Yayoi Kusama’s art has been travelling the world in a series of exhibits recently, but fans of the Japanese artist’s distinctly colourful style can now head to Yayoi Kusama Museum dedicated to her works
The Yayoi Kusama Museum in Tokyo opened late last year, opened by the 88-year-old artists. Inside, visitors can get a glimpse of her wildly colourful paintings, polka-dotted pumpkins and mirror-lined infinity rooms.
“Until now, I was the one who went overseas,” Ms. Kusama, 88, said, sitting in a wheelchair in front of her painting “I Who Have Arrived In The Universe” at a media preview of the Yayoi Kusama Museum on Tuesday. “But I now recognize that there are more people coming to Japan to come to see my work,” she said, reading from a statement in a binder covered in — what else? — red polka dots. “And that is why I decided to establish a place for them to see my work.”
Last spring, when Ms. Kusama’s work was exhibited at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in Washington, the show attracted record numbers of visitors who stood in long lines for the chance to spend 20 or 30 seconds in each mirrored room.
In an effort to limit crowds in the new Tokyo museum, only 50 visitors will be admitted at a time for one of four 90-minute slots per day.
The building, designed by the architectural firm Kume Sekkei, stands five stories high in Shinjuku, a residential neighborhood close to Ms. Kusama’s studio and the psychiatric hospital where she has lived voluntarily since 1977.
Creation is a Solitary Pursuit, Love is What Brings You Closer to Art
The inaugural exhibition at the Yayoi Kusama Museum centres on her newest painting series “My Eternal Soul”. Other new works by Yayoi Kusama will also be on display. In addition to the sixteen works from “My Eternal Soul”, the series entitled “Love Forever” will be presented, a collection of black and white drawings that formed the precursor to Kusama’s latest series. Furthermore, an installation piece Kusama has created especially for the museum’s opening will be showcased, along with a new pumpkin.
“Infinity Mirrored Room — Let’s Survive Forever,” 2017. Credit Vincent Tullo for The New York Times
Photo by Tomoaki Makino. Courtesy of the artist © Yayoi Kusama
