YAYOI KUSAMA, Self-Obliteration No. 2, 1967
Exhibition poster
60 × 45 cm (23.6 × 17.7 in)
Unframed

Kalkeriet is pleased to present, in collaboration with the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, a poster featuring Self-Obliteration No. 2 by Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama (b. 1929), published on the occasion of Kusama – In Infinity, Louisiana’s groundbreaking retrospective held in 2016–2017. The exhibition was the first comprehensive presentation of Kusama’s work in Scandinavia and became one of the most visited shows in the museum’s history.

Kusama is a singular figure in modern art—utterly unique, deeply original, and beloved across the globe. The motif of this poster stems from her formative years in 1960s New York, where she lived and worked amidst emerging movements such as Pop Art and Minimalism. Though present in these circles, Kusama forged her own radically distinctive path, shaped by her identity as a non-Western, female artist.

Self-Obliteration No. 2 reflects the early stages of what would become her iconic visual language: hypnotic repetition, bold patterning, and an immersive use of color. Over the following decades, Kusama expanded her universe into large-scale environments filled with vibrant, polka-dotted forms that envelope viewers in an almost psychedelic experience.

At the center of this visual world is Kusama herself—an ever-present artist figure who appears not only behind the work but within it. Through a kind of artistic camouflage, she often dresses in matching patterns, visually merging with her creations and emphasizing the idea of self-obliteration as both a personal and artistic act.