Presenting Yayoi Kusama's life in graphic novel form is the perfect way to tell the famous Japanese artist’s story. Having seen her work, both in Japan and in the United States, I loved getting to know more about her childhood and her drive to create art that is rooted in both Eastern and Western cultures. Elisa Macellari's art is bold and immersive, reflecting Kusama's vivid imagination, especially through the use of her famous red dots which appear in various iterations throughout the book. After breaking with her family in Japan, Kusama moves  to New York, where she continues to struggle with mental health issues as she finds her artistic voice through experimentation and performance art and forges unique friendships with famous American artists. This is a vibrant, informative graphic novel that will delight art lovers and fans of Kusama's work.

This graphic novel was so beautiful. I’m a longtime fan of Yayoi Kusama and it was eye opening to read this experience of her life. The illustrations were gorgeous and I loved the color palette! It was a quick and easy read with some really lovely art to accompany it.

3.5 ⭐️
Following the prolific Yayoi Kusama from birth to old age, we see her struggling with breaking free of the confines of Japanese normality. At  young she is discouraged from pursuing art by her parents but her love for art transcends all. Her longest relationship is with art and has always been in the forefront in her life. We follow her life through her successes and personal hardships. We see her struggling with battle with mental illness which I thought was some wonderfully. 

The art in this graphic novel was beautiful and really embodies Kusama‘s essence. The colours did a great job converting her inner feeling. We can see a change in colour palette from her childhood to adulthood in New York. As her style evolves, so does the style in the book. In the beginning the comic is confined to boxes but as it progresses it becomes more free flowing and grander, exactly like Kasuma. I would give the art a 5/5. 

I would recommend this to anyone who has an interest in art or the artist.

the art in this is STUNNING! i love the story, and how the colour palette is intricate yet fluid as it moves with the characters and the story. i flew through this and found myself engaged on every page

first id like to thanks netgalley and the author for giving the opportunity to read and review the book. secondi love kusama yayoi’s art i really do but i thought the book didn’t cover a lot from life time and only fragments of it but its okay i enjoyed the book.

I first heard of Yayoi Kusama when I visited one of her infinity rooms at the Tampa Museum of Art. Since then, her style and life have fascinated me. This graphic novel was beautifully written and illustrated to tell the story of Kusama in a style that is true to her. I absolutely love it and would recommend it to anyone who wants an introduction to Kusama.

We delve into the story of a young girl born in Japan, her family problems, and her dilemmas about the life she wants to live.
Kusama is a girl who seeks to become known as an artist and achieves it and in this work we see her beginnings, her problems, her passage through time until the end, how she was considered in the USA how she lived mostly there and the events that happened .
We see how Japanese society saw her, and everything that surrounded her returning there, the life of the artist Kusama is very interesting and at times very intriguing. This graphic novel shows us her art, and her peculiar way of narrating the story makes her very close to knowing the artist, the truth was very hypnotizing and it was a pleasure to read about the artist, in her we can also see the growth of the art world with women and their evolution over the decades and how people see it in society.

I've always been fascinated by Yayoi Kusama's art, and I was really excited to learn more about her life. Her life story is really compelling, and the artwork in this graphic novel was absolutely gorgeous. Highly recommend this

Review to come September 10th on blog/goodreads.

I received this book from Netgalley in exchange of an honest review.

I knew I had to try out this book, a graphic novel about a great artist? Sign me up. Plus, the cover was just fantastic and captured the Kusama perfectly. 

This one is about mental health, about dreams, about family, about finding your way in the world, setting your own path. It was beautifully drawn, and there was also text accompanying the illustrations to tell us more and give us dialogue. 

We see how Kusama lives in a strict family, a father who cheats on his wife, a mother who is horrible and mean (at least in my eyes because no parent would do the things she did). We see how Kusama hears things that aren't there/shouldn't talk. We see her lose herself in her art and try to make something out of it as she definitely isn't letting her mom's opinions take over and I loved that. I loved that she went out to find someone to get her out of the country, to free herself from the shackles of her family. 

We see how her mental health affects her. I already read some about Kusama and her mental health but seeing it drawn is a total different story. I think the author did a great job on illustrating the mental health parts.  

I loved seeing various other artists who knew/know Kusama, like Salvador Dali. 

OK, there was one scene that had me laughing and that was when Joseph called. How in heavens name is the phone staying on her head like that? Believe me, that is not how phones work. :P

The book was amazing and we see her from young to old, we see her whole journey and history and it while this book was just 126 pages it never felt rushed. Every part of Kusama's history gets a spot. Wonderfully done! I would highly recommend this one.

