Yayoi Kusama
Yayoi Kusama
Yayoi Kusama
Yayoi Kusama
Yayoi Kusama
Yayoi Kusama
Yayoi Kusama
Yayoi Kusama
Yayoi Kusama
Yayoi Kusama
Yayoi Kusama
Yayoi Kusama
Yayoi Kusama
Yayoi Kusama
Yayoi Kusama
Yayoi Kusama
Yayoi Kusama
Yayoi Kusama
Yayoi Kusama
Yayoi Kusama
Yayoi Kusama
Yayoi Kusama
Yayoi Kusama
Yayoi Kusama
Over the course of her distinguished career, Yayoi Kusama has developed a practice, which, though it shares affiliations with Surrealism, Minimalism, Pop art, Eccentric Abstraction, the Zero and Nul movements, resists any singular classification. Born in Matsumoto City, Japan in 1929, she studied painting in Kyoto before moving to New York in the late 1950s, and by the mid-1960s had become well known in the avant-garde world for her provocative happenings and exhibitions. Since this time, Kusama's extraordinary artistic endeavours have spanned painting, drawing, collage, sculpture, performance, film, printmaking, installation and environmental art as well as literature, fashion (most notably in her 2012 collaboration with Louis Vuitton) and product design.
An enduring feature of Kusama’s unique art is the intricate lattice of paint that covers the surface of her Infinity Net canvases, the negative spaces between the individual loops of these all-over patterns emerging as delicate polka dots. These motifs have their roots in hallucinations from which she has suffered since childhood, in which the world appears to her to be covered with proliferating forms. Forging a path between abstract expressionism and minimalism, Kusama first showed her white Infinity Nets in New York in the late 1950s to critical acclaim. She continues to develop their possibilities in monochromatic works which are covered with undulating meshes that seem to fluctuate and dissolve as the viewer moves around them.
Another key motif is the pumpkin form, which has achieved an almost mythical status in Kusama’s art since the late 1940s. Coming from a family that made its living cultivating plant seeds, Kusama was familiar with the kabocha squash in the fields that surrounded her childhood home and the pumpkin continues to occupy a special place in her iconography. She has described her images of them as a form of self-portraiture.
From these to Accumulation sculptures, where everyday objects are made uncanny with a covering of soft-sculpture phallic forms or dried macaroni, to monumental outdoor sculptures and installations, such as Narcissus Garden, originating in 1966 when Kusama first participated in the Venice Biennale, and to the entrancing illusions of recent experiential mirrored room installations, Kusama’s work is far-reaching, expansive and immersive. Simultaneously infinitesimal and unlimited in scale, immeasurable yet intimate, it allows the viewer to enter into a fully realised world.
It is with characteristic dynamism that Kusama’s My Eternal Soul series, first began in 2009, has grown far in excess of the hundred works originally conceived by the artist. Distilled within the My Eternal Soul paintings are the themes and obsessions that characterise Kusama’s art, encapsulating a surreal and humorous, as well as instinctual approach to art making. Each new work of the ongoing series abounds with imagery including eyes, faces in profile and other more indeterminate forms recalling cell structures, often in pulsating combinations of colour. Some appear psychedelically primordial, other examples bring to mind ancient landscapes and grand geological patterns. This is Kusama, a pioneer in her command of a variety of media, at her most personal and direct, relying on brush, paint and canvas alone. They reveal an artist overflowing with ideas and undiminished in her desire to depict the apparently contradictory, unpredictable and undepictable, well into her ninth decade.
Yayoi Kusama represented Japan at the 45th Venice Biennale in 1993, and currently lives and works in Tokyo, where the Yayoi Kusama Museum opened in October 2017. Over the past decade there have been museum exhibitions of Kusama’s work touring the world in North America, Japan, Korea, Singapore, China, Australia, Russia, Brazil, Argentina, Mexico, Chile, Spain, England, France, Denmark, Norway, Sweden and Finland. In 2016 Kusama was selected as one of TIME Magazine’s World’s 100 Most Influential People. She was also named the world’s most popular artist by various news outlets, based on figures reported by The Art Newspaper for global museum attendance. In 2016, Kusama received the Order of Culture, one of the highest honours bestowed by the Imperial Family. Kusama is the first woman to be honoured with the prestigious medal for drawings and sculptures.
Current major exhibitions include Yayoi Kusama: Infinite Love at the San Francisco Museum of Art (on view until 7 September 2024) and Yayoi Kusama: 1945 – Today, Museu de Arte Contemporânea de Serralves, Porto, Portugal (until 29 September 2024).
Recent institutional exhibitions include: Yayoi Kusama: Infinity Rooms at Tate Modern, London, UK (18 May 2021–28 April 2024); Yayoi Kusama: The Dutch Years 1965–1970 at Stedelijk Museum Schiedam, Netherlands (23 September 2023–25 February 2024); Yayoi Kusama: LOVE IS CALLING, The Pérez Art Museum Miami, USA (9 March 2023–11 February 2024); Yayoi Kusama’s Self Obliteration / Psychedelic World, Yayoi Kusama Museum, Tokyo, Japan (29 April–18 September 2023); Yayoi Kusama: You, Me and the Balloons, The Warehouse, Factory International, Manchester, UK (30 June–28 August 2023); Yayoi Kusama: 1945 to Now at M+, Hong Kong (12 November 2022–14 May 2023), travelling to the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain (27 June–8 October 2023); One with Eternity: Yayoi Kusama in the Hirshhorn Collection at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, DC, US (1 April 2022–Spring 2023); Yayoi Kusama: My Soul Blooms Forever, Museum of Islamic Art, Doha, Qatar (20 November 2022–1 March 2023); Yayoi Kusama: DANCING LIGHTS THAT FLEW UP INTO THE UNIVERSE at PHI Foundation, Montréal (6 July 2022–15 January 2023). The artist’s first major exhibition in Germany, Yayoi Kusama: A Retrospective – A Bouquet of Love I Saw in the Universe was on view at Gropius Bau in Berlin (23 April–15 August 2021), travelling to the Tel Aviv Museum of Art (15 November 2021–14 May 2022). Further recent institutional exhibitions include KUSAMA: COSMIC NATURE, inspired by Kusama’s lifelong engagement with nature and fascination with the natural world, held at the New York Botanical Garden, New York (10 April–31 October 2021).
In 2017, a significant North American tour of Kusama’s work began at the Hirschhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden (February–May 2017), travelling to Seattle Art Museum (June–September 2017), The Broad, Los Angeles (October 2017– January 2018), Art Gallery of Ontario (March– May 2018), Cleveland Museum of Art (July–October 2018) and The High Museum of Art, Atlanta (November 2018–February 2019).
Further major international touring exhibitions include Infinity Mirrors, Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, Canada, travelling to Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, USA; High Museum of Art, Atlanta, GA, USA (2018); Yayoi Kusama: Life is the Heart of a Rainbow, National Gallery of Singapore (2017); travelling to Queensland Art Gallery - Gallery of Modern Art, Brisbane (2017–2018), and Yayoi Kusama: In Infinity, which travelled from the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Humlebaek, (2015– 2016) to Henie Onstad Kunstcenter, Oslo (2016); Moderna Museet, Stockholm (2016) and Helsinki Art Museum (2016–2017). Kusama Yayoi: A Dream I Dreamed was first presented at the Daegu Art Museum, Korea (2013) and travelled subsequently to the Museum of Contemporary Art, Shanghai (2013–2014); Seoul Arts Centre, Korea (2014); Kaohsiung Museum of Fine Arts, Taiwan (2015); and the National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts, Taichung (2015). The widely acclaimed Yayoi Kusama: Infinite Obsession toured from 2013 to 2015 at the South American institutional venues Malba – Fundación Costantini, Buenos Aires (2013); Centro Cultural Banco do Brasil, Brasília (2013– 2014); Instituto Tomie Ohtake, São Paulo (2014); Museo Tamayo, Mexico City (2014–2015) and Fundación CorpArtes, Santiago (2015). Previously, from 2012 to 2014 the large-scale exhibition Yayoi Kusama: Eternity of Eternal Eternity was staged in museums in Japan including The National Museum of Art, Osaka; Museum of Modern Art, Saitama; Matsumoto City Museum of Art, Matsumoto; Niigata City Art Museum, Niigata; Shizuoka Prefectural Museum of Art, Shizuoka; Oita Art Museum, Oita; The Museum of Art, Kochi; Contemporary Art Museum, Kumamoto; Akita Senshu Museum of Art & A Akita Museum of Modern Art and Matsuzakaya Museum, Nagoya. A touring retrospective of the artist’s work was presented from 2011 to 2012 at the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Madrid; Centre Pompidou, Paris; Tate Modern, London; and Whitney Museum of American Art, New York.
Previous significant surveys include Mirrored Years, which travelled from the Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam to the Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney, and City Gallery Wellington, New Zealand from 2008–2009. Yayoi Kusama: Eternity Modernity was presented at The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo (2004), and The National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto, Japan (2005).
Yayoi Kusama’s tallest bronze pumpkin sculpture to date is currently on view in London, presented by Serpentine and The Royal Parks, until 3 November 2024. Standing at 6 metres tall and 5.5 metres in diameter, Pumpkin, 2024, is located by the Round Pond in Kensington Gardens dialogue with the surrounding environment.
Kusama’s first permanent and public UK installation for the new Elizabeth line station at Liverpool Street, titled Infinite Accumulation, has been unveiled in August 2024. The site-specific work develops the artist’s instantly recognisable motif – the polka dot – into a series of flowing, mirrored steel sculptures. Undulating tubular rods support a sequence of highly polished spheres, guiding passengers from the public spaces outside the station into the eastern entrance of the Elizabeth line station at Liverpool Street.
International Programme
In Focus – Yayoi Kusama: EVERY DAY I PRAY FOR LOVE
A film of Yayoi Kusama's ambitious presentation of works, featuring a new Infinity Mirror Room, works from the artist’s latest series of paintings, and sculptures installed across the gallery and waterside garden.Related
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Channel
October 22 2024
Yayoi Kusama: Pumpkin
Yayoi Kusama's Pumpkin, 2024 is the artist's tallest bronze pumpkin sculpture to date, standing at 6 metres tall and 5.5 metres in diameter. The work, installed by the Round Pond, in Kensington Gardens, offers a wide range of viewpoints and is in dialogue with the surrounding environment. -
Channel
October 15 2024
Yayoi Kusama: EVERY DAY I PRAY FOR LOVE
A film of Yayoi Kusama's ambitious presentation of works, featuring a new Infinity Mirror Room, works from the artist’s latest series of paintings, and sculptures installed across the gallery and waterside garden. -
Publications
October 10 2024
Yayoi Kusama: EVERY DAY I PRAY FOR LOVE
Yayoi Kusama: EVERY DAY I PRAY FOR LOVENot currently available70.000 in cart -
Gallery Exhibition
25 September - 2 November 2024
Yayoi Kusama: EVERY DAY I PRAY FOR LOVE
Yayoi Kusama’s fourteenth solo exhibition with the gallery premieres a new Infinity Mirror Room and introduces works from the artist’s latest series of paintings and sculptures. Tickets are currently fully booked. Returned tickets are released automatically on the booking page. Victoria Miro Gallery I -
Review
Posted
September 23 2024
The Telegraph reviews Yayoi Kusama: EVERY DAY I PRAY FOR LOVE
★★★★★ ‘This show is pop-making brilliance; the radiance of Kusama’s consciousness reaches out to tickle the mind of the viewer with levity and humour.’ – Evgenia Siokos -
Exhibition
Posted
August 7 2024
Yayoi Kusama’s largest permanent public sculpture is unveiled in London
Yayoi Kusama's first permanent public artwork in the UK and her largest public sculpture in the world has been unveiled. Infinite Accumulation is a new, site-specific work at London's Liverpool Street station in which Kusama develops one of the most recognisable motifs of her visual language: the polka dot. Here, the dot is expanded into linked forms that interact with and define the public spaces outside the station. Liverpool Street station, London -
Exhibition
Posted
July 9 2024
Yayoi Kusama: Pumpkin, now on view in London
Serpentine and The Royal Parks have just unveiled Yayoi Kusama's tallest bronze pumpkin sculpture to date, installed in Kensington Gardens from 9 July–3 November 2024. Kensington Gardens, London -
Exhibition
Posted
May 30 2024
Yayoi Kusama: Infinite Accumulation unveiling in London this July
For this site-specific work at Liverpool Street Station, London, Kusama develops one of the most recognisable motifs of her visual language: the polka dot. Here, the dot is expanded into linked forms that interact with and define the public spaces outside the station. Liverpool Street Station, London -
Exhibition
Posted
April 27 2024
Yayoi Kusama: Portraying the Figurative at the Yayoi Kusama Museum, Tokyo
The exhibition (27 April–1 September 2024) focuses on the diverse trajectories of Kusama’s figurative works, spanning from the 1940s to the present day. The Yayoi Kusama Museum, Tokyo -
Exhibition
Posted
April 13 2024
Just announced – Yayoi Kusama at the National Gallery of Victoria, opening December 2024
Comprising more than 180 works, the presentation (15 Dec 2024–21 Apr 2025) is the largest ever presentation of the artist’s work in Australia and one of the most comprehensive retrospectives of the artist ever presented globally. Featuring painting, sculpture, collage, fashion, video and installation, the exhibition reveals the astonishing breadth of Kusama’s multidisciplinary practice. National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne -
Exhibition
Posted
March 27 2024
Yayoi Kusama: 1945 – Today at Museu de Arte Contemporânea de Serralves, Porto
On view 27 March–29 September 2024, and featuring around 160 works, including paintings, drawings, sculptures, installations and archival materials, the exhibition explores Kusama's career from her earliest drawings to her most recent immersive artworks. Porto, Portugal -
Exhibition
Posted
October 4 2023
Yayoi Kusama: Infinite Love at SFMOMA
The artist’s first solo presentation in Northern California (14 October 2023–7 September 2024) encompasses two Infinity Mirror Rooms. San Francisco, California, USA -
Exhibition
Posted
September 23 2023
On view at Stedelijk Museum Schiedam – Yayoi Kusama: The Dutch Years 1965–1970
On display (23 September 2023–25 February 2024) are works made by Kusama during the various periods in which she lived and worked in the Netherlands, alongside many photographs of Kusama taken while she was in the country. Schiedam, Netherlands -
Exhibition
Posted
July 1 2023
Extended to April 2024 – Yayoi Kusama: Infinity Mirror Rooms at Tate Modern
The focused exhibition (18 May 2021–28 April 2024; booking to 30 September 2023) is a rare chance to experience two of the artist’s immersive mirror room installations juxtaposed with photos and footage of early performance works and studio happenings. Tate Modern, London -
Exhibition
Posted
June 30 2023
Yayoi Kusama: You, Me and the Balloons at Aviva Studios, Manchester
Conceived especially for the soaring spaces of Aviva Studios, the exhibition (30 June–28 August 2023) celebrates three decades of the pioneering artist's inflatable artworks, which are brought together for the first time in this major exhibition. Aviva Studios, Manchester -
Review
Posted
June 30 2023
The Guardian reviews Yayoi Kusama: You, Me and the Balloons at Aviva Studios
★★★★★ ‘Kusama goes big to achieve something simple. You, Me and the Balloons is exactly what its title declares. She wants to reach out, to be felt, to be understood. It’s the artistic impulse at its least veiled. The bigness is a largeness of heart. You sense that, and feel happy, satisfied, alive.’ – Jonathan Jones Aviva Studios Jonathan Jones, The Guardian -
Exhibition
Posted
June 27 2023
Yayoi Kusama: 1945 to Now at the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao
