Organic. Esoteric. Effervescent. The art of Yayoi Kusama is as stimulating, graphic and  relevant today as it was upon its creation decades ago.
   
Yayoi Kusama: Early Drawings from the Collection of Richard Castellane on view at the Birmingham Museum of Art, December 3, 2000- January 28, 2001, highlights 60 drawings from the artist's vast oeuvre. Not anchored into one category, Kusama's art ranges from painting, collage and sculpture to installation, performance and film and writing, (that has garnered her critical success.) The 60 works are a kaleidoscope of pattern and color-a mirror of her faceted life: arriving in New York from Japan in 1958, Kusama felt that she must be in the company of the international art scene, creating avant guard art in order to be…
    She was not only embraced by the Minimal, Pop, Abstract and Happenings camps of the time, she presided over the hierarchy of the art world by establishing herself as separate but connected to the art world. She maintained her independence by staying focused on her reasons for creating. Her (still) avant guard talent and stealth intelligence was/is admirable- for a woman to attain status in the male dominated art world while preserving her dignity and style is of legendary quality.

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