Yayoi Kusama’s 2018 exhibition at Victoria Miro in London drew some 92,000 visitors. For her show at David Zwirner, which opens in November and features a new Infinity Mirrored Room, they’re expecting 100,000 people, lines around the block and – of course – one hell of a presence on Instagram. Kusama’s polka dots, pumpkins, polished metal balls and mirrors are the I-was-there backdrops of our time, regardless of their standalone quality. In this regard, Kusama is a hugely important figure in the artworld’s transitioning and ballooning into – well, whatever it’s turning into, underwritten by social media and FOMO. The guaranteed turnstile action means she’s a huge draw with museums – and she’s had her own in Tokyo since 2017 – though there’s also an undervoiced case for her art speaking to the revival of interest in psychedelic experiences. What’s unarguable is the gratifying irony that the artworld’s hottest ticket is for shows by a pumpkin-obsessed ninety-year-old woman.
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Power 100
Most influential people in 2019 in the contemporary artworld
8
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Yayoi Kusama
Artist - Much-instagrammed blockbuster artist
8 in 2019
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