{"id":20633,"date":"2021-10-05T17:07:52","date_gmt":"2021-10-05T21:07:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/?p=20633"},"modified":"2021-10-05T17:10:21","modified_gmt":"2021-10-05T21:10:21","slug":"yayoi-kusama-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/2021\/10\/05\/yayoi-kusama-3\/","title":{"rendered":"Yayoi Kusama’s ‘Cosmic Nature’"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cMy pumpkins, beloved of all the plants in the world,\u201d Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama has said. \u201cWhen I see pumpkins, I cannot efface the joy of them being my everything, nor the awe I hold them in.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cCosmic Nature,\u201d at the New York Botanical Garden<\/a> in the Bronx from April 10 to Oct. 31, 2021, highlights the natural themes in Kusama\u2019s art by installing her work throughout the gardens and inside the conservatory and library.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor 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,\u201d curator Mika Yoshitake writes. \u201cNature is not only a central source of inspiration, but also integral to the visceral effects of Kusama\u2019s artistic language in which organic growth and the proliferation of life are made ever-present.\u201d<\/p>\n

The show includes the debut of her 16-foot-tall \u201cDancing Pumpkin\u201d (2020) on the conservatory lawn and \u201cI Want to Fly to the Universe\u201d (2020) in the visitor center reflecting pool. The exhibition also includes a 1945 sketchbook (from when she was 16), assemblage boxes, collages, sculptures and paintings.<\/p>\n

\"Yayoi<\/a>
Yayoi Kusama, “My Soul Blooms Forever,” 2019, at The New York Botanical Garden, 2021. Urethane paint on stainless steel. (Courtesy of Ota Fine Arts, Victoria Miro, and David Zwirner. Photo by Robert Benson Photography.)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Yayoi Kusama was born in 1929 and grew up on her wealthy family\u2019s seed nursery in Matsumoto, Japan. When she was 10, she had the first of the hallucinations that she would experience all her life\u2014she\u2019s described it as the red flower-patterned tablecloth that seemed to spread to everything.<\/p>\n

She took up art in her homeland before moving to the United States in 1957\u2014first Seattle, then New York the following summer. She filled canvases with little circles for her \u201cInfinity Net\u201d paintings, obsessive, minimalist versions of the Abstract Expressionist art.<\/p>\n

\"Yayoi<\/a>
Yayoi Kusama with “Pumpkin,” 2010. (Courtesy of Ota Fine Arts, Tokyo\/Singapore\/ Shanghai; Victoria Miro, London; David Zwirner, New York)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cThis endless repetition caused a kind of dizzy, empty hypnotic feeling,\u201d Kusama said in a 1964 radio interview. Her art has often been a way to get a grip on her mental struggles. \u201cI paint them in quantity,\u201d Kusama said of her late \u201850s \u201cInfinity Net\u201d paintings. \u201cIn doing so, I try to escape.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cLiving in New York City from 1958 to 1973, Kusama participated in avant-garde circles while honing her signature dot and net painting motifs, developing soft sculptures, creating installation-based works, and staging spontaneous performance art,\u201d according to the botanical garden. \u201cFollowing her return to Japan, her work became increasingly personal, while also engaging with universal themes of life and death and the interconnectedness of living things.\u201d<\/p>\n

Previously:<\/strong>
\nDec. 15, 2019: Two Yayoi Kusama Exhibits In New York Offer An Overview Of Her Visionary Art<\/a>
\nSept. 17, 2019: First Look Inside Yayoi Kusama’s Psychedelic ‘Infinity Room’ At Boston’s ICA<\/a><\/p>\n

\n

If this is the kind of coverage of arts, nature, cultures and activisms you appreciate, please support Wonderland by contributing to Wonderland on Patreon<\/a>. And sign up for our free, (hopefully) weekly newsletter<\/a> so that you don’t miss any of our reporting. (All content \u00a9Greg Cook 2021 or the respective creators.)<\/em><\/p>\n

