Beckoning a biennial

If you thought an ice skating rink was a fun, creative use of the Ward Village Courtyard, wait till you see the 15 big, hot-pink, polka-dotted sculptures that will occupy the 7,080-square-foot space from March 8 through May 13. The abstract shapes, which evoke ladybugs, peanuts, turtles and possibly steppingstones, comprise the installation “Footprints of Life,” by Yayoi Kusama, an 86-year-old Japanese artist who’s been a hot item on the international art scene since her New York “happenings” in the mid-1960s. In 2012 she did a line of spotted handbags for Louis Vuitton.

It will be the first time that an original artwork by Kusama will be shown in Hawaii.

“She is one of the most significant artists in the world today,” said Emily Sano, former director of the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, who will be giving a lecture, “Yayoi Kusama: The Woman Behind the Dots,” on April 13. Although her art uses bright colors, Kusama struggles with mental illness and voluntarily lives in a psychiatric hospital in Japan, Sano said. The artist will not be making a Honolulu appearance.

“Footprints of Life” is a harbinger of the first Honolulu Biennial, which is to launch in the spring of 2017 in sites throughout the islands, according to Isabella Ellaheh Hughes, a co-founder of the nonprofit Honolulu Biennial Foundation.

An international contemporary art exhibition along the lines of the Venice Art Biennale and Whitney Biennial, the Honolulu Biennial will focus upon artists of the Americas, Asia and the Pacific. (It is not to be confused with the Artists of Hawaii biennial exhibition at the Honolulu Museum of Art, which will also be held in 2017.)

“We want to reposition our hometown as a center for contemporary art and culture,” said Hughes, 30, a Honolulu native who curated the first show of Hawaiian art at the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian in 2011. The other co-founders are Katherine Ann Leilani Tuider, who is of Native Hawaiian descent and holds a master’s in business administration from the Paris Institut d’Etudes Superieures des Arts, and Koan-Jeff “KJ” Baysa, an Oahu-born physician and international arts curator.

“We want to build our audience locally before the biennial debuts,” added Hughes, saying the Honolulu Biennial Foundation has been conducting steady public outreach since its founding in 2014. For example, she said, in 2014 it partnered with the Hawaii International Film Festival on an exhibition, “Chain of Fire,” that drew more than 2,000 people.

The foundation has also worked to create a biennial buzz on the mainland. In New York it partnered with MoMA PS1 and the Rockaway Beach Surf Club on an exhibition and sponsored a talk with Hawaii artist Maika‘i Tubbs at the Whitney Museum. Last year it represented Hawaii artists at the Seattle Art Fair.

According to Tuider, the biennial is anticipated to receive 42,500 out-of-state visitors during its two months and have an estimated economic impact of $49.7 million.

In light of Kusama’s worldwide popularity, “Footprints” makes a good choice to announce the biennial, Sano said. “That it’s colorful, a little kooky, are elements of the attraction for her art, but I do think it also comes from being completely un-intellectual and natural.”

The Honolulu Biennial is being curated by Fumio Nanjo, director of Tokyo’s Mori Art Museum. Hawaii artists Charlton Kupa‘a Hee, Andrew Binkley and Les Filter Feeders will be featured along with artists from Hong Kong, Japan, New Zealand, Samoa and the United Arab Emirates.

Throughout the “Footprints” run, related community events for adults and keiki will be held in the Ward Village Courtyard. “We’re excited we’re getting to bring some artistic exposure to Hawaii, excited for our kids getting to see something like this without having to travel,” said Todd Apo, vice president of community development for Ward Villages, which is sponsoring the exhibition.

———

ON THE NET:

>> For a full schedule of events, go to honolulubiennial.org.