Kusama in the exhibited hexagonal mirror room at Kusamaʼs Peep Show or Endless Love Show, a solo exhibition at Richard Castellane Gallery, New York.
1966
© YAYOI KUSAMA

Title

Yayoi Kusama’s Self-Obliteration/Psychedelic World

Dates

Saturday, April 29, 2023 - Monday, September 18, 2023

All tickets must be purchased in advance online. Entry is timed and only valid for a specific 90 minute time-slot.
Please purchase tickets in advance from here.

Yayoi Kusama calls the feeling of losing the boundary between the self and the other through the obsessive repetition and proliferation of a single motif, "self-obliteration," and expresses it through various mediums in her works. This practice, which stems from childhood hallucinations, has been Kusama's signature theme since the beginning of her artistic career. In her works, the principle of repetition, reflections of mirrors, use of flickering lights, and other means of representation can make the viewers fall into a trance-like state. Such expressions of her works are reminiscent of the perception of hallucinogenic effects that characterized the psychedelic movement sweeping America, where Kusama was based, in the latter half of the 1960s. In other words, Kusama’s works invoke similarities with the visual effects of hallucinogenic drugs, inducing viewers to experience the perceptual transformations.
This exhibition focuses on the psychedelic aspects of Kusama's work and presents rich variations of her creations from different periods. It includes the premiere of her latest series of hexagonal mirrored rooms – first presented at her solo exhibition in New York in the latter half of the 1960s, as well as a film and related materials that consist of video recordings of happenings and other events. Through these showcases, this exhibition introduces Kusama's activities at that time, which were also a driving force of the psychedelic movement. The exhibition also features drawings from Kusama's early years, in which she freely depicted her internal images, as well as those created after her return to Japan, such as acrylic paintings in vivid colors, large three-dimensional works, an installation using black light, short videos, and literary work. We hope you will enjoy the psychedelic viewing experience created by Kusama's vision of self-obliteration.

L: Self-Obliteration #2 1967
R: The Return to Eternity 1988-91
W Collection (Deposit: Hiroshima City Museum of Contemporary Art)
Image courtesy of Norihiro Ueno
© YAYOI KUSAMA

L: Butterfly Village 1986
R: Each and Every Wish for Peace Just Shines 2023
© YAYOI KUSAMA

NEWS

Closed

Yayoi Kusama Museum is closed from Monday, February 27, 2023 to Friday, April 28, 2023 to prepare for the upcoming exhibition.

Regarding on NFT works circulating on the blockchain network "KUSAMA"

Please note that the blockchain network "KUSAMA," the NFT platforms such as "Singular" that sell NFT works using the blockchain network "KUSAMA," the NFT works circulating on those NFT platforms, and any other projects related to the blockchain network "KUSAMA" have nothing to do with Yayoi Kusama. Please note that all those projects are in no way related to Yayoi Kusama, nor are they licensed by her or the Yayoi Kusama Foundation in any way.
Yayoi Kusama
Yayoi Kusama Foundation

Regarding an NFT sale case of JNCA using Yayoi Kusama's name and image of Kusama’s artwork (March 15, 2022 update)/ 關於近期JNCA使用草間彌生名義以及草間彌生作品製成NFT商品并計劃進行銷售的行爲的聲明(2022年3月15日更新)

Please be advised that Yayoi Kusama and Yayoi Kusama Foundation are in no way affiliated with JNCA (Japan NFT Culture Association). The NFT products created by JNCA using Yayoi Kusama's name and image of Kusama’s artwork are in no way associated with Yayoi Kusama or Yayoi Kusama Foundation. The copyright of the artwork used to create the NFT products belongs to Yayoi Kusama. Yayoi Kusama has never licensed or granted any kind of permission to JNCA regarding any kind of use of this artwork. Similarly, the permission to use the logo of Yayoi Kusama Museum, regardless of whole or part, has never been granted to JNCA.
Yayoi Kusama
Yayoi Kusama Foundation

敬請注意,JNCA(一般社團法人日本NFT文化協會)使用草間彌生名義及作品圖像出品的NFT商品與草間彌生及草間彌生紀念藝術財團無任何關係。JNCA計劃銷售的NFT商品中使用了草間彌生的作品的圖像,該作品的著作權歸屬於草間彌生本人。草間彌生未曾授以該作品的包括著作權在内的任何權利于JNCA進行任何形式的使用。JNCA進行的銷售及宣傳活動中部分使用了草間彌生美術館的logo,此行爲亦未經我方允許及授權。
草間彌生
草間彌生紀念藝術財團