CF LECTURE / FILM SERIES
SPONSORED BY BENTLEY GALLERY/BENTLEY PROJECTS

Yayoi Kusama

“I ADORE MYSELF”

A documentary film celebrating the 80th birthday of Yayoi Kusama

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

4pm and 7pm

Phoenix Art Museum – Whiteman Hall
Central at McDowell

Admission is Free – Everyone is Welcome

You Who Are Getting Obliterated in the Dancing Swarm of Fireflies is one of the most popular installations in the Katz Contemporary Wing at Phoenix Art Museum. Its creator, Yayoi Kusama, the "Princess of Polka Dots," is about to celebrate her 80th birthday, and this film celebrates the life and accomplishments of this avant-garde artist.

I ADORE MYSELF is the first American film to focus on Kusama's remarkable story. Kusama is considered Japan's greatest artist and in 2006, she was named Japan's Praemium Imperiale Laureate for lifetime achievement in painting - one of the world's most prestigious art prizes. The film deals with all aspects of the artist's life and is especially candid about the fact that she lives by choice in a mental hospital in Tokyo, where she has continued to produce work since the mid 1970s. Her studio is a short distance from the hospital, and Kusama is often quoted as saying, "If it were not for art, I would have killed myself a long time ago."