I just enjoyed reading this! 

To be honest, until I finished reading this book, I wasn't familiar with the artist Yayoi Kusama and her work. But once I finished, I did look up on the internet about her work. 

The author has done an amazing job in depicting Kusama's style of work. To a common admirer like me, her art is full of fun. But once I read this biography my appreciation for her work has no words especially considering the troubled imagination from which her work spawned.

 Yayoi Kusama's story is classic example of- how believing in your dreams irrespective of what anyone thinks and pursuing them with hard work, will definitely lead you to the path of success.

Thank You to NetGalley and  Laurence King Publishing for this ARC!

Insightful and beautifully illustrated and written. I really enjoyed this graphic memoir and high recommend it to anyone.

This is my first review for #NetGalley!  I signed up recently because why not.  I like books, and I like my hobby of reviewing books, and I was lucky enough to have been given the opportunity to have an early look at Elisa Macellari's beautiful graphic novel about Yayoi Kusama, KUSAMA: THE GRAPHIC NOVEL.  Thank you so much to the publisher, Lawrence King Publishing. Also, I believe it was translated from the original Italian, which makes it great for #WITMonth!  

Kusama is one of my favorite artists, not only because her immersive works are gorgeous and terrifying and enchanting and wonderful, but because she has overcome EVERYTHING to become what she is.  She was raised in post-war Japan by oppressive parents who were anything but supportive of her ambition to become an artist, has suffered from mental illness for her entire life, and yet! She, a young, broke, Japanese woman left home to live alone in New York to make art and...she made it. Granted, she still struggles with her mental health, but she is making art because it is the only way she knows how to live.  I love her work and I admire and am inspired by her tenacity.  I have stood in long lines to see her exhibits and journeyed out to the Rockaways in 2018 to experience Rockaway! 2018: A Narcissus Garden, which was nothing short of incredible. I'm very much looking forward to her installation at the New York Botantical Garden, which was postponed until 2021 due to COVID. 

This biographical graphic novel is beautiful, if a bit restrained.  It tracks her story and style from the more traditional Japanese, through her provocative naked-people art of the 1960's, and up through the pumpkins and infinity rooms of today, all the while including the dots, always the dots.  I'm docking a star because it really does skim a bit, particularly near the end - she is still rocking it and making amazing installations in her 90's!  That said, it is a lovely introduction to Yayoi Kusama's life and work, recommended for both her many admirers and folks who maybe aren't as familiar with her contemporary art.

Format: ARC e-book, via Netgalley
Read for:
2020 Reading Women Challenge Prompt 15 - A biography (This is my last book for this challenge! Hooray!  Roundup post coming soon via Instagram.)

Kusama by Elisa Macellari is a graphic novel biography to the wonderfully eccentric Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama. The illustration style is a beautiful homage to the artist herself, using a similar colour palette and her repetitive infinity net style to convey her neurosis. It admirably tackles how Kusama pulls herself through dark times and manages her mental health through her passion in art. 

I didn't give Kusama a higher rating, because it felt like it was only skimming the surface of her life and work. I felt like it could have gone a little deeper.

3/5

Thanks to NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This is a great insight into the artist Yayoi Kasama.
Many people may be familiar with this artist because of the distinct trend she started in the 1960 and 70's.
The artists struggle with mental illness, family values, culture, and art are very relatable.This is a short graphic novel of her art and life, there are more in depth books.
This is a great introduction of who was Yayoi Kasama.

3.5 stars, pointedly rounded up

A simple color scheme serves this graphic biography well: Japanese artist, Kusame’s signature tomato red, sky blueish, a pinch of desert peach and stark contrasts of black and white dot the story with biographical scenes. Kusame had a life of suffering and psychic disorders and a sense of melancholy permeates the pages.  

Like good books in all genres, Macellari’s graphic novel makes the reader want to discover more. I looked up more information about Kusama and her art. (I vaguely remember reading about nude performance art and polka dots when I was a young teen. Her ‘performance art’ was considered quite inappropriate in many circles.)   

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to the publisher for giving me this copy in exchange for an honest review. 

I really loved this. Especially the art style. It's so unique an captivating. 

The story is quite dark but yet beautiful. It really shows that when you have a dream and you pursue it, it doesn't matter what your parents or family members think. They will be proud of your achievements in the end no matter what. So don't let their prejudice make you choose your path around the world.

I thought this read was very fun and well paced and would recommend it very much.

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!