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
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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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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.

Kusama: A Graphic Biography by Elisa Macellari is a stunning work showing the arc(s) of Kusama's career.

In my case, I am familiar with her work and would highly recommend trying to take in one of her exhibitions or permanent Infinity Rooms. I have attended two exhibitions (went back a few days later for one of them, so have experienced her infinity room three times) and would attend another if the opportunity arises. As someone familiar with her work and, to a lesser degree, her life, this book was a fun overview. What it offers someone like myself is a big picture of her life and career, the arc or arcs of her career. I didn't need to read details of every mental break down, though her autobiography offers plenty of her life details should anyone be interested. The artwork here shows as often as it tells the reader how Kusama is feeling, a tear shed, a graphic timeline of her aging.

For those unfamiliar with Kusama this is a great introduction to both her work and her life. You will get a feel for what she was doing and why, as well as just enough personal life story to understand to some extent what drives her. This is not a detailed biography but this is so much more than, as one person said, a Wikipedia entry. Well, I guess if you're lacking in the emotional aspect and just want facts then the facts might be there, but without the graphic representations of fear, disgust, drive, ambition, and the many elements that are lacking in any such entry. But if you just want facts and don't care about the emotional aspect, then maybe this is, for you, no better than a Wikipedia entry. But I do feel sorry for you if that is the case, you are incapable of feeling empathy from the expressive artwork of this graphic biography.

I highly recommend this to both old and (soon to be) new admirers of Kusama's work. It strikes a nice middle between a detailed biography and a cold Wikipedia-type entry. Sometimes, even for those who know her life and work, a big picture view helps to put everything back into perspective.

Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley.

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.

I have to admit that I've never even heard of this artist or her journey before reading this graphic biography of hers. I love pop colors and her style is energetic, fun, and its circumstances are different.

I always love reading women's success stories and especially if they face struggles to achieve what they want, and Kusama being from a conservative family in Japan, to do what she did in New York, was quite impressive.

After reading it, I looked for her art online and I have to say the the graphic novel is quite true to her style and her iconic paintings.

I thank Netgalley for the digital ARC.

I’ve really been loving these artist bio graphic novels from Laurence King Publishing, and the Yayoi Kusama edition is no exception.

This illustrated bio of Kusama’s life and work is simply lovely, perfect for both ardent Kusama fans and the Kusama-curious.

Her story is charmingly rendered in the text and the art is terrific, evocative of Kusama’s aesthetic while not simply mimicking her work.

My only familiarity with this artist's work was from two picture book biographies that I recently read. The books for small children refer to Kusama's avant-garde art in age-appropriate ways, emphasizing the infinity dots and the pumpkins instead of phallic symbols and nude bodies, so I was not prepared for the level of sexual imagery and detail that would appear in this adult graphic novel biography. 

I might not have read it if I had known, but aside from that, I greatly enjoyed this book. It is well-designed and informative, and I enjoyed learning more about Kusama's background, frustrated relationship with her parents, and mental health issues, which the books for younger readers glossed over. This book is beautifully designed, with vibrant art that evokes her style while still remaining unique, and even though I visually skimmed past the nudity, I pored over other pages, noticing all the vivid details and the interplay between different colors. This is a beautiful, artistic book, and the presentation suits the subject matter.

I would highly recommend this to fans of Kusama's art, and it is also a great introduction to her life and work for people who are nor familiar with her. However, people who share my preference for avoiding nude art should know that this book includes a lot of it. Also, another significant trigger warning is that (SPOILER_WARNING in an early scene from the artist's childhood, she sees her father in bed with another woman and is traumatized by this. The implication is that her later phobias about sexuality and preoccupation with it in her art stemmed from this horrifying experience. The scene that she beholds is illustrated vaguely, with no sex organs visible, but is still drawn to be disturbing. END_SPOILER)

This is an interesting, informative book, and I am glad that I read it, but it definitely falls outside of my usual content preferences. I was able to visually skim past parts, and didn't feel particularly uncomfortable, but I know that I would have had a very different experience with this several years ago, and would give a heads up to parents and teenagers that even though this book is on an accessible reading level for middle grade and up, it involves content that not all families or individuals will be comfortable with.