Kusama: The Graphic Novel

This beautifully made graphic novel made me know Kusama well without the gruelling task of reading her thick biography. It reminds us that she is the original pop art icon, even earlier than Warhol. It detailed her long forgotten stint in NYC before she went back to Japan as the Kusama we know today. I just wish that the book tackled more of her works and artistic progression. Macellari is a brilliant storyteller as shown in her texts and illustrations.

My 9 year old and I are fans of Kusama. I was caught so off guard when she picked up and started on the book last night. She woke up and asked me where’s the book. “Mom she says she hates sex” “Mom why does she dress people in costumes with b******”Clearly I have not read it the book. Based on the high ratings on these reviews I’m still hoping it is an interesting book for reading and collection. But I surely wished i had caught the warnings in these reviews.

This is an honest look at her life for its format and is beautify integrative of her work in depiction.

Kusama: A Graphic Biography by Elisa Macellari is a stunning work showing the arc(s) of Kusama's career.In my case, I am familiar with her work and would highly recommend trying to take in one of her exhibitions or permanent Infinity Rooms. I have attended two exhibitions (went back a few days later for one of them, so have experienced her infinity room three times) and would attend another if the opportunity arises. As someone familiar with her work and, to a lesser degree, her life, this book was a fun overview. What it offers someone like myself is a big picture of her life and career, the arc or arcs of her career. I didn't need to read details of every mental break down, though her autobiography offers plenty of her life details should anyone be interested. The artwork here shows as often as it tells the reader how Kusama is feeling, a tear shed, a graphic timeline of her aging.For those unfamiliar with Kusama this is a great introduction to both her work and her life. You will get a feel for what she was doing and why, as well as just enough personal life story to understand to some extent what drives her. This is not a detailed biography but this is so much more than, as one person said, a Wikipedia entry. Well, I guess if you're lacking in the emotional aspect and just want facts then the facts might be there, but without the graphic representations of fear, disgust, drive, ambition, and the many elements that are lacking in any such entry. But if you just want facts and don't care about the emotional aspect, then maybe this is, for you, no better than a Wikipedia entry. But I do feel sorry for you if that is the case, you are incapable of feeling empathy from the expressive artwork of this graphic biography.I highly recommend this to both old and (soon to be) new admirers of Kusama's work. It strikes a nice middle between a detailed biography and a cold Wikipedia-type entry. Sometimes, even for those who know her life and work, a big picture view helps to put everything back into perspective. As an aside, I don't think this is inappropriate for children as long as it leads to discussion. Funny how the father having a heterosexual affair early in the book doesn't make it inappropriate for some readers but the inclusion of "LGBT scenes" later in the book do. Things that show people's true colors, huh.Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley.

In the 1940s and 1950s, mental health issues were often ignored. A Japanese artist named Kusama heard voices, had panic attacks, and suffered from hallucinations. Why? It is a chicken and an egg question. Did Kusama’s mental health issues drive her mother to be strict? Or did her mother’s harsh discipline cause Kusama’s mental health issues?Regardless, Kusama’s tale is an inspiring tale of resilience. She actually used her obsessive compulsive disorder to create incredible detailed paintings using dots. Sort of large, very large, scale pointillism, at least at first. She was one of the first female Japanese artists on the modern pop-art scene. She was a contemporary of Andy Warhol. Remarkable, she is still alive living in Japan.As Kusama finds her style, the artwork in book begins to move toward it too. There are some rather explicit Happenings including LGBT scenes in the second half making this book inappropriate for children. Otherwise, it is an interesting look into someone’s productive life even while dealing with mental illness. 4 stars!Thanks to Laurence King Publishing and NetGalley for a copy in exchange for my honest review.

Kusama by Elisa Macellari is a free NetGalley e-comicbook that I read in late September.The artist Yayoi Kusama creating art in New York and Japan with a gap of twenty years in between, drawing and painting at a high volume to keep schizoaffective symptoms at bay. Her art is made up of repeating dots and circular, nuggetlike loops that form textures, wavelengths with loud screeches and blares of red. She also has run-ins with other artists, arranging counterculture protest performances, relationship with Joseph Cornell, returns to Japan in its sameness and workaholic pace, and, after going into a psychiatric hospital, her art takes a turn into dark symbolism. Also, I offer a trichtophobic trigger warning if you research online for her real-life artpieces!

This book is AMAZING! I love it!

Un acercamiento bellísimo a la vida y obra de Yayoi Kusama.Sencillamente hipnótico.

My partner is a teacher and loved this concept to introduce amazing artist to the class!

#GraphicNovel Review#kusamaJust finished this stunning graphic art book chronicling the life of one of the most extraordinary artists of our times, Yayoi Kusama.Kusama battled mental health problems growing up in the 1930s in a troubled household where she became the recipient of her mother's rage. Hallucinations and voices in her head disturbed her to no end. She started painting as a way to escape those demons and later her art helped her to escape Japan which she saw as old fashioned and patriarchal.In New York she painted round the clock often food and sleep deprived even while her health problems and anxiety attacks continued. Before long her art career took off. Her exhibitions and her unique art captures the imagination of the art loving public across the US. Dancers,Actors,Models all were ready to perform for her, be a part of her sensational and scandulous performance art often stripping down to being completely naked and making love in public spaces, painted with polka dots by Kusuma.She came to be known as the Polka Dot genius. Recurring patterns and polka dots became a trademark part of her work. During the 1960s, Kusama's art work embodied the free spirited hippie culture which included denouncing war, sexism, and capitalism.At the height of her fame, her continued health problems force her to return from New York and seek medical help in Japan and she had to be kept under close care. In 1977 she enters the Seiwa Psychiatric Hospital where she still continues to live. In all the years of depression, art is her only solace as she continues to paint even while the World seems to have forgotten her.But eventually she makes a dazzling comeback at the Venice Biennale in 1966 and later she represents Japan officially in the Biennale exhibitions.Today at 93 she is still going strong and is known to be the world's best selling living artist. Her exhibitions draw huge crowds and queues so much so some galleries had to impose a time limit for each visitor to view her work.Autobiographies, documentaries and even a Museum on her life are now available but I am glad my first exposure to Kusama's amazing work and life has been through this graphic novel.Elisa Macellari has done an absolutely fabulous job recreating Kusama's life and art works. This book is a collectible and one I intend to treasure in my collection

Das Buch liest sich in einem Rutsch bzw. der Lebenslauf der Künstlerin ist so spannend, dass er sich über die Bild-Text-Kombination leicht erschließt.

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