Love forever

de Pieter Boersma, Tijs Visser

Yayoi Kusama is certainly one of the most important post-war and contemporary artists of the moment, with exhibitions all over the world. Her work is not only of historical importance, but it also appeals to a huge, broad and international audience, and escapes almost all art concepts such as Minimal Art, Pop Art and Happening. Her work from the sixties, the time she worked in New York, was regularly shown in exhibitions around the world. Little known until now, however, was that her work originated to a large extent in the Netherlands, Germany, and Belgium, and was exhibited there, more often than in New York. In the aftermath of the Second World War, a group of young German and Dutch artists undertook to leave the past behind and create a new artistic beginning. Starting with Heinz Mack and Otto Piene, they chose the name ZERO in 1958 in Germany, as Piero Manzoni and Jan Schoonhoven did in the Netherlands in the same year. They were followed by Henk Peeters and Armando, who took the Dutch word for zero NUL in 1961. In just five short years, they and their European network created an avant-garde movement that had a strong influence and continues to inspire contemporary artists.