From rural Japan to international icon, Yayoi Kusama has spent her remarkable life immersed in her art.
Follow her incredible journey in this graphic biography which details her bold departure from Japan as a young artist, her embrace of the buzzing New York art scene in the 1960s, and her eventual return home and rise to twenty-first-century super-fame.
... a welcome change, providing insight into the artist’s pre-social media years ... Macellari cleverly introduces us to the figures that shaped Kusama’s art ... The novel’s color scheme, which is limited to teal, aqua, red, and warm pink, imbues it with its own distinctive character. Rather than trying to adopt Kusama’s aesthetic or accompany the story with straightforward depictions of characters and events, Macellari...remains faithful to her own style. Her writing is poignant as well ... Kusama: The Graphic Novel is an ode to the power of art[.]
Macellari cleverly deploys dots throughout the book: a nod to the theme, but also a way of communicating that for Kusama dots are everywhere ... Of course, Macellari does not solely rely on the dot to communicate her story: she integrates traditional Japanese prints into her work, giving texture to clothing, objects and skylines ... Macellari’s book offers some welcome insights.
Kusama is fascinating: an underdog who seeks solace in creativity and becomes a major figure in the art world, despite her health troubles and disapproving parents ... he distillation of Kusama’s long, full, and atypical life to a trim, fast-flowing graphic novel is admirable ... This marriage of text and visuals is magical ... a wonderful introduction to a gifted artist.
