We believe there’s a superhero in each of us. True Superheroes celebrates people who’ve overcome adversity, made amazing contributions to society, and inspired others to do the same. Each week we nominate people in different fields. This week we focus on artists.
Yayoi Kusama
Yayoi Kusama’s joyful mirror rooms, pumpkin sculptures, and polka dots have made her one of the most iconic and popular artists in modern times, but her personal struggles including schizophrenia are less-known. The 92-year-old’s art is part of a lifelong mission to process her own hallucinations and share her understanding of mental illness with the world.
Portrait of an Artist (Pool with Two Figures) is a culmination of David Hockney’s most iconic motifs, celebrated images that have made him one of the world’s most revered living artists. Life wasn’t always so elegant for the working-class painter, however. Hockney has lost many friends to AIDS and faced significant health battles. Through it all, however, he’s given back to the community, including staggering donations to advance the appreciation of visual art.
Tracey Emin was once the enfant terrible of British contemporary art, a young artist who emerged in the 1990s with intensely personal and explicit work reflecting her family, the abuse she suffered as a teen, and her sexual history. Tracey is still shrugging off the establishment label, launching a ‘revolutionary’ art school to inspire the next generation and transforming her seaside town into an artist’s haven.
There are many True Superheroes in the field of art. This is just the start of SPYSCAPE’s True Superheroes journey. We will be selecting more candidates and we encourage YOU to nominate YOUR favorites.
