Yayoi Kusama
July 12–Sept 30, 2012
Yayoi Kusama in Yellow Tree furniture room at Aich triennale, Nagoya, Japan, 2010 (detail). © Yayoi Kusama. Image courtesy Yayoi Kusma Studio Inc.; Ota Fine Arts, Tokyo; Victoria Miro Gallery, London; and Gagosian Gallery New York
Well known for her use of dense patterns of polka dots and nets, as well as her intense, large-scale environments, Yayoi Kusama works in a variety of media, including painting, drawing, sculpture, film, performance, and immersive installation. Born in Japan in 1929, Kusama came to the United States in 1957 and quickly found herself at the epicenter of the New York avant-garde. After achieving fame through groundbreaking exhibitions and art “happenings,” she returned to her native country in 1973 and is now one of Japan’s most prominent contemporary artists. This retrospective features works spanning Kusama’s career.
Kusama’s Fireflies on the Water is being shown in the Museum’s Lobby Gallery in conjunction with the Yayoi Kusama retrospective. Timed tickets are required to view Fireflies on the Water and can only be reserved on the day of your visit at the admission desk.
This exhibition is organized in collaboration with Tate Modern, London.
Supported by
Additional support for the Whitney’s presentation of Yayoi Kusama is provided by Carla Emil and Rich Silverstein, The Gage Fund, Susan Hancock/Royal T, the Juliet Lea Hillman Simonds Foundation, the Asian Cultural Council, The Japan Foundation, New York, and Linda and Andrew Safran.
With thanks to Victoria Miro Gallery, London; Ota Fine Arts, Tokyo; and Yayoi Kusama Studio, Inc. for their support of the international tour of the Yayoi Kusama exhibition.
Additional thanks to Gagosian Gallery for their assistance with the Yayoi Kusama exhibition in New York.
Artworks
Yayoi Kusama, The Germ, 1952. Ink and pastel on paper, 9 3/4 × 7 1/16 in. (24.7 × 18 cm). Collection of the artist. © Yayoi Kusama. Image courtesy Yayoi Kusama Studio Inc.; Ota Fine Arts, Tokyo; Victoria Miro Gallery, London
Yayoi Kusama, Accumulation, c. 1963. Sewn and stuffed fabric, wood chair frame, paint, 35 1/2 × 38 1/2 × 35 in. (90.2 × 97.8 × 88.9 cm). Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; purchase 2001.342. © Yayoi Kusama. Photograph by Tom Powel
Yayoi Kusama (b. 1929), Self-Obliteration (Net Obsession Series), c. 1966. Photocollage on paper, 8 × 10 in. (20.3 × 25.4 cm). Collection of the artist. © Yayoi Kusama. Image courtesy Yayoi Kusama Studio Inc.; Ota Fine Arts, Tokyo; Victoria Miro Gallery, London. Photograph by Hal Reiff. © Hal Reiff
Yayoi Kusama (b. 1929), Self-Obliteration No. 1, 1962–7. Watercolor, ink, graphite, and photocollage on paper, 15 7/8 × 19 13/16 in. (40.4 × 50.4 cm). Collection of the artist. © Yayoi Kusama. Image courtesy Yayoi Kusama Studio Inc.; Ota Fine Arts, Tokyo; Victoria Miro Gallery, London
Yayoi Kusama (b. 1929), Self-Obliteration (original design for poster), 1968. Collage with gouache and ink on paper, 18 1/8 × 11 in. (46 × 28 cm). Collection of the artist. © Yayoi Kusama. Image courtesy Yayoi Kusama Studio Inc.; Ota Fine Arts, Tokyo; Victoria Miro Gallery, London
Kusama at Bust Out Happening at Sheep Meadow in Central Park, 1969. Collection Yayoi Kusama. Image courtesy Yayoi Kusama Studio Inc.; Ota Fine Arts, Tokyo; Victoria Miro Gallery, London
Yayoi Kusama, Flowers and Self-Portrait, 1973. Collage, watercolor, and ink on paper, 20 7/8 × 16 9/16 in. (53 × 42 cm). Ota Fine Arts, Tokyo. © Yayoi Kusama. Image courtesy Yayoi Kusama Studio Inc.; Ota Fine Arts, Tokyo; Victoria Miro Gallery, London
Yayoi Kusama, Fireflies on the Water, 2002. Mirror, plexiglass, 150 lights and water, 111 × 144 1/2 × 144 1/2 in. (281.9 × 367 × 367 cm) overall. Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; purchase, with funds from the Postwar Committee and the Contemporary Painting and Sculpture Committee and partial gift of Betsy Wittenborn Miller 2003.322a-tttttttt. © Yayoi Kusama. Photograph courtesy Robert Miller Gallery
Yayoi Kusama (b. 1929), Late-night Chat is Filled with Dreams, 2009. Acrylic on canvas, 63 3/4 × 63 3/4 in. (162 × 162 cm). Collection of the artist. © Yayoi Kusama. Image courtesy Yayoi Kusama Studio Inc.; Ota Fine Arts, Tokyo; Victoria Miro Gallery, London
Kusama in Dots Obsession, Watari Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo, 2011. Collection Yayoi Kusama. Image courtesy Yayoi Kusma Studio Inc.; Ota Fine Arts, Tokyo; Victoria Miro Gallery, London; and Gagosian Gallery New York
Events
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Audio guides
Yayoi Kusama in Yellow Tree furniture room at Aich triennale, Nagoya, Japan, 2010 (detail). © Yayoi Kusama. Image courtesy Yayoi Kusma Studio Inc.; Ota Fine Arts, Tokyo; Victoria Miro Gallery, London; and Gagosian Gallery New York
This audio guide features selected works from Yayoi Kusama and the artist's installation, Fireflies on the Water.
Installation Photography
Installation view of Yayoi Kusama (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, July 12-September 30, 2012). Photograph by Sheldan C. Collins
Installation view of Yayoi Kusama (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, July 12-September 30, 2012). Photograph by Sheldan C. Collins
Installation view of Yayoi Kusama (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, July 12-September 30, 2012). Photograph by Sheldan C. Collins
Installation view of Yayoi Kusama (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, July 12-September 30, 2012). Photograph by Sheldan C. Collins
Installation view of Yayoi Kusama (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, July 12-September 30, 2012). Photograph by Sheldan C. Collins
Installation view of Yayoi Kusama (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, July 12-September 30, 2012). Photograph by Sheldan C. Collins
Installation view of Yayoi Kusama (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, July 12-September 30, 2012). Photograph by Sheldan C. Collins
Installation view of Yayoi Kusama (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, July 12-September 30, 2012). Photograph by Sheldan C. Collins
Installation view of Yayoi Kusama (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, July 12-September 30,2012). Photograph by Sheldan C. Collins
Installation view of Yayoi Kusama (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, July 12-September 30,2012). Photograph by Sheldan C. Collins
Installation view of Yayoi Kusama (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, July 12-September 30,2012). Photograph by Sheldan C. Collins
Installation view of Yayoi Kusama (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, July 12-September 30,2012). Photograph by Sheldan C. Collins
Installation view of Yayoi Kusama (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, July 12-September 30,2012). Photograph by Sheldan C. Collins
Installation view of Yayoi Kusama (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, July 12-September 30,2012). Photograph by Sheldan C. Collins
Installation view of Yayoi Kusama (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, July 12-September 30,2012). Photograph by Sheldan C. Collins
Installation view of Yayoi Kusama (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, July 12-September 30,2012). Photograph by Sheldan C. Collins
Installation view of Yayoi Kusama (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, July 12-September 30,2012). Photograph by Sheldan C. Collins
Installation view of Yayoi Kusama (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, July 12-September 30,2012). Photograph by Sheldan C. Collins
Installation view of Yayoi Kusama (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, July 12-September 30,2012). Photograph by Sheldan C. Collins
Installation view of Yayoi Kusama (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, July 12-September 30,2012). Photograph by Sheldan C. Collins
Installation view of Yayoi Kusama (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, July 12-September 30,2012). Photograph by Sheldan C. Collins
Installation view of Yayoi Kusama (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, July 12-September 30,2012). Photograph by Sheldan C. Collins
Installation view of Yayoi Kusama (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, July 12-September 30,2012). Photograph by Sheldan C. Collins
Installation view of Yayoi Kusama (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, July 12-September 30,2012). Photograph by Sheldan C. Collins
Installation view of Yayoi Kusama (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, July 12-September 30,2012). Photograph by Sheldan C. Collins
Installation view of Yayoi Kusama (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, July 12-September 30,2012). Photograph by Sheldan C. Collins
Installation view of Yayoi Kusama (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, July 12-September 30,2012). Photograph by Sheldan C. Collins
Installation view of Yayoi Kusama (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, July 12-September 30,2012). Photograph by Sheldan C. Collins
Installation view of Yayoi Kusama (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, July 12-September 30,2012). Photograph by Sheldan C. Collins
In the News
Review: “Vivid Hallucinations From a Fragile Life”
—The New York Times
"[Kusama's] works are triumphant, humorous celebrations of potential, vulnerability and defiance"
—The Boston Globe
"Kusama’s is a wonderful behind-the-music story, the outsider with destiny in her sights, who moves to the big city to prove herself, then collapses under the strain of striving, only to stage a comeback, bigger than ever."
—New York Magazine
Video: Mo Rocca interviews Yayoi Kusama
—CBS Sunday Morning
"Fame Becomes Her"
—W Magazine
In celebration of her retrospective at the Whitney Museum, Yayoi Kusama transformed two downtown Manhattan sites near the Whitney’s future home in the Meatpacking District.
On view through October 15, Kusama's Yellow Trees building wrap transforms a tall building into a giant canvas. The scrim at 345 West 14th Street at 9th Avenue features a detail of the original painting Yellow Trees (1994), greatly enlarged so that its powerful sinuous patterns envelop the new twelve-story construction project.
From early summer through September 25, visitors to Hudson River Park's Pier 45 enjoyed Kusama's vibrant multi-part installation, Guidepost to the New Space. Bright red polka-dotted forms nestled in the grass like a herd of otherworldly abstractions, transforming the pier and its spectacular urban skyline.
Support for Yellow Trees provided by DDG Partners. Support for Guidepost to the New Space provided by Gagosian Gallery New York and Hudson River Park Trust.