On view 27 June–8 October 2023, the exhibition, which originated at M+ Hong Kong, features some 200 works – paintings, drawings, sculptures, installations, and archive material that documents the artist's happenings and performances – examining Kusama’s work since her first drawings as a teenager, during World War II, until her most recent immersive installations. Guggenheim Museum Bilbao -
Exhibition
Posted
April 29 2023
On view at the Yayoi Kusama Museum, Tokyo – Yayoi Kusama’s Self-Obliteration/Psychedelic World
The exhibition (April 29–18 September 2023) focuses on the psychedelic aspects of Kusama's work and presents rich variations of her creations from different periods. Yayoi Kusama Museum, Tokyo -
Exhibition
Posted
March 23 2023
Now extended to July 2023 – One with Eternity: Yayoi Kusama in the Hirshhorn Collection
The exhibition (on view until 16 July 2023) provides an opportunity to come closer to Yayoi Kusama through five of her artworks in the museum's collection, including two Infinity Mirror Rooms. Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, DC -
Preview
Posted
January 2 2023
Yayoi Kusama and Alice Neel feature in artnet’s top shows in Europe to see in 2023
Yayoi Kusama: You, Me and the Balloons at Factory International, Manchester, and Alice Neel: Hot Off The Griddle at Barbican Centre are featured in artnet’s 17 shows to see in Europe in 2023. artnet -
Interview
Posted
November 28 2022
Yayoi Kusama discusses her retrospective at M+ with Wallpaper*
Wallpaper* interview the artist about her major retrospective at M+, Hong Kong. Megan C Hills, Wallpaper* -
Exhibition
Posted
November 10 2022
Yayoi Kusama: 1945 to Now at M+, Hong Kong
M+ announces its first special exhibition (12 November 2022–14 May 2023), opening on the museum’s first anniversary. Yayoi Kusama: 1945 to Now comprises more than 200 works to be presented across various locations at M+, including three brand-new works. M+, Hong Kong -
Exhibition
Posted
October 14 2022
Yayoi Kusama creates a large-scale mosaic for New York’s Grand Central Madison terminal
As announced by The New York Times, Yayoi Kusama will create floor-to-ceiling mosaics for the underground Long Island Rail Road terminal opening in December. Ted Loos, The New York Times -
Exhibition
Posted
July 23 2022
Yayoi Kusama: The Obliteration Room at Tate Modern
On view until 29 August 2022, The Obliteration Room is an interactive artwork for all ages. Visitors will be given a sheet of colourful ‘dot’ stickers to help bring the space to life. Tate Modern -
Exhibition
Posted
July 5 2022
Yayoi Kusama: DANCING LIGHTS THAT FLEW UP TO THE UNIVERSE at PHI Foundation, Montréal
In celebration of its 15th anniversary, the PHI Foundation for Contemporary Art presents Yayoi Kusama: DANCING LIGHTS THAT FLEW UP TO THE UNIVERSE, the artist’s first solo exhibition in Québec (on view 6 July 2022-15 January 2023). PHI Foundation, Montréal -
Exhibition
Posted
March 3 2022
On view at the Yayoi Kusama Museum, Tokyo – A POEM IN MY HEART
In this exhibition (3 March–28 August 2022), the museum introduces Kusama's diverse works reminiscent of Surrealism, which portray images overflowing from her inner world and struggles in her mind as they really are. Yayoi Kusama Museum, Tokyo -
Exhibition
Posted
November 15 2021
Yayoi Kusama: A Retrospective at Tel Aviv Museum of Art
The artist's first major exhibition in Israel (15 November 2021–23 April 2022) brings together artworks produced over an eighty-year period. This extensive survey traces Kusama's work in Japan, the United States, and Europe, from her early paintings and sculptures to her immersive installations Tel Aviv Museum of Art -
Exhibition
Posted
August 20 2021
Vortic launches Yayoi Kusama: I Want Your Tears to Flow with the Words I Wrote online
