NEW YORK – An exhibition featuring works by Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama, known worldwide for her fascinating uses of polka dots, speckled gourds and her fascination with the natural world, has opened at the New York Botanical Garden.
The exhibition “Kusama: Cosmic Nature“, which was postponed for a year due to the coronavirus, will remain in public view until Halloween.
Most works of art are outdoors and large enough to be enjoyed while still following the rules of physical distancing. The exhibition has multiple galleries, installations and gardens. Elaborate flower displays complement some of the works, which are scattered throughout the Botanical Garden in the Bronx.
The setting could not be more suitable for Kusama’s multifaceted works, all of which relate in various ways to the world of nature. The artist grew up in the greenhouses and fields of her family’s huge seed nursery in Matsumoto, Japan, and Kusama has always focused her work on the natural world, says guest curator Mika Yoshitake.
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–Roy Rochlin/Getty Images
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – APRIL 10: “Ascension of Polka Dots on Trees“by artist Yayoi Kusama on display at the New York Botanical Garden in The Bronx on April 10, 2021 in New York City. After undergoing several closure orders over the past 12 months, the city is currently in phase 4 of its reopening plan, allowing for the reopening of low-risk outdoor activities, film and television productions, indoor dining and the opening of cinemas, all with capacity restrictions.
“For Kusama, cosmic nature is a life force that integrates the terrestrial and celestial orders of the universe from the micro and macrocosmic perspectives,” says Yoshitake.
When Kusama was young, he began to have vivid hallucinations, some of which involved moles or flowers spreading around him.
“Some people get caught up in moles. Their work has a kind of internal sadness combined with an external joy, which really speaks to the present moment,” says Karen Daubmann, vice president of exhibits and audience engagement in the garden.
Works debuting on display include the 16-foot-tall painted bronze “Dancing Pumpkin”(2020), which seems to be frolicking happily in the garden of the Haupt greenhouse; “I Want to Fly the Universe “(2020), a 13-foot-tall, brightly colored biomorphic form installed near the visitor center; and“Infinity Mirrored Room – Illusion Inside the Heart”(2020), an outdoor installation that reflects its surroundings.
Three galleries in the Conservatory present Kusama horticultural celebrations. The towering polka dot flowers in “My Soul Blooms Forever ”(2019) welcome visitors in the palm tree gallery. Nearby, the pink and gold mosaic “Starry Pumpkin” (2015) is surrounded by forest flowers and foliage in complementary pastel hues. And to complement the bold colors of Kusama’s painting there is “Alone, Buried in a Flower Garden “(2014) a display of seasonal flowers and foliage designed to be equally strong in shape and color.
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NEW YORK, NEW YORK – APRIL 10: Sculpture “Dancing Pumpkin“by artist Yayoi Kusama at the New York Botanical Garden in The Bronx on April 10, 2021 in New York City. After undergoing several closure orders over the past 12 months, the city is currently in the Phase 4 of its reopening plan, allowing for the reopening of low-risk outdoor activities, film and television productions, indoor dining and the opening of cinemas, all with capacity restrictions.
Highlights in other parts of the garden include “Narcissus Garden“(1966/2021), consisting of 1,400 stainless steel spheres installed in a water source, and”Ascension of the Polka Dots on the Trees“(2002/2021), featuring towering trees, their trunks wrapped in bright red cloth with white polka dots.
In the garden library, an exhibit includes Kusama’s sketches, paintings, collages, and sculptures, including a 1945 sketchbook that he had at age 16. It is filled with meticulous and realistic drawings of plants. His painting “Infinity Net”, Inspired by the Pacific Ocean seen from an airplane; the work was exhibited at the Whitney Museum in 1961.
A small photographic exhibition focuses on Kusama’s life in New York, where he lived around 1958, doing performance pieces, among other works, before returning to Japan in 1973.
Kusama, 92, now divides his time between the Japanese psychiatric hospital where he has voluntarily lived since the 1970s and his nearby studio. He has not traveled to the United States since 2012.
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–TIMOTHY A. CLARY/AFP via Getty Images
“My Soul Blooms Forever (2019)“by Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama on display during KUSAMA: Cosmic Nature Media Preview on April 7, 2021 at the New York Botanical Garden. – RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE – MANDATORY MENTION OF THE ARTIST IN THE POST – ILLUSTRATE THE EVENT AS SPECIFIED IN THE TITLE (Photo by TIMOTHY A. CLARY / AFP) / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE – MANDATORY MENTION OF THE ARTIST IN THE POST – ILLUSTRATE THE EVENT AS SPECIFIED IN THE TITLE / TO GO WITH AFP STORY by Catherine TRIOMPHE, “Pumpkins, peas, peonies: New York exhibit celebrates Japan’s Kusama“.
His installations were completed with the help of a team with whom he works closely; they reviewed the location of the works with Kusama using photos. Several galleries from New York and Tokyo representing Kusama also participated.
To keep spectators safe during the pandemic, the Bronx Botanical Garden has implemented a limited-entry, timed-entry ticket system to promote physical distancing. Advance purchase of tickets is required.
The Garden and Galleries Pass, which allows access to the Kusama show, is already sold out on some weekends, although there is still availability on weekdays, according to the botanical garden.
Current guidelines restrict capacity to 33% and a physical spacing of 6 feet. However, because the gardens are so large, the garden can still host several thousand visitors a day.
The exhibition, which will travel no further than New York, will be accompanied by a catalog co-edited with Rizzoli Electa, including essays by Yoshitake, art historian Jenni Sorkin, curator Alexandra Munroe and others. The catalog will focus on Kusama’s lifelong commitment to nature and the interconnectedness of all living things.
For information about the exhibition visit this website.
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