Kusama Show at NYBG Postponed to Spring 2021

Sad news for the fans of the queen of polka dots.  The eagerly awaited Kusama exhibit at the New York Botanical Garden has been postponed for one year, until Spring 2021.

KUSAMA: Cosmic Nature was to have opened on May 9, 2020 and tickets had been been selling briskly.

As with other events large and small in NYC, this is yet another victim of the Coronavirus pandemic.

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Original plans for the Kusama exhibit remain in place. 

This will still be a major exhibition by the internationally celebrated Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama, with sculptures and paintings throughout NYBG, indoors and out, including one of her famous infinity mirror rooms.

Some of the works on view at NYBG will be seen for the first time in the United States, and others have been specially created for this exhibit.

Unlike other special art shows at NYBG, like the recent Chihuly art glass exhibit, which travel widely, KUSAMA: Cosmic Nature is a one-and-only, only in New York.

So NYBG will be  the only place in the United States where you can experience the whimsical magic of Yoyoi Kusama works in a garden setting.

The exhibit includes works from throughout her career and multifaceted practice, and debut new works created by the artist such as the monumental Dancing Pumpkin (2020).

The exhibition will be installed across the Garden’s 250 acres and in several of its historic buildings. Outdoor works will include large-scale sculptures.

The equally magical Enid A. Haupt Conservatory, NYBG;s signature sprawling glass greenhouse, will display a spectacular tribute to Kusama based on one of her vibrant paintings.  It includes her first ever “participatory” installation, in which visitors can add the own flowers to create a unique living artwork.

The LuEsther T. Mertz Library Building will feature immersive experiences as well as examples of her earlier work, including botanical sketches, paintings, works on paper, biomorphic collages, assemblages, and recent soft sculpture and canvas works. Many of these will be on view for the first time in the U.S.

Those early sketchbooks show her growing childhood fascination with flowers and plants, and it’s easy to see how the natural world has inspired her throughout her career.

Kusama Infinity Room

Many of us are most familiar with Kusama’s mirrored infinity rooms, and of course, there will be one here, too.

Titled Infinity Mirror Room—Illusion Inside the Heart, this work is designed for the outdoors, and will respond to changes in natural lighting conditions.

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Changing seasonal plants and flowers will entice return visits.