Yayoi Kusama, INFINITY-NETS (RED), 2018

Acrylic on canvas, 194 × 194 cm

A series belonging to “Infinity Nets.”

The most important way to appreciate this work is that “repetition is not ornamentation, but the movement of the spirit itself.” The canvas is filled with countless small arcs and nets, each a tiny brushstroke, yet together they evoke an endless expanse. MoMA explains that this series is Kusama's pursuit of “infinite repetition” and “infinite space,” indicating that the distinction between figure and ground dissolves, leaving the viewer unsure where the foreground ends and the background begins.

Kusama began painting “Infinity Nets” shortly after moving to New York in 1958 and exhibited them as early as 1959. This series created a completely different sense of scale and tension by endlessly accumulating minuscule repetitions, contrasting with the grand gestures of abstract expressionism of the time. Christie’s describes this series as integrating Eastern and Western elements while presenting Kusama's unique, thorough, and persistent gestures against the male-dominated abstract painting of the era. 

The Broad also describes Kusama's “Infinity Nets” as **“performance as painting,” “compulsion in space,” and “a visualization of another world.”** In other words, this is not merely an abstract pattern, but a direct transfer of the world Kusama sees, or the world she experiences internally, into the painting space. 

Regarding “RDUEL,” Christie’s describes it as a canvas where cadmium red brushstrokes spread infinitely over a dark ground. Thus, this work emphasizes the intensity of red within Kusama's infinite nets. Red is a color that simultaneously connotes vitality, excitement, warning, and pain, and in this work, it harbors strong tension and heat within quiet repetition. While the nets appear orderly, closer inspection reveals subtle wavering and inhomogeneity in each element. As a result, the canvas is not mechanical but emerges as a “living repetition” retaining the rhythm of the body. 

Christie’s further connects the red world of this work to a vision Kusama experienced in childhood: “crimson flowers filling the entire universe.”* This suggests that the red in this painting is not merely a color choice, but touches upon Kusama's primal visual experiences and mental imagery. The nets layered upon it are an act of ordering to avoid being swallowed by hallucinations and anxiety, and a way to confront chaos. 

Yayoi Kusama's relationship with spirituality

Kusama is known to have suffered from hallucinations and intense visual imagery since childhood. MoMA states that the net patterns can be seen as the materialization of such hallucinations. Christie’s also notes that Kusama herself felt the nets were a form of **“protection,”** and spoke of forgetting herself through repeated drawing, extending her sense of self into the entire space.

From this, it is clear that Kusama's repetition is not mere ornamentation, but an approach to self-healing, immersion, and self-obliteration. By continuously drawing nets, the contours of the self fade, dissolving into infinite space. Viewers, too, lose their visual footing before the canvas, entering a similar experience to Kusama's. 

From a distance, this work appears as a large red “field,” but upon closer inspection, it transforms into an accumulation of countless fine brushstrokes. This interplay between “the cosmic whole” and “the handmade part” is the essence of Kusama's work. Infinity in the distance, persistent repetition up close――this duality makes the work more than just an abstract painting. Source

Furthermore, the size of 194cm square is also significant. This is not merely a “painting” hanging on a wall, but an environmental scale that confronts the viewer's body directly. As The Broad states, Kusama's nets approach being an “environment” as much as a painting. This work is an extension of that, creating a sense of being enveloped rather than merely viewed.

“Infinity-Nets (RDUEL), 2018” is a work that crystallizes the themes of infinity, repetition, self-obliteration, and salvation that Yayoi Kusama has pursued for many years, as an intense red field. Seemingly calm yet overwhelming, appearing orderly yet unstable――the depth of this work lies in the simultaneous existence of these contradictory sensations.

2018  Acrylic on canvas, 194 × 194 cm

A series belonging to “Infinity Nets.”

