When someone mentions the name Yayoi Kusama our first thoughts turn to bright colours and dozens and dozens of polkadots. However, a recent show at Victoria Miro shows that the Japanese artist has recently taken a different turn.
White Infinity Nets is made up of just that. A lot of white, under the guise of nets. Every single on display at the gallery is completely void of colour. It is almost clinical. It is clean, but not clinical. Over the top of the images are painted white nets. We can see this in the thick texture of the white on the blank canvases. Despite this, many of the images are multitonal. Different shades of grey become apparent. Some of the images are reminiscent to me of flowers.
In Britain, we are most familiar with the images shown in last years Kusama exhibition at Tate Modern. However, these infinity nets were first produced in the 1950s. Consequently these images have been revisited again and again over the years and are now for the first time on display in Europe at the new Victoria Miro gallery in Mayfair.
The exhibition is somewhat refreshing. The eyes can take a break from the loud bright images that are dominating contemporary art these days. What is also different is here the dots become secondary to the nets, where in the images on display last year, the dots seem to come before the background.
White Infinity Nets are on display at Victoria Miro until 9 November at Victoria Miro