Yayoi Kusama sets up her giant flowers in New York gardens

From the Venice Biennale to the National Art Center in Tokyo, via the Whitney Museum and MoMA in New York, the Center Pompidou and Fondation Louis Vuitton in Paris and the Tate Modern in London, the works of Yayoi Kusama have invaded the greatest art institutions. Since the 1960s, the Japanese artist has spread his polka dots, pop colors and monumental sculptures all over the world, inviting visitors to immerse themselves in its wacky universe populated by giant pumpkins and extraordinary plants. But if the latter have been welcomed with open arms in indoor exhibition spaces, their direct encounter with nature has become rarer, with the exception of the parks of a few museums such as Kistefos in Norway. In spring 2021, the New York Botanical Garden is making it the ideal host, by organizing an exhibition of works by the Japanese artist called “Cosmic Nature” throughout its 100-hectare site. An idea particularly suited to the period, when outdoor installations are still the most prudent way to view art without exposing yourself to health risks.

Completely in tune with this green setting in the heart of the Bronx district, the pieces by Yayoi Kusama selected for the exhibition all have a strong link with nature, on which their presentation is sometimes even dependent. This is the case, for example, with the famous Narcissus Garden, a set of 1400 silver steel spheres agglomerated sometimes on the ground, sometimes on the water depending on the context: if in 1966, the artist unveiled this work for the first time during the Venice Biennale on the lawn of the Italian pavilion , the spheres invade here one of the ponds of the botanical garden. Become emblematic of the Japanese woman, her giant lilies, dahlias and tulips covered with peas emerge here from a basin under the glass roof of a greenhouse, or there, from an outdoor patio between two alleys. A landscape that will vary in the garden with the seasons, from April to the end of October 2021: once the summer has passed, these flowers will be replaced in connection with autumn by chrysanthemums and the famous giant pumpkins of the Japanese woman, of which she erected in 2019 a memorable model on the Place Vendôme in the heart of Paris. Its black on yellow polka dots can be found in New York on an inflatable eight-legged sculpture, half-pumpkin, half-octopus, which, like a giant red flower enclosing a human face, was made by the 92-year-old artist. last year, and unveiled here for the first time.

But in addition to coloring and decorating New York gardens, Yayoi Kusama’s works sometimes merge with their fauna. Thus, several trees in the park are covered with a red fabric with white polka dots that dresses them like a second skin. Paintings, collages and drawings by the artist are also to be discovered inside the garden buildings, as on the walls of his library, as well as a filmed performance by the artist projected in one of the galleries. Last curiosity: a large mirror cube installed on the grass, reflecting the surrounding vegetation. This includes one of the famous Infinity Mirrored Rooms of the Japanese woman, her rooms made of mirrors and colored LEDs that immerse the viewer in a dizzying infinity. An experience that visitors will normally be able to live from this summer.

“Yayoi Kusama: Cosmic Nature”, exhibition from April 10 to October 31, 2021 at the New York Botanical Garden.

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