So I just read my first graphic novel and was very pleasantly surprised. Kusama is a graphic biography based on the life of Yayoi Kusama. Yayoi is an artist who was born in Japan in 1929. Her dream was to create art but being a female artist in Japan at that time was next to impossible. After a difficult childhood and an ongoing battle with mental illness in a time and country that did not recognize mental illness, Yayoi finally made her way to New York to fulfill her dreams. This biography was super interesting and the art style was great. There is some nudity as Yayoi did some nude living art so just a heads up there. If you are interested in graphic novels or art of any kind then I highly recommend this book. The release date is October 19th so not too much longer to wait!!! Now excuse me while I go and look up everything on Yayoi Kusama because she fascinates me!

*reviewed from uncorrected eARC / netgalley

graphic biography / Japanese artist (social history, mental illness)
a brief overview of the artist's life, just enough to pique the interest of readers who don't know a lot about Kusama.

The idea of learning about a new artist from Japan during the year that the Olympics was supposed to be held in their country was appealing and caused me to review this book via NetGalley. The cover is of one piece of art she created in NYC over her 20 years in the city. While she is not a common house hold name now, she was widely known during the same period as Warhol. Dealing with mental stress and taking medications most of her life, she used art to help overcome her diversions such as exposure to sex at a young age. (Though not directly worded, Kusama is an Ace, which helps add to our understanding of sexuality.) This graphic novel is short and easily enjoyed in one sitting, however there will be time spent afterwards researching and learning more about her career. She is still alive and creating art with a postponed retrospective coming out in 2021. Encouraged to expand my art knowledge, this GN is one to share as you will also be expanding your view and seeing how many artists intersect, even those who seem so unconnected.

I've always been enchanted with Kusama's works when I started following an art page in Twitter uplifting art by women. This graphic biography lends a creative lens on the life of the eccentric Yayoi Kusama.

Like most artists, Kusama's parents wasn't supportive of her artistic pursuits forcing her to forge her own path. The stereotype that artists have to be mentally ill and penniless isn't that baseless after all as Yayoi was in the throes of a serious illness all throughout her life. Art became her reprieve and a way for her to process her ideas and emotions.

The only installation I know of Kusama before was the one with phalluses and polka dots as well as the pumpkins. Her other eccentric works are highlighted here as well and we even get to see renowned artists like Salvador Dali and Andy Warhol! I have no idea that they were friends but this just goes to show how women of color are more often than not forgotten in the art scene.

While I like the overall aesthetic and art style of the graphic biography, I felt like there's so many details left out and even Kusama's inclination to pumpkins weren't given some spotlight here! I know for a fact she identifies as one 😂 I really wished that the writing expounded more of her life.

All in all this was a great read and I'm very thankful for Laurence King Publishing for sending me an eARC of this

I was only mildly familiar with Yayoi Kusama before reading this graphic novel. I knew who she was due to taking an art history class as well as my own Grandmother's interest in all things Japanese since she herself was Japanese.

What I expected going into this was a biographical graphic novel. But what I ended up with was a beautifully illustrated cliffsnotes version of Kusama's story.

Don't misunderstand. I liked this. The art was beautiful and I learned quite a bit more than I knew previously. To be honest my level of knowledge went from almost nothing to a little bit of knowledge thanks to this book.

This was pleasant to read thanks to Elisa Macellari's wonderful art. Kusama herself had (has) a life that ranged from sad to somber but the vivid colors and style of Macellari's art was the perfect vessel for Kusama's story.

I would still like to know even more about her life, but outside of a full biography, this was a good start. If you buy this, do it for the art. Do it for a taste of a larger story.

Thanks to Net Galley for providing me with an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Kusama is probably the most famous artist that no one outside of the art world, has ever heard of. And yet, we all know about Andy Worhal, who was a rival and a contemporary.

This short biographical graphic novel goes over her life, from her point of view, full of dots, always dots, because that is what she is famous for.

We go over how she left Japan, and made it to the United States to make her mark on the world. And her mark, other than little dots, was dots on people, performance art.

And she is still alive, 91 years old. Amazing woman, based on what little the book goes into of her life. Wrote to Georgia O'Keeffe to help her get into the art world.

Highly recommended as a way for others to learn about this amazing artist, and seek out more information about her, just as I did after reading this.

Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.

i had no idea graphic biographies were a thing, but i think i just discovered a new favorite genre.
i didn't know much about Kusama as an artist, or her work, before going into this. i really liked the pacing and the way the story line was told, it was really about seeing the making of an artist and i found it very interesting. the artwork is gorgeous, specially the color palette that, after doing a bit of research, definitely matches Kusama's style, but not in an exact-copy way.

2.5 rounded up

A quick read providing a brief biography of the artist. The illustrations were fun and I liked how they - and the colour scheme - took inspiration from Kusama's work, although I felt that the text itself was lacking in places and would have been better if it had been beefed up with a bit more information about her work and background.

I know the struggle is real.

The more your family, especially when it's your parents, when they are against what you live for.

When you have your dreams pushing you to love more and work more and achieve more;

When no one dear and close to you are the worse mortal enemies no one sees;

When you actually suffer every waking moment of your life when you struggle with being yourself;

Mental health, identity, being born as a woman, a profession taken to be as men's - all these issues are represented and illustrated quite well.

I would not allow myself to judge what artists do what they do for their work as their work as they art.
I would not judge an artist for their life or their personal relationships.

An amazingly done biographical book.

Dark and sad but captivating!


Thank you NetGalley for the ARC.

This is a beautiful graphic novel about the life and art of Yayoi Kasuma. I went to Infinity Mirrors at the Art Gallery of Ontario in 2018 and loved it. I learned a lot more about Kasuma’s life and her motivation for creating her art from this book.

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 was lucky enough to have been to a Kusama art exhibit that features her famous Infinite Room installation at The Broad in Los Angeles, California. While Kusama has a fascinating upbringing with her parents and growing up in Japan, the thing that stuck out to me the most with this graphic novel are the illustrations.

I adored Elisa Maceralli's artwork and her interpretation of Kusama's famous pieces. The art style and color story featured in this book is stunning and truly riveting.

I received this book free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Wow I didn't know that artist at all. I have to say that her work with the holes and stuff is quite unsettling 😂 but her performances I found very interesting. I'm grateful that I had a chance to hear about her. The graphic novel itself is a fast and well constructed read. I could relate to her mental health issues as well.

Thanks to Laurence King Publishing and NetGalley for this ARC. I :)