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The Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade is more than just a platform for popular cartoon characters. Macy's also likes to hire artists to showcase their work in the form of supersized balloon sculptures. The latest innovator to contribute a balloon to the parade is Japanese pop artist Yayoi Kusama, Artnet News reports.
Kusama turned 90 earlier this year, and she shows no signs of slowing down. Some of her recent projects include her famous "Infinity Mirrors" exhibition, a room filled wall-to-wall with flowers, and her own Tokyo museum.
The artist is known for experimenting with larger-than-life formats and flashy designs—making her a perfect fit for the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. In order to get her vision off the ground, she joined forces with balloon experts trained in 3D modeling, construction, and aerodynamic design.
Her balloon is a reinterpretation of a piece from her "My Eternal Soul" painting series. The 34-tall sun character, complete with a colorful face and polka-dotted sunbeams, will require 20 handlers to guide it down the parade route. The debut of the balloon on Thanksgiving is tied to the opening of Kusama’s new exhibition at the David Zwirner art gallery in Manhattan on November 9.
"My Eternal Soul" marks the newest installment in Macy’s Blue Sky Gallery series, which showcases parade balloons designed by contemporary artists. Previous years have featured art/balloons by Jeff Koons, Keith Haring, and Takashi Murakami.