\n
\"Catalogue<\/a>
Catalogue cover: Yayoi Kusama, “Starry Pumpkin,” 2015, at The New York Botanical Garden, 2021. Fiberglass-reinforced plastic, tiles, and resin. (Courtesy of Ota Fine Arts. Photo: Marlon Co, The New York Botanical Garden)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Yayoi<\/a>
Yayoi Kusama’s family, ca. 1929. (Courtesy of the artist)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Yayoi<\/a>
Yayoi Kusama in “Flower Obsession.” (Photo by Yusuke Miyazaki)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Yayoi<\/a>
Yayoi Kusama, “I Want to Fly to the Universe,” 2020, at The New York Botanical Garden, 2021. Urethane paint on aluminum. (Courtesy of Ota Fine Arts, Victoria Miro, and David Zwirner)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Yayoi<\/a>
Yayoi Kusama, “Ascension of Polka Dots on the Trees,” 2002\/2021, at The New York Botanical Garden, 2021. Printed polyester fabric, bungees, and aluminum staples installed on existing trees. (Collection of the artist. Photo by Robert Benson Photography.)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Yayoi<\/a>
Yayoi Kusama, “Life,” 2015, at The New York Botanical Garden, 2021. Fiberglass-reinforced plastic, tiles, and resin. (Courtesy of Ota Fine Arts, Victoria Miro, and David Zwirner. Photo by Robert Benson Photography.)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Yayoi<\/a>
Yayoi Kusama, “I Want to Go to the Universe,” 2013. Acrylic on canvas. (Collection of the artist)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Yayoi<\/a>
Yayoi Kusama, “Hymn of Life\u2014Tulips,” 2007, at The New York Botanical Garden, 2021. Mixed media. (Collection of the City of Beverly Hills)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Yayoi<\/a>
Yayoi Kusama, “Alone, Buried in a Flower Garden,” 2014. Acrylic on canvas. (Collection of the artist)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Yayoi<\/a>
Yayoi Kusama, “Summer Flowers,” 1988. Acrylic on canvas. (Collection of the artist)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Yayoi<\/a>
Yayoi Kusama, “Pumpkins Screaming About Love Beyond Infinity,” 2017, at The New York Botanical Garden, 2021. Mirrors, acrylic, glass, LEDs, and wood panels. (Courtesy of Ota Fine Arts, Victoria Miro, and David Zwirner)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Yayoi<\/a>
Yayoi Kusama, “Infinity Mirrored Room\u2014Illusion Inside the Heart,” 2020, at The New York Botanical Garden, 2021. Mirror-polished stainless steel, glass mirrors, and colored glass. (Courtesy of Ota Fine Arts, Victoria Miro, and David Zwirner)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"A<\/a>
A variety of paintings on canvas by Yayoi Kusama exhibited in “Kusama: Cosmic Nature” at The New York Botanical Garden, 2021. (Photo by Robert Benson Photography)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Yayoi<\/a>
Yayoi Kusama, “Flower Obsession (Sunflowers),” 2000. Video Still. (Collection of the artist)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Yayoi<\/a>
Yayoi Kusama, “Narcissus Garden,” 1966\/2021, at The New York Botanical Garden, 2021. 1,400 stainless steel spheres. (Courtesy of Ota Fine Arts, Victoria Miro, and David Zwirner. Photo by Robert Benson Photography.)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Yayoi<\/a>
Yayoi Kusama, “Dancing Pumpkin,” 2020, at The New York Botanical Garden, 2021. Urethane paint on bronze. (Courtesy of Ota Fine Arts, Victoria Miro, and David Zwirner. Photo by Robert Benson Photography)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cMy pumpkins, beloved of all the plants in the world,\u201d Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama has said. \u201cWhen I see pumpkins, I cannot efface the joy of them being my everything, nor the awe I hold them in.\u201d \u201cCosmic Nature,\u201d at the New York Botanical Garden in the Bronx from April 10 to Oct. 31, 2021, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":20635,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[100],"tags":[940,939],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20633"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20633"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20633\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20675,"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20633\/revisions\/20675"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/20635"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20633"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20633"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20633"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}