The purchase of the work has been made possible through a grand gift from Sparebankstiftelsen DNB. Yayoi Kusama (born 1929) is well known for her universe of fresh colors and sprawling patterns that cover the surface of paintings, sculptures and entire rooms. In the middle of this boundless visual world, you find the artist herself. She is a unique and groundbreaking artist whose work for over 60 years has played a central role in the development of contemporary art.
In art history Kusama’s work are truly original contributions to post-war, and neo avant-garde art. Since her time in the center of New York’s avant-garde, her art has circled around the same basic themes: fantasies of infinity, dizzying psychological space one can disappear in, and the desire to be extinguished by the world. In Kusama’s art, infinity is both a cosmic space, a spiritual idea and a bottomless psychological depth.
The attraction to this great nothing is characterized by both lust and anxiety. The Hymn of Life installation was designed specifically for the exhibition tour with Yayoi Kusama, and was shown for the first time at Høvikodden at the art center’s big Kusama exhibition in 2016.
Gallery name: Henie Onstad Kunstsenter
Address: Sonja Henies vei 31, Høvikodden
Opening hours: Tue-Sun 11:00 - 17:00
Open: 12.11.2019 - 31.10.2021
