“Kusama: Cosmic Nature” is an exhibition of Yayoi Kusama’s eternal love for nature. Yayoi Kusama is an Avant-garde Japanese artist who is famous for her hallucinatory paintings of loops and dots. This exhibition is on view from April, 10 until October 31, 2021, at New York Botanical Garden (NYBG).
Starry Pumpkin (2015), The New York Botanical Garden, 2021. Fiberglass-reinforced plastic, tiles, and resin. Collection of the artist.https://www.nybg.org/event/kusama/
This exhibition displays multiple of Kusama’s installation arts that scattered in the NYBG’s 250-acres area, including Hymn of Life—Tulips (2007) in the Conservatory Courtyard Hardy Pool, Pumpkins Screaming About Love Beyond Infinity (2017) in the Visitor Center gallery, and her legendary Narcissus Garden (1966/2021) in the Native Plant Garden. Kusama’s artworks immerse in the beautiful nature, with blossoms tulips and irises in spring, seasonal progression of chrysanthemums, green meadow grasses, blue-purple bellflowers, and water lilies. The Infinity Mirrored Room—Illusion Inside the Heart (2020) that ‘responds to natural light through colored glass’ will be also displayed in this exhibition.
Yayoi Kusama, installation view of Narcissus Garden, 1966/2021, at The New York Botanical Garden. Photo by Robert Benson Photography. Courtesy of Ota Fine Arts, Tokyo/Singapore/ Shanghai; David Zwirner, New York; and Victoria Miro, London/Venice. https://www.artsy.net/article/artsy-editorial-yayoi-kusamas-fascination-nature-crucial-understanding-art
Kusama expresses her ‘lifelong fascination with the natural world’ that has begun since her childhood. When she was a child, she often spent her time in the greenhouses and fields of her family’s seed nursery. Her admiration for nature remains in her soul and it is expressed in her artworks featuring pumpkins, flowers, and many other natural elements. She is examining “concepts of the cosmos, infinity, and eternity” in her works.
Infinity Mirrored Room–Illusion Inside the Heart (2017), The New York Botanical Garden, 2021. Mirror-polished stainless steel, glass mirrors, colored glass. Collection of the artist. Courtesy of Ota Fine Arts, Tokyo/Singapore/Shanghai; David Zwirner, New York; Victoria Miro, London. Photo: OWL corp. https://www.nybg.org/event/kusama/
Art that involving in nature is often understood simply to display the natural world’s beauty. Kusama’s artworks go beyond this common assumption. They emerge a philosophical reflection on the cosmos, universe, infinity, and dimensionality through illusion and hallucinatory art. Her artworks are so remarkable and wonderful. Don’t miss your opportunity to visit this exhibition!
New York exhibition celebrates Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama
