Winter Series Session 2, Visual Patterns: Yayoi Kusama and Pacita Abad (online program)

Link to Register: https://www.artencounter.org/winter-series

Join Joanna Pinsky this winter for an in-depth view of six innovative female artists whose work has impacted different artistic and cultural communities. This series includes two online programs and two in-person visits to Chicago museums. For our second session on January 31, join us online to meet two artists who have increasingly received international recognition.

Born in 1929, Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama moved to New York in 1957 to explore her fascination with infinity by producing paintings, sculptures, and performance art events. While she exhibited alongside major pop artists and her performance pieces, considered outrageous, drew attention in the 1960’s, she decided to return to Japan in 1973. In 1977, by her own free will, she entered a mental hospital where she still resides. Regaining recognition in the 1990’s, she represented Japan in the 1993 Venice Biennale.                    

The daughter of a congressman who protested the Marcos regime, Filipino artist Pacita Abad was expected to go into law and politics, but a move to San Francisco changed her life, and a short marriage to an artist inspired her to pursue art. What remained was a commitment to social activism, and in a remarkable life that included worldwide travel, especially to underdeveloped countries, she created major artworks. She is known for her trapuntos: maximalist hanging textiles embroidered with mirrors from India, cowrie shells from Papua New Guinea, beaded fabric from Indonesia, buttons from the Philippines, and other travel-gathered bricolage.

Image Credit: Yayoi Kusama, left, and Pacita Abad, right, with their work