The most important way to appreciate this work is that “repetition is not ornamentation, but the movement of the spirit itself.” The canvas is filled with countless small arcs and nets, each a tiny brushstroke, yet together they evoke an endless expanse. MoMA explains that this series is Kusama's pursuit of “infinite repetition” and “infinite space,” indicating that the distinction between figure and ground dissolves, leaving the viewer unsure where the foreground ends and the background begins.

Kusama began painting “Infinity Nets” shortly after moving to New York in 1958 and exhibited them as early as 1959. This series created a completely different sense of scale and tension by endlessly accumulating minuscule repetitions, contrasting with the grand gestures of abstract expressionism of the time. Christie’s describes this series as integrating Eastern and Western elements while presenting Kusama's unique, thorough, and persistent gestures against the male-dominated abstract painting of the era. 

The Broad also describes Kusama's “Infinity Nets” as **“performance as painting,” “compulsion in space,” and “a visualization of another world.”** In other words, this is not merely an abstract pattern, but a direct transfer of the world Kusama sees, or the world she experiences internally, into the painting space. 

Regarding “RDUEL,” Christie’s describes it as a canvas where cadmium red brushstrokes spread infinitely over a dark ground. Thus, this work emphasizes the intensity of red within Kusama's infinite nets. Red is a color that simultaneously connotes vitality, excitement, warning, and pain, and in this work, it harbors strong tension and heat within quiet repetition. While the nets appear orderly, closer inspection reveals subtle wavering and inhomogeneity in each element. As a result, the canvas is not mechanical but emerges as a “living repetition” retaining the rhythm of the body. 

Christie’s further connects the red world of this work to a vision Kusama experienced in childhood: “crimson flowers filling the entire universe.”* This suggests that the red in this painting is not merely a color choice, but touches upon Kusama's primal visual experiences and mental imagery. The nets layered upon it are an act of ordering to avoid being swallowed by hallucinations and anxiety, and a way to confront chaos. 

Yayoi Kusama's relationship with spirituality

Kusama is known to have suffered from hallucinations and intense visual imagery since childhood. MoMA states that the net patterns can be seen as the materialization of such hallucinations. Christie’s also notes that Kusama herself felt the nets were a form of **“protection,”** and spoke of forgetting herself through repeated drawing, extending her sense of self into the entire space.

From this, it is clear that Kusama's repetition is not mere ornamentation, but an approach to self-healing, immersion, and self-obliteration. By continuously drawing nets, the contours of the self fade, dissolving into infinite space. Viewers, too, lose their visual footing before the canvas, entering a similar experience to Kusama's. 

From a distance, this work appears as a large red “field,” but upon closer inspection, it transforms into an accumulation of countless fine brushstrokes. This interplay between “the cosmic whole” and “the handmade part” is the essence of Kusama's work. Infinity in the distance, persistent repetition up close――this duality makes the work more than just an abstract painting. Source

Furthermore, the size of 194cm square is also significant. This is not merely a “painting” hanging on a wall, but an environmental scale that confronts the viewer's body directly. As The Broad states, Kusama's nets approach being an “environment” as much as a painting. This work is an extension of that, creating a sense of being enveloped rather than merely viewed.

“Infinity-Nets (RDUEL), 2018” is a work that crystallizes the themes of infinity, repetition, self-obliteration, and salvation that Yayoi Kusama has pursued for many years, as an intense red field. Seemingly calm yet overwhelming, appearing orderly yet unstable――the depth of this work lies in the simultaneous existence of these contradictory sensations.

This work is kept by our partner gallery in France. While the condition is stated as good according to French standards, the criteria for assessing the condition of vintage items may differ between France and Japan. Please consider your purchase with the understanding that age-related wear (stains, discoloration, creases, wrinkles, fading, etc.) typical of a vintage item may be present. Please note that we have not personally inspected the physical item. **More detailed condition photos are available upon request, so please inquire before purchasing.** The work is currently stored in France, and delivery after ordering will take more than two weeks. Due to the nature of the work, returns after purchase are not accepted.