For the second time, Louis Vuitton has invited the preeminent Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama to a new creative encounter, reawakening, evolving and expanding on the pioneering initial exchange. The launch of the collection is celebrated with a campaign starring internationally renowned supermodels. Blending the creativity of Yayoi Kusama and the savoir-faire of Louis Vuitton, the new collection reinterprets the Maison’s iconic pieces, infused with the artist’s signature motifs. Celebrating art, audacity, and craftsmanship, Kusama’s painted dots, metal dots, infinity dots, and psychedelic flower enliven the universe of Louis Vuitton.
Showcasing Louis Vuitton’s savoir-faire, an innovative serigraphy technique reproduces Kusama’s brushstrokes, giving a strikingly realistic hand-painted 3D effect. Applied by hand, one-by-one, various sized metal half spheres enliven a selection of pieces in the collection with a stunning silver mirror effect.
“I am determined to create a Kusamaworld, which no one has ever done and trodden into”.
Yayoi Kusama
From humble beginnings in rural Japan to internationally renowned artist, Kusama determinedly transformed her own life, spinning enchantment from the power of her art. Totally unclassifiable, she has emerged as the most influential living female artist today. Known as an avant-garde artist, Kusama staged “Narcissus Garden” at the Venice Biennale in 1966 without being officially invited. A groundbreaking installation, which she viewed as a “kinetic carpet”, 1,500 mirrored spheres were laid on the ground and sold to visitors for two dollars each – meant to reflect, connect, and project the soul of the viewer. After having lived in New York for over a decade, Kusama returned to Japan in 1973 and created brightly colored artworks, bringing to life her unique creative vision. Playing with the paradox between the short, ephemeral life of a flower, and the infinity of endless dots, Kusama continued her prolific outpouring of playful psychedelia. Enchanted by their winsome form, humorous nature, and human-like qualities, pumpkins have brought comfort to Kusama. A fixation that can be traced back to her early days, pumpkins first appeared in 1946 as part of her artwork in a traveling exhibition in her childhood town of Matsumoto. Today, Kusama dominates the international art scene with a style that she herself describes as “Kusama Art”. Both surreal by design and humorous in nature, her recent “faces” illustrate a kaleidoscope of ultra-colorful eyes and cellular shapes that reflect her instinctual approach and appetite for joy. Kusama’s most iconic and recognizable signature, polka dots have driven her creativity since she was a child. Showcased in her early artworks in the late 1960s, dots were for her a way to infinity, senseless and unknowing with their borderless shape. Repetitive dots have appeared throughout her work, finding their way across a wide range of media such as paintings, sculptures, performances, and installations.
KUSAMA-IFY YOUR WORLD
See the world through Kusama’s eyes thanks to social filters inspired by her signature motifs.
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