Jinnie Lee: "The Abstract Work of Two Pioneering Japanese Artists, on View in New York"

“Atsuko Tanaka, Yayoi Kusama,” a recently opened exhibit at Paula Cooper Gallery in Manhattan’s Chelsea neighborhood, features a selection of works on paper and canvas by the two Japanese artists. They’re from the same generation — Kusama was born in 1929, Tanaka in 1932 — and both “hit their stride with abstract painting using repetitive motifs,” says Anthony Allen, a partner at the gallery who organized the show, but “they likely never met.” Kusama, who is famous for her polka dots and weblike “Infinity Nets” series, arrived in New York’s downtown art scene in her late 20s, whereas Tanaka, who fixated on circles and lines (which were prominent shapes in her 1956 “Electric Dress” performance), stayed in Japan and became a core member of the avant-garde Gutai movement. Both used performance, textiles and installations in their oeuvres and “dealt with similar obstacles,” Allen says. By showing Tanaka and Kusama together, he hopes to “dislodge each artist from the context in which they’re usually presented.” On display are several of Kusama’s early career pieces, including one of her lesser-known sticker collages, and a broader selection of Tanaka’s works spanning 1956 through 2001. The show also includes three short films — two of Tanaka’s, one of Kusama’s — and a series of documentary photos that capture each artist at work.