Didn't catch Yayoi Kusama: I Want Your Tears to Flow with the Words I Wrote at Victoria Miro? The exhibition is now available to explore virtually on Vortic. Vortic -
Publication
Posted
July 2 2021
Yayoi Kusama: I Want Your Tears to Flow with the Words I Wrote available in store
The publication Yayoi Kusama: I Want Your Tears to Flow with the Words I Wrote will be available in store from Saturday, 10 July for the special exhibition price of £45, with a limited-edition complimentary tote bag. Victoria Miro -
Review
Posted
June 6 2021
Hettie Judah reviews Yayoi Kusama in iNews
In a review covering exhibitions at Tate Modern and Victoria Miro, Hettie Judah writes, ’There is great pleasure to be had from both these shows. If you happened upon them knowing nothing about Kusama, they’d be intriguing and delightful things.‘ Hettie Judah, iNews -
Gallery Exhibition
4 June - 31 July 2021
Yayoi Kusama: I Want Your Tears to Flow with the Words I Wrote
Victoria Miro is delighted to present Yayoi Kusama’s thirteenth solo exhibition with the gallery. This major presentation of new works features a dynamic installation of paintings from Kusama’s iconic My Eternal Soul series, bronze pumpkins and painted soft sculptures. Additionally, a newly realised sculpture, presented within a darkened interior and internally lit, offers viewers the opportunity to examine the central themes of Kusama’s art: infinite reflection, the bounded and the boundless. Victoria Miro Gallery I -
Channel
June 4 2021
Yayoi Kusama: I Want Your Tears to Flow with the Words I Wrote
A film of Yayoi Kusama's major presentation of new works at the gallery, featuring a dynamic installation of paintings from the artist's iconic My Eternal Soul series. Narrated by Akira Tatehata, author of the forthcoming exhibition publication. -
Publications
June 2 2021
Yayoi Kusama: I Want Your Tears to Flow with the Words I Wrote
Yayoi Kusama: I Want Your Tears to Flow with the Words I WroteNot currently available55.000 in cart -
Exhibition
Posted
May 19 2021
Yayoi Kusama: A Retrospective at Gropius Bau, Berlin
Titled A Bouquet of Love I Saw in the Universe, the artist's first large-scale retrospective in Germany takes place 23 April–1 August 2021. Gropius Bau, Berlin -
News story
Posted
April 15 2021
Yayoi Kusama to exhibit new paintings from her iconic My Eternal Soul series in London, Tokyo, and New York this summer
Victoria Miro, Ota Fine Arts, and David Zwirner are pleased to announce that they will jointly present new My Eternal Soul paintings by Yayoi Kusama in London, Tokyo, and New York this summer. -
News story
Posted
April 12 2021
KUSAMA: Cosmic Nature reviewed in The New York Times
The New York Times dives into KUSAMA: Cosmic Nature, now on view at New York Botanical Gardens. Will Heinrich, The New York Times -
Exhibition
Posted
April 10 2021
KUSAMA: Cosmic Nature at New York Botanical Garden
In this major exhibition (10 April–31 October 2021) Kusama will reveal her lifelong fascination with the natural world, beginning with her childhood spent in the greenhouses and fields of her family’s seed nursery. Spectacular installations across the 250-acre landscape will include Hymn of Life – Tulips and Narcissus Garden, as well as the debut of new monumental sculptures. New York Botanical Garden -
Exhibition
Posted
July 30 2020
A new exhibition opens at the Yayoi Kusama Museum, Tokyo
THE VISION OF FANTASY THAT WE HAVE NEVER SEEN IS THIS SPLENDOR (30 July 2020–29 March 2021) features works created over the past ten years. Yayoi Kusama Museum, Tokyo -
Exhibition
Posted
June 26 2020
Now open – Yayoi Kusama: Narcissus Garden (1966–2020) at Louisiana Museum of Modern Art
Narcissus Garden dates back to 1966, when Kusama first participated in the 33rd Venice Biennale. It has now been installed in a version adapted to Louisiana's Lake Garden. Louisiana Museum of Modern Art -
