Fields of polka dots. A cryptocoin — or actually two. A Louis Vuitton bag, actually a collection, actually two collaborations.
All are evidence of the presence and influence of the queen of polka dots, Yayoi Kusama. At 93, she's one of the most important contemporary artists alive and is known for her sculpture, installations and feminism, among many other things.
Over the years, the Japanese artist has become something of a pop-culture icon, whose art crowds often travel to see.
But St. Louisans won't have to do that. On Saturday, an installation of one of Kusama's most notable works — Narcissus Garden — opened in Laumeier Sculpture Park's Aronson Fine Arts Center. The exhibit will run until May 14.
Under the Kusama influence, the act of walking into the sculpture park's Whitaker Foundation Gallery becomes something of a trip. Now 1,200 steel balls, each about the size of a bowling ball, fill the space. They are laid out in patterns that visitors can traverse through, like a garden, and their highly reflective surfaces create infinite visual space that is perfect for contemplation — or a selfie.
"It's just going to be fun," Laumeier curator Dana Turkovic says. "People are going to come in here, and then they'll be like, 'Wow.'"
While Turkovic is thrilled to help bring the first large-scale installation of Kusama's work to St. Louis, she's possibly even more excited about the inherent interactive element, describing her own attempt to line up the perfect selfie in the changing silver surfaces.
"It's inviting you to be a part of the work," she says. "Even though you can't pick it up and touch it, you are part of the piece. Your imagery is part of the work."
Though the selfie wasn't yet a thing in 1966 when Kusama first installed Narcissus Garden at the Venice Biennale, the work nevertheless speaks to the drive behind self-image. After all, it's titled after the Greek myth of Narcissus, who fell so in love with his own face, he wasted his life staring at it.
That first iteration of Kusama's work was actually made of plastic, and she began selling the lighter-weight balls for $2 a piece to the attendees. Pretty soon, she was asked to leave.
"But the whole idea of that was the work itself was sort of a performance," Turkovic says. "You know, it was [an active] performance in your face, but also just kind of a cheeky way to take on the whole commercialization of art."
Since then Narcissus Garden has been installed all over the world, both indoors and outdoors. Though the Laumeier run will be indoors, Turkovic explains that the gallery's wall of windows will be uncovered so that visitors can see reflections of the park's outdoor space interacting with the show. She hopes it will create an inside-outside relationship in the installation.
The plan for this exhibit has been in the works for almost three years. The configuration of its garden pathways is specific to this gallery and was designed by the curatorial team through careful study of the floor plans and some calculations about the size and number of each piece.
Arranged on the floors, the steel balls look like Kusama's polka dots come to 3D life. During the height of the abstract expressionist movement in 1960s New York City, Kusama became known for artworks and installations featuring bright fields of bold polka dots. She rocketed to greater fame in the late '60s after festooning naked participants with painted dots as a protest against the Vietnam War, as detailed by many publications, including ARTnews.
As a young girl, Kusama experienced hallucinations, beginning around age 10, of repetitive dots and an aura that would envelop her body, Turkovic says. The dots have been part of her artwork since.
"She felt this kind of sense of self-obliteration," Turkovic says, describing Kusama getting lost in the repetitive motion of creating her Infinity Net paintings, which are made up of lots of dots. "The act of the polka dot was one that was more about calming her fear and anxiety in a way ... so the spheres are very much kind of going back to that first experience of hallucination."
Since then, Kusama's celebrity has waxed and waned — even as male peers such as Andy Warhol and Claes Oldenburg reportedly lifted elements of her artwork, gaining more acclaim in their time than her.
But Kusama, and her dots, have persisted — quite literally.
"I think she struggled for many years, just trying to get the recognition that she deserved," Turkovic says.
Now she has that recognition, and people journeying to her installations — yet at 93, she's still in the studio every day. Making art. Maybe even making polka dots.
Yayoi Kusama: Narcissus Garden will be open Wednesday through Sunday now to May 14 at Laumeier Sculpture Park (12580 Rott Road, 314-615-5278, laumeiersculpturepark.org). The show is free but reserved timed entry is required for all visitors.
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