Listen Live
Donate
 on air
Schedule

KCRW

Read & Explore

  • News
  • Entertainment
  • Food
  • Culture
  • Events

Listen

  • Live Radio
  • Music
  • Podcasts
  • Full Schedule

Information

  • About
  • Careers
  • Help / FAQ
  • Newsletters
  • Contact

Support

  • Become a Member
  • Become a VIP
  • Ways to Give
  • Shop
  • Member Perks

Become a Member

Donate to KCRW to support this cultural hub for music discovery, in-depth journalism, community storytelling, and free events. You'll become a KCRW Member and get a year of exclusive benefits.

DonateGive Monthly

Copyright 2026 KCRW. All rights reserved.

Report a Bug|Privacy Policy|Terms of Service|
Cookie Policy
|FCC Public Files

Back to Art Talk

Art Talk

Poetic Perfection by Penn, Inspiring Madness from Kusama

Edward Goldman talks about an exhibition of photographs by Irving Penn at Fahey/Klein Gallery, and a new documentary about Yayoi Kusama.

  • rss
Download MP3
  • Share
By Edward Goldman • Sep 12, 2018 • 3m Listen

One of the most celebrated and prolific photographers of the 20 th century – Irving Penn – enjoyed a seven-decade-long career with a focus on fashion, portraiture, and ethnography. The current exhibition at Fahey/Klein Gallery,Irving Penn: Worlds in a Small Room, Seen & Unseen, presents a retrospective of Penn’s ethnographic studies with his exacting attention to detail.

Installation shot, Worlds in a Small Room, Seen and Unseen. Irving Penn. Fahey/Klein Gallery, Los Angeles. Photo courtesy Fahey/Klein Gallery.

Installation shot, Worlds in a Small Room, Seen and Unseen. Irving Penn. Fahey/Klein Gallery, Los Angeles. Photo by Edward Goldman.

Four Guedras (B) (All in Black), Morocco. Irving Penn. 1971. Copyright (C) The Irving Penn Foundation. Photo courtesy Fahey/Klein Gallery.

Portrait of Yayoi Kusama in her studio. Image © Yayoi Kusama. Courtesy of David Zwirner, New York; Ota Fine Arts, Toyko/Singapore/Shangai; Victoria Miro, London; Yayoi Kusama, Inc. Image courtesy Magnolia Pictures.

Kusama – Infinity, playing at the NuArt Theater through Thursday. After that, the film will go to The Landmark theater, the new Laemmle theater in Glendale, and Regency’s South Coast Village 3 in Orange County."

Artist Kusama next to her “Dot Car” (1995) in KUSAMA – INFINITY. Photo credit: © Harrie Verstappen. Photo courtesy Magnolia Pictures.

see two of her Infinity Rooms at the Broad, and a sculptural installation with her signature polka dots at the Marciano Art Foundation. These days, 89-years-old Yayoi Kusama is one of the top-selling female artists in the world, with her paintings and sculptural installations bursting with amazing, young energy.

Yayoi Kusama, Infinity Mirrored Room -Love Forever, 1966/1994. Installation view, YAYOI KUSAMA, Le Consortium, Dijon, France, 2000. Image © Yayoi Kusama. Courtesy of David Zwirner, New York; Ota Fine Arts, Toyko/Singapore/Shangai; Victoria Miro, London; Yayoi Kusama, Inc.

  • https://images.ctfassets.net/2658fe8gbo8o/AvYox6VuEgcxpd20Xo9d3/769bca4fbf97bf022190f4813812c1e2/new-default.jpg?h=250

    Edward Goldman

    Host, Art Talk

  • KCRW placeholder

    Kathleen Yore

    Audio engineer, KCRW

    CultureArts
Back to Art Talk