News story
Posted
April 15 2020
A Message From Yayoi Kusama To The Whole World
Today, with the world facing COVID-19, I feel the necessity to address it with this message. -
Exhibition
Posted
March 4 2020
A new exhibition, ZERO IS INFINITY, ZERO and Yayoi Kusama, opens at the Yayoi Kusama Museum
The first group exhibition at the Yayoi Kusama Museum (5 March–31 May 2020) focuses on Kusama's activity in Europe during the 1960s and introduces the work of the artist network ZERO, first initiated by Heinz Mack and Otto Piene in Düsseldorf in 1958. Yayoi Kusama Museum, Tokyo -
Exhibition
Posted
January 7 2020
Coming soon – One with Eternity: Yayoi Kusama in the Hirshhorn Collection
The exhibition (4 April–2 September 2020) celebrates the Hirshhorn’s landmark acquisition of two of Yayoi Kusama’s iconic Infinity Mirror Rooms. Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, DC -
News
Posted
January 6 2020
Yayoi Kusama: Open the Shape Called Love at Ackland Art Museum
The exhibition (31 January–12 April 2020) presents the distinguished collection of James Keith Brown ’84 and Eric Diefenbach, with a focus on Kusama's early works on paper, a range of Infinity Net paintings, examples of her sculpture and multi-media work, and a tabletop mirror box. The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC -
Exhibition
Posted
December 16 2019
Yayoi Kusama’s Where the Lights in My Heart Go goes on view at Aspen Art Museum
On view 20 December 2019–10 May 2020, Where the Lights in My Heart Go, 2016, creates the illusion of a continuously expanding universe, toying with our sense of visual perception. Aspen, Colorado -
Exhibition
Posted
December 9 2019
Yayoi Kusama: Fireflies on the Water at Toledo Museum of Art
This special presentation of Kusama's installation (14 December 2019–26 April 2020) is made possible through a generous loan from the Whitney Museum of Art. Toledo, Ohio -
Exhibition
Posted
November 26 2019
Rubell Museum’s inaugural installation for its new campus features major work by Yayoi Kusama
Opening 4 December 2019, with immersive installations by Yayoi Kusama including Where the Lights in My Heart Go, 2016. Rubell Museum, Miami, Florida -
Exhibition
Posted
October 14 2019
A major public work by Yayoi Kusama conceived for Place Vendôme, Paris
We are delighted to co-present with Ota Fine Arts and David Zwirner a major public work by Yayoi Kusama conceived for Place Vendôme, Paris, as part of FIAC Hors les Murs, 2019. Place Vendôme, Paris -
Exhibition
Posted
October 11 2019
ICA Miami presents Yayoi Kusama: All the Eternal Love I Have for the Pumpkins
ICA Miami presents a special off-site exhibition (12 October 2019–31 January 2020) of Yayoi Kusama’s All the Eternal Love I Have for the Pumpkins in the Miami Design District, marking the first time that one of Kusama’s signature Infinity Mirror Rooms will be on view in Miami. ICA Miami -
Exhibition
Posted
October 10 2019
Now open at the Yayoi Kusama Museum, Tokyo – Spirits of Aggregation
An exhibition (10 October 2019–31 January 2020) of works from Kusama's Accumulation or Aggreggation series, first created in the early 1960s, presented with associated documents and photographs. Also on show is the installation Dots Obsession and works from Kusama's ongoing My Eternal Soul series. Yayoi Kusama Museum, Tokyo -
Preview
Posted
October 8 2019
Yayoi Kusama features on the cover of Numéro Magazine ahead of her major public work for Place Vendôme
Out on 11 October 2019, Numéro's art issue features a 16-page profile of the artist who will take over Place Vendôme during FIAC. Hettie Judah, Numero Magazine -
Exhibition
Posted
August 30 2019
Yayoi Kusama’s Infinity Mirrored Room – My Heart is Dancing into the Universe goes on permanent display at Crystal Bridges Museum
