That time Andy Warhol plagiarized Yayoi Kusama

Jay Serrano, Editorial Director

March 15, 2021

If you asked a stranger to list any 5 artists off the top of their head, odds are good that Andy Warhol would be one of them. A soup can homage even sits in front of CSU’s Center for the Arts (to honor a visit from Warhol in 1981). There is no doubt that his contributions altered the trajectory of American art. He also copied part of one of Yayoi Kusama’s exhibitions.

Yayoi Kusama is another famous artist, albeit less of a household name than Warhol. She’s a Japanese artist who immigrated to New York in 1958 and she helped carve out the pop art scene of the 60s. As a child, she suffered from hallucinations and trauma, something that she has spent her entire career exploring through art. Her work is extremely personal to her–she has been open about this since her arrival to the art scene.

Kusama’s very first solo exhibition, “Aggregation: One Thousands Boats Show,” showcased a rowboat sculpture made of phallic shapes, complete with two similarly adorned oars. The structure was photographed then replicated 999 times on the walls and ceilings. Warhol visited the exhibit and complimented Kusama on it, specifically commenting on the wallpaper and floor.

Years later, Warhol would debut his “Cow Wallpaper” installation in his April 1966 exhibition at Leo Castelli Gallery, featuring one of his most recognizable and famous designs. The similarity wasn’t lost on the art community. The Museum of Modern Art even mentions it in their interactive display about Kusama’s show, remarking that Kusama’s exhibit appeared 3 years before Warhol’s. However, Warhol credited an art dealer for the idea and did not mention Kusama.

Kusama would go on to have more ideas stolen from her by her peers, namely Claes Oldenberg and Lucas Samaras. When Kusama visited Claes Oldenberg’s exhibit and saw he’d taken her idea of soft sculpture, his wife approached her and apologized. Then, Kusama watched these ideas–her ideas–manifest in wealth and success that she could not herself achieve. She became paranoid and isolated herself, hiding her art. Her mental health deteriorated. This culminated in a suicide attempt.

After a bout of depressive episodes compounded by the rejection she faced upon returning to Japan, she checked herself into a mental health facility and has not checked out since. She still makes intimate art that addresses her trauma, psychosis, and other aspects of her life. She still says art saved her life. She is one of the most famous contemporary artists and her work has affected millions. But it took much longer for her to ascend to these heights than her white male peers who copied her ideas and we must examine why.

The line for plagiarism can be blurry; originality is harder to define in creative contexts. Some artists flirt with this line and some brazenly cross it. Yayaoi Kusama’s story demonstrates why even “minor” plagiarism is so insidious, even in ways that the plagiarizer may not have been aware of. These artists “drew inspiration” from her work and got fame and acclaim while she struggled to eat. The reason as to why it was easier for these men to achieve fame is clear: the art scene was heavily male dominated and almost entirely white.

Currently, the anti-Asian racism in the USA is at a fever pitch. Hate crimes have been on the rise since COVID-19 first began to spread in the USA, something many (including former President Trump) attributed to China, dubbing it “China virus.” I touched on this uptick in violence against Asians in 2020 on a separate blog post, but it has only gotten worse.

Then, 8 women were murdered in Atlanta on March 16, 6 of them Asian. I don’t want to derail the primary topic of this post and this event warrants a post all on its own, but it has become clearer and clearer that Asian women are not valued as much as their white counterparts, especially when those counterparts are men. This is true for all Asian people living in the USA. The pattern of devaluing the work of women of color is one that we can address within our own communities–racism and misogyny are systemic.

In the meantime, maybe we could let go of Andy Warhol a bit.

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