yayoi kusama joins macy’s thanksgiving day parade with giant polka-dot balloon

yayoi kusama has joined this year’s macy’s thanksgiving day parade with love flies up to the sky, a giant balloon which draws from the face motifs that appear in her my eternal soul series. the inflatable artwork, which will appear together with other pieces by renowned contemporary artists during the parade on thursday, november 28, 2019, coincides with kusama’s exhibition, everyday I pray for love, that is currently on at the david zwirner gallery in new york city (see coverage here).all images courtesy of macy’s

kusama’s love flies up to the sky balloon will debut during macy’s thanksgiving day parade as the latest entry in the parade’s blue sky gallery series, which invites celebrated contemporary artists to contribute artworks to the high-flying lineup. coinciding with her exhibition at new york’s david zwirner gallery, the inflatable piece will join an roster of flying artworks previously featured in the macy’s parade by artists such as tom otterness (humpty dumpty), jeff koons (rabbit), keith haring (figure with heart), takashi murakami (kaikai & kiki), tim burton (B.), KAWS (companion) and friendswithyou (little cloud).

‘in 2005, we began featuring inflatable artworks by the world’s most renowned contemporary artists in the macy’s parade lineup with the hope of bringing fine art to the masses and making it more accessible,‘ says susan tercero, executive producer of macy’s thanksgiving day parade. ‘this year the world’s most popular living female artist, the iconic yayoi kusama, joins the parade’s acclaimed blue sky gallery series of balloons, making these creations a collection of high-flying art worthy of museums around the world. we can’t wait for millions to enjoy the hypnotic, colorful and whimsical beauty of “love flies up to the sky” this thanksgiving.’

transformed from a conceptual drawing into high-flying art by the artists of macy’s parade studio under kusama’s exacting guidance, the balloon was developed by the artist from face motifs that appear in her my eternal soul series of paintings – a body of work that she began in 2009. using their expertise in 3D modeling, aerodynamic design and fabrication, the balloon specialists at the parade studio have constructed the work of art and painstakingly painted more than 300 of kusama’s iconic dots on the multidimensional face and radiant biomorphic shapes that make up the unique design.