Previewing from 31 August 2019 and on view to the public from 2 October 2019, Infinity Mirrored Room – My Heart is Dancing into the Universe conveys the illusion of being unmoored in endless space. Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, Arkansas -
Exhibition
Posted
May 26 2019
Shine of Life by Yayoi Kusama is unveiled at Kistefos-Museet, Norway
The largest sculpture by Kusama in the Nordic countries has been unveiled at Kistefos sculpture park and museum. Kistefos-Museet, Norway -
Exhibition
Posted
April 4 2019
An exhibition focusing on Yayoi Kusama’s iconic Infinity Nets opens at the Yayoi Kusama Museum, Tokyo
HERE, ANOTHER NIGHT COMES FROM TRILLIONS OF LIGHT YEARS AWAY: Eternal Infinity (4 April–31 August 2019) consists of early pieces from the Infinity Nets series, as well as photographs and documents related to the series’ production. The Yayoi Kusama Museum, Tokyo -
Commission
Posted
January 10 2019
Conrad Shawcross, Chantal Joffe and Yayoi Kusama create window installations for Selfridges in celebration of their forthcoming Crossrail commissions
As a foretaste of their Crossrail commissions for the new Elizabeth Line, participating artists have been invited to create windows for Selfridges in Oxford Street, on view until 29 March 2019. Selfridges, London -
Exhibition
Posted
November 18 2018
Yayoi Kusama: Infinity Mirrors at the High Museum of Art, Atlanta
The major touring exhibition travels to Atlanta (18 November 2018–17 February 2019). The High Museum of Art, Atlanta, GA -
Picture story
Posted
October 26 2018
Anatomy of an Artwork: Yayoi Kusama’s Pumpkin, 2018
'Kusama has said she likes pumpkins for their “human-like” form and humour. Her fixation on repetition and infinity, however, has a darker side: a kind of obliteration, where you lose yourself in the vastness of her singular universe…' The Guardian Skye Sherwin -
Review
Posted
October 4 2018
Yayoi Kusama’s new exhibition is featured on BBC Radio 4’s Front Row
Jacky Klein reviews THE MOVING MOMENT WHEN I WENT TO THE UNIVERSE. The programme also features an interview with Heather Lenz, director of Kusama – Infinity. Jacky Klein, Front Row -
Exhibition
Posted
October 4 2018
The exhibition – I Want You to Look at My Prospects for the Future: Plants and I – goes on view at the Yayoi Kusama Museum, Tokyo
The exhibition (4 October 2018–28 February 2019) showcases Kusama’s botanical-themed works alongside a selection of self-portraits from across her career. The Yayoi Kusama Museum, Tokyo -
Profile
Posted
October 3 2018
Francesca Gavin writes about Yayoi Kusama in the Financial Times
From painted bronze pumpkins to flower sculptures and a fresh take on her Infinity Mirror Rooms, Yayoi Kusama’s new work brings her kaleidoscopic polka-dot-filled fantasy world to life. Francesca Gavin, The Financial Times -
Gallery Exhibition
3 October - 21 December 2018
Yayoi Kusama
THE MOVING MOMENT WHEN I WENT TO THE UNIVERSE, a major exhibition of new works by Yayoi Kusama, takes place across the Wharf Road galleries and waterside garden. The exhibition... Victoria Miro Gallery I
Previous exhibitions at Victoria Miro
Yayoi Kusama: EVERY DAY I PRAY FOR LOVE
Yayoi Kusama: I Want Your Tears to Flow with the Words I Wrote
Victoria Miro is delighted to present Yayoi Kusama’s thirteenth solo exhibition with the gallery. This major presentation of new works features a dynamic installation of paintings from Kusama’s iconic My Eternal Soul series, bronze pumpkins and painted soft sculptures. Additionally, a newly realised sculpture, presented within a darkened interior and internally lit, offers viewers the opportunity to examine the central themes of Kusama’s art: infinite reflection, the bounded and the boundless.