑𝐞𝐩𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧.

• 𝐈𝐧𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲.

• 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐨𝐝𝐲.

• 𝐅𝐞𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲.

• 𝐒𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐭𝐡.

But above all, 𝐟𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐨𝐦.

I remember seeing her retrospective at the Centre Pompidou, then at Tate Modern.

And my last encounter with her work was at the Fondation Louis Vuitton, standing inside one of her Mirror Rooms, surrounded by dots.

I loved her willingness to go all the way.

To not limit herself to the canvas.

To experiment with what art could become, and, more importantly, with what it could make people feel.

Today, I feel genuinely sad.Because I haven't just lost an artist I admired.I've lost a kind of painting companion.

𝐀 𝐰𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐚𝐥𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐞. 𝐒𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐦𝐞, 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝟑𝟎 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬, 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐨 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐲 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐫𝐚𝐦𝐞.

Thank you, Yayoi. 🙏 🕯️