Original version

BBC Four HD

BBC Four

Yayoi Kusama

Lesley Smith

Richard Bright

Polka Dot Superstar: The Amazing World of Yayoi Kusama

Documentaries

Factual: Arts, Culture & the Media: Arts

10/09/2014

BBC Four - Polka Dot Superstar: The Amazing World of Yayoi Kusama

Film following Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama during preparations for a retrospective.

Film following preparations for a Tate retrospective of Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama, whose use of repetitive patterns comes from hallucinations she has suffered since childhood.

Yayoi Kusama is Japan's most successful living artist. The 85-year-old is famed for her polka-dot-covered artworks, but behind her colourful art lies a troubled and difficult past.

The inspiration for Kusama's use of repetitive patterns comes from the hallucinations she has suffered since early childhood, and for nearly 40 years she has lived in a psychiatric hospital, fighting, through painting, the daily urge to commit suicide. 

This film follows Kusama during the preparations for Tate Modern's 2012 retrospective of her work, when Kusama undertook the mammoth physical and mental challenge of creating 100 new works for the largest-ever exhibition of her art.

Knowledge, arts, music and culture from the UK and the world.

BBC Four reflects arts, music and culture with an ambitious range of intellectually and culturally enriching programmes, taking an expert and in-depth approach to its subjects.

Accessibility links

Programme Index

Polka Dot Superstar: The Amazing World of Yayoi Kusama

Contributors

Genres

Formats

BBC Four HD

About BBC Four