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Ambivalent Identity: Kusama Yayoi’s Intersectional Body Art of the 1960s

Ambivalent Identity: Kusama Yayoi’s Intersectional Body Art of the 1960s AbstractThe article discusses how identity was negotiated by the intersectional Japanese artist Kusama Yayoi. I focus on her body-centred works of the 1960s to showcase how she addressed various aspects of identity during her time in the U.S., and how she expressed social critique by means of bodily performance. In this article I will analyse and interpret one photograph by the artist previously discussed in my master’s thesis, an image of the so-called Presidential Orgy, a series of happenings staged in Kusama’s studio in 1968. I apply the method of visual analysis and draw on a variety of sources, both literary and visual, to give insight into the historical background, since it is crucial not to look at Kusama’s artworks as isolated objects. Rather, we need to understand that rapid changes in the art world, as well as in gender relations, the rise of popular media, and major societal events like the changes in the aftermath of World War II on the one hand, and the ongoing Vietnam War on the other, were pivotal factors causing cultural upheavals that became important themes in Kusama’s art in the 1960s. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Vienna Journal of East Asian Studies de Gruyter

Ambivalent Identity: Kusama Yayoi’s Intersectional Body Art of the 1960s

Braitner, Lisa
Vienna Journal of East Asian Studies , Volume 13 (1): 25 – Dec 1, 2021
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Publisher
de Gruyter
Copyright
© 2021 Lisa Braitner, published by Sciendo
eISSN
2521-7038
DOI
10.2478/vjeas-2021-0002
Publisher site
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Abstract

AbstractThe article discusses how identity was negotiated by the intersectional Japanese artist Kusama Yayoi. I focus on her body-centred works of the 1960s to showcase how she addressed various aspects of identity during her time in the U.S., and how she expressed social critique by means of bodily performance. In this article I will analyse and interpret one photograph by the artist previously discussed in my master’s thesis, an image of the so-called Presidential Orgy, a series of happenings staged in Kusama’s studio in 1968. I apply the method of visual analysis and draw on a variety of sources, both literary and visual, to give insight into the historical background, since it is crucial not to look at Kusama’s artworks as isolated objects. Rather, we need to understand that rapid changes in the art world, as well as in gender relations, the rise of popular media, and major societal events like the changes in the aftermath of World War II on the one hand, and the ongoing Vietnam War on the other, were pivotal factors causing cultural upheavals that became important themes in Kusama’s art in the 1960s.

Journal

Vienna Journal of East Asian Studies – de Gruyter

Published: Dec 1, 2021

Keywords: intersectionality; identity; body art; Kusama Yayoi; 1960s

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