In 1973 she moved back to Japan and in 1977 she voluntarily admitted herself to a hospital where she has spent the rest of her life. Here she experimented with different movements, from pop art to the hippie counterculture. Following an abusive childhood, she studied the Japanese art of Nihonga painting in Kyoto before moving to New York in 1957. Her work, deeply rooted in the artist’s own fears and troubled past, is edgy and obsessive, with dots as a reoccurring motif. Yayoi Kusama (born in 1929 in Matsumoto, Nagano, Japan) is one of the most influential art figures of the past century, inspiring personalities such as Andy Warhol or Yoko Ono, among other artists, fashion designers, filmmakers or architects. Looking back at her biography and past works could offer a deeper understanding of her obsessive art. It is a fun project, but one that is based on the artist’s troubled childhood, that has more in that one can imagine. The white room works as a canvas for visitors – its furniture and details blend in together as colorful dots take over. ‘The Obliteration Room’ was fist displayed at the Queensland Art Gallery in 2002, as an art project for children, and in 2012, it was presented at Tate Modern.

What’s more is that visitors can contribute to the piece, in a participatory process. A particular piece was “The Obliteration Room” (2002 – present) that has more than what its looks convey. Looking like a typical American house in the exterior, with generic furniture and fittings in the interior, it captures the visitor with a vivid comostion: all is white, waiting to be covered in colorful dot stickers. New York’s David Zwirner art gallery was recently host to the ‘Give Me Love’ installation – a collection by Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama.

The obliteration room