News feed
Iconic Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama — best known for her expressive use of polka dots and the Instagram-popular “Infinity Rooms” — is taking over the New York Botanical Garden with a new exhibition titled “Kusama: Cosmic Nature.” The exhibition was delayed (it was scheduled to open last year) due to the pandemic but will finally open on April 12. The show will explore the influence of nature in Kusama’s work.
Per the New York Botanical Garden: “Exclusively at NYBG, Kusama reveals her lifelong fascination with the natural world, beginning with her childhood spent in the greenhouses and fields of her family’s seed nursery. Her artistic concepts of obliteration, infinity, and eternity are inspired by her intimate engagement with the colors, patterns, and life cycles of plants and flowers.”
“For Kusama, cosmic nature is a life force that integrates the terrestrial and celestial orders of the universe from both the micro- and macrocosmic perspectives she investigates in her practice,” Dr. Mika Yoshitake told Time Out New York. “Her explorations evoke meanings that are both personal and universal. Nature is not only a central source of inspiration, but also integral to the visceral effects of Kusama’s artistic language in which organic growth and the proliferation of life are made ever-present.”
“Cosmic Nature” will feature four new works, including a new outdoor Infinity Room installation (read now for long wait times), sketches, works on paper, and archival photographs. Sculptures will be scattered throughout the botanical garden. Kusama’s work is on display all across the garden in four different experiences on its landscape, in and around the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory and in the LuEsther T. Mertz Library Building.
The exhibition will be on view through Oct. 31, 2021. An illustrated exhibition catalogue will be published in collaboration with Rizzoli Electa later this summer. Tickets are available for $28.
