I wasn't familiar with Kusama's work or story before I read this graphic novel, but I really liked getting to know more about them. She seems like an inspiring and talented woman, and the book seems to do her justice: the illustrations are fantastic, the writing is compelling, and I'm in love with the colors.

I recently read Kusuma, a graphic novel by @elisamacellari. I received a free electronic copy from @netgalley in exchange for an honest review. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
*
The illustrations are gorgeous! Most of the images use a color palette of black, white, red, and aqua. I learned of Kusuma a few years ago, when her exhibit came to a local art museum. This book taught me that Kusuma had a storied career dating back to the 1960s. Born in Japan, she moved to the United States to pursue her art freely. She did a good deal of performance art to protest war. She also used art as a way to cope with mental illness. Despite Kusuma earning worldwide accolades, her parents were ashamed of her rebellious ways and died before learning that Japan honored her. Kusuma was friends with Andy Warhol and Georgia O’Keefe, Salvador Dali, and the book illustrates their relationships.
*
Beautiful and informative book about an influential artist whose career has spanned over 60 years.

Thanks to NetGalley for sending me an ARC of this comic book. The illustrations and color palette were reminiscent of Kusama’s own work. The story telling hopped around a bit but as it was a short and condensed telling of the artist’s life’s highlights it was written in a clear enough timeline (especially thanks to stating the years on each event.) I think it excels as a great introduction to Yayoi Kusama.

Thank you to Laurence King Publishing Ltd and NetGalley for the Advanced Reader's Copy!

Available Sept 15 2020

I remember enviously and wonderously staring at my friend's Instagram posts in the Kusama galleries in New York and Chicago. I wished so badly to be in those large rooms, staring at the infinite circles of life. However, I had no idea about Kusama's equally compelling life story. Thanks to Elisa Macellari's simple yet effective illustrated biography, I learned about Kusama's early years, her free love campaigns in New York City in the 60s and the eventual hospitalization. In simple red, black and white, Macellari stays true to Kusama's original style and tries to do her justice.

My only critique would be that I would have liked to see more words from Kusama herself. Oftentimes, the author attempts to summarize large patches of time. However, perhaps that is the limitation of the biography genre as a whole. Overall, an enjoyable read!

I wasn't familiar with Kusama before reading this title. After searching for her online, I can definitely see how her work inspired the art in this book. I enjoyed the introduction and the art was really beautiful. I feel like overall I got a very basic introduction to who Kusama was and just wish the book have been a bit longer and maybe carried a little bit more depth.

3.8
Kusama by Elisa Macellari is a biographical graphic novel based around the life of the Japanese contemporary artist, Yayoi Kusama, who's art rose to prominence in New York in the 1960's.
I feel for quick information on the artist, her work and the times she lived it this was a very good book. It gives interest to want to learn more and to look her up and see what the art looked like.
However, maybe it is because I am not a huge modern art fan the art did not impress me much. I felt the story it told was very sad. A girl in a conservative traditional home where the husband cheats and the mother makes her little daughter go see it and report back just to berate her for it. It is no wonder in the time of the 60's that she would grab onto the free love movement and how america was embracing that idea and rebealing against authority because it was a reflection of what she had felt and seen as a child. I felt that part was shown in the work and also an anger towards men and how they treat women. Also sad how she was dealing with a mental issue that seemed to be overlooked by others and not treated correctly. I feel that alot of the story was not there but what can you say in that little bit of time. Also the author is a big fan so it is safe to say that they would put in the book what impressed on them the most. I liked the book but did not love it. I am grateful I was able to read it however since it is another voice in art and history and introduced me to her to look into more. thank you Elisa Macellari and netgalley for introducing me to her and allowing me to read/review this book.

Kusama: The Graphic Novel
*𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗯𝗲 𝗽𝗼𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗼𝗻 𝗺𝘆 𝗯𝗼𝗼𝗸𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗺 𝗼𝗻 𝟴/𝟭𝟲/𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟬
While I am continuing to post my regular content, the BLM movement is still going on. Please keep referring to my story and linktree to find ways to help out.✊🏻‼️
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Hiya! Welcome back to another netgalley review! Hope you enjoy!😊
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Kusama: The Graphic Novel chronicles the life of famous Japanese artist Yoyai Kusama (obviously). She moved from rural Japan to New York, and despite having many tough hurdles in her way, Kusama makes it all the way to international stardom. This graphic memoir is not one you want to miss.😉
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I have to admit, before I saw this book on netgalley, I had no idea who Kusama was, or what her art looked like. However, flipping through the pages was an absolute treat, and I found it very interesting to follow her abstract life, and art. The topic of mental health was dealt with such care, and you could tell the author really did her research to really delve deep into Kusama’s story. I one hundred percent recommend this.☺️
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What memoir did you read last? Let me know!💋
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Dm me to talk about all things book or writing related! I’ll be looking forward to it! —Em😌

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I believe one would be hard-pressed to find a more suitable form to illustrate such a magnificent and inspiring life. The artwork and immersive storytelling were very well-done.

I got this ARC on Netgalley for a exchange /honest review & rated this 3.5 out of 5 stars. It was a refreshing take on a graphic novel biography and appreciated the narrative a reader can go into understanding the life of Kusama. I appreciated how the stylistic elements aligned with Kusama’s artistic style to give the reader more context and immersion to her works. I find it challenging to condense someone’s life into a short amount of pages (under 200) but this is a pretty good read if you’re interested in a new spin of biographies.

A wonderful graphic novel about an artist I hadn’t even heard of but keen to learn more now. Beautifully illustrated and a fascinating story about culture, art and mental health.

Thanks to NetGalley for my review copy.

Firstly thank you to Net Gallery for sending me an early copy to review.

Kusama is a graphic novel about the Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama. The novel takes us on a journey through her life . It begins in Japan in 1939, she is told by her mother a woman who paints has no future. This only makes Yayoi more determined to show her art to the world which brings her to New York.

The illustrations truly capture what was in Yayoi's head. From a young age she experienced hallucinations and dots that became visible to others (literally on others too) through her work .

The graphic novel takes us through several decades of art, beauty and war.

I didn't know anything about Kusama before reading this graphic novel and I learnt a lot about her and her life.

I loved the illustrations and the colours used throughout - it was beautiful and great art itself. I think it's such a great idea to tell a life story in this way - it was a quick and easy read but full of information.

I am now interested to learn more about Kusama and look into her more recent artwork and exhibitions.

Thank you to NetGalley and Lawrence King Publishing for an eArc in exchange for an honest review.

This is a gorgeously illustrated graphic novel of Yayoi Kusama’s life, dealing with many difficult topics, including mental illness,

I was a bit disappointed at how the book ended, and that it didn’t go into the current craze about Kusama and the infinity mirror exhibits she has around the world but otherwise, definitely learned a lot about this artist.

Kusama is punctuated by its absolutely beautiful and vivid artwork. I love the creativity of Elisa Macellari in both storytelling, personal vulnerability, and visual method. I can see this as the kind of book that pushes the graphic novel medium in noteworthy and award-winning ways.

I knew little about this artist before I read this book and I thought it was a very good introduction to her life and work, but was slightly disappointed that it seemed to end so abruptly. It didn’t really highlight how she is still exhibiting her work today at 91 years old. The art of this graphic novel is fantastic, however. I really loved the color story and the contrast with Georgia O’Keefe was stunning. It was really well done how the author incorporated Kusama’s aesthetic into the narrative of her life. I received an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

I was lucky enough to to visit one of Kusama’s art installations in Indianapolis in October 2019. It was a mirrored infinity room full of spotted pumpkins. Although we were only allowed less than a minute to enjoy the piece, it has remained with me. The graphic novel did much to explain the motivation behind her art. Her psychosis and childhood trauma are on full display in her works. This book has made me want to learn more about her performance art as well. My only regret in reading this book is that it ends many years ago and she has done so much since that time. I will recommend this graphic novel to patrons interested in learning about contemporary art as well as those wishing for inspiration to follow their dreams.

Way back in December, before all of this COVID-19 stuff started, I took the kids to visit an installation by Kusama at the Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston. It as an immersive experience where you were broken into small groups and stepped into a mirrored room full of polka dot protrusions. Amazing stuff.

So, when I saw that a new graphic biography of the artist was being released I decided to check it out. Yayoi Kusama was born in Japan and moved to the US in the late 1950's to pursue her art career. For most of her life she had experienced psychiatric issues and some of this obviously had some impact on her art. She was a contemporary with Warhol in NYC and her provocative art sometimes included performance pieces featuring naked models on the streets of New York.

This is a great read for anyone interested in Kusama or in art in general. The art work is in a limited color palette featuring primarily reds and turquoises and is stunning. The books starts out with a style more similar to classical Japanese art and shifts to be more of Kusama's own unique style as the book progresses.

This graphic novel introduced me to the work of Yayoi Kusama. I greatly enjoyed reading about her early life in Japan, the difficult relationship with her parents, and her escape to NYC where she pursued different types of art, many involving polka dots and series of objects. Even in the US, the society was (and sadly still is) inherently patriarchal and her art and activism became more political. The artwork in the comic book was rich and impressive, with stark colours, and appears loyal to the artist itself, There were many topics that were touched upon that I wish had been explored further such as mental health, her art and happenings involving the LGBTQ community. Nevertheless, this is a great start and definitely succeeds in instilling into the reader a need to find out more about this terrific artist.

Wow, I adored this graphic novel. The polka dots are iconic but I didn't know Kusama's history and the novel makes me crave more about her endeavors. Her troubled history, her dalliances with household names Warhol, etc., her nudist activism - fascinating, all of it and I'm ashamed I didn't know more about her. Thank you for opening my eyes. This graphic novel is beautiful and would make a wonderful gift for anyone and everyone.

This graphic novel felt like the literary equivalent of fan art. It is essentially a love letter to the artist Yayoi Kusama who reached the height of her success at a time when the industry was dominated by men. As a Japanese woman, Kusama struggled with the values instilled in her by her traditional and conservative parents and you can see how the art and installations she created in the 1960s were in direct response to that. The book also explores the dissociative episodes that Kusama endures throughout her life and how these episodes affected her work which was interesting to read about.

I really enjoyed the art style and colour palette used in this work, I found it hypnotic, almost calming and it caused me to seek out Kusama's work to better understand the author's influences. I was happy to discover that this book was translated from the Italian which was very welcome especially during Women in Translation month.

Unfortunately, I couldn't give this book a full 5 stars because its content felt a little thin. We skim over long periods of Kusama's life and I feel I learned as much about her life as I would have done by reading her Wikipedia page. This is likely because, while the author is a fan, they don't seem to have access to Kusama/her friends and family so there are no real insights into Kusama as a woman at least not as far as I could tell. It made me interested to learn more about Kusama though and was an excellent start to my learning about a woman who seems to have been hugely important for modern art.