Yayoi Kusama’s giant pumpkin kicks off FIAC week in Paris
How to kick off a Fall festival devoted to modern art in Paris? With a giant pumpkin at the iconic Place Vendôme with a legendary artist of course. Contemporary Japanese artist Yayoi Kusuma unveiled her colossal creation titled “Life of the Pumpkin Recites, All About the Biggest Love for the People” to launch the 46th edition of FIAC with a message of peace and love for Paris and the world. An elite group of artists, gallerists and art enthusiasts including gathered at the heart of the capital to toast the giant sculpture at the Hôtel d’Évreux at the Place Vendôme. The inflatable sculpture is part of the FIAC’s Hors Les Murs program, a citywide exhibition of outdoor art projects that places sculptures and installations throughout the city from the Tuileries Gardens to the Place de la Concorde, the Musée national Eugène Delacroix and beyond. “What appealed to me most was the pumpkin’s generous unpretentiousness. That and its solid spiritual balance,” the artist said of the work that features her signature polka dots and concept of infinite repetition. She is the first woman in the FIAC’s Hors les Murs program to present her work at the Place Vendôme.
