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Kusama: Infinity (Heather Lenz, 2018)

#Kusama: Infinity #Yayoi Kusama #Heather Lenz #women artists #women painters #art #painting #52 films by women #women directors #films #japanese painters #twentieth century #twenty first century #documentaries #1k

Kusama:Infinity (2018)

#yayoi kusama #kusama infinity #heather lenz #documentary #f

September 2018 U.S. Theatrical Film Releases Directed By Women

September 7 Hal dir. Amy Scott (LIMITED) I Am Not a Witch dir. Rungano Nyoni (LIMITED) Kusama: Infinity dir. Heather Lenz (LIMITED) Nelly dir. Anne Émond (LIMITED)

September 14 I Think We’re Alone Now dir. Reed Morano (LIMITED) Lost Child dir. Ramaa Mosley (LIMITED) MDMA dir. Angie Wang (LIMITED) Science Fair dir. Cristina Costantini & Darren Foster (LIMITED) Where Hands Touch dir. Amma Asante (LIMITED)

September 19 Garry Winogrand: All Things are Photographable dir. Sasha Waters Freyer (LIMITED)

September 21 A Happening of Monumental Proportions dir. Judy Greer (LIMITED) Love, Gilda dir. Lisa DaPolito (LIMITED)

September 28 All About Nina dir. Eva Vives (LIMITED) Little Women dir. Clare Niederpruem (WIDE) Summer ‘03 dir. Becca Gleason (LIMITED)

Kusama: Infinity (2018) tells the story of Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama. It’s largely a story of rejection, but with a happy ending. Kusama’s art, which often invoked nets and accumulation, was not widely received until her ideas were stolen by her male counterparts. It wasn’t easy to be a female Japanese artist working in New York in the sixties. To make a name for herself, she started doing more performance art such as “selling your narcissism” in the form of mirror balls outside the Venice Biennale, nude protests of the Vietnam War, and officiating a gay wedding in 1968.

Poor mental health led her to return home to Japan, where she was misunderstood and considered scandalous and shameful. She had to effectively start her career over again. Years later, she’s considered to be the most popular living female artist.

I wish this was a better documentary. The story is told completely linear. A lot of the music feels tonally wrong. This film just doesn’t have much of an identity outside of its subject, but Kusama’s life is interesting enough to make the film worthwhile.