The Life and Work of Yayoi Kusama, lecture with Page Knox, adjunct professor of Art History, Columbia University

The life and work of Yayoi Kusama is a unique testament to the healing power of art as well as a study in human resilience. Plagued by a troubled childhood and mental illness,  the young artist persevered by using her hallucinations and personal obsessions as inspiration in various disciplines, overcoming traditional, female-effacing Japanese culture and also coming of age in the male-dominated New York art scene. Join Page Knox for an in-depth discussion of paintings, sculpture, infinity rooms and more, by this most unique and beloved artist of our time.

Page Knox, an adjunct professor in the Art History Department of Columbia University, gives public gallery talks and lectures at the Met, teaches classes at the museum, and leads groups for Travel with the Met.

Before or after the lecture, attendees are invited to the Flinn Gallery on the second floor of the Library to experience Akinori Matsumoto Sound Garden, featuring another Japanese installation artist. Similar to the way Kusama uses color and repetition of dots in her work, Matsumoto uses handmade kinetic objects to compose random shadow and sound patterns, creating an immersive and transportive environment. Like Kusama, his work evokes the beauty of nature and bears a distinctive Japanese sensibility, playfully engaging the senses through an enchanting combination of light, shadow, shape, and sound.

Image credit: Wikimedia Commons