{"id":1698,"date":"2025-09-01T10:43:35","date_gmt":"2025-09-01T01:43:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/yayoikusamamuseum.jp\/?page_id=1698"},"modified":"2025-09-13T00:08:07","modified_gmt":"2025-09-12T15:08:07","slug":"2025first","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/yayoikusamamuseum.jp\/en\/exhibition\/past\/2025first\/","title":{"rendered":"Reverberation from the Universe | Past Exhibition"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Past Exhibition<\/h1>\r\n <\/div>\r\n
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Pink Dots \uff0d Let Me Rest in a Tomb of Stars<\/em> (detail)
1993\u20131994
\u00a9 YAYOI KUSAMA<\/p>\r\n <\/div>\r\n

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Title<\/p>\r\n <\/div>\r\n

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Reverberation from the Universe<\/h1>\r\n <\/div>\r\n <\/div>\r\n
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\r\n From a young age, Kusama has suffered from visual and auditory hallucinations. Her mental health condition has had a tremendous impact on the artist\u2019s creative activities. In the 1950s, driven by her own obsessions, Kusama created an enormous number of drawings, resulting in an opportunity to make her breakthrough as an artist. After relocating to the United States in 1957, the artist began to create a series of works that could be described as ritual of \u201cself-obliteration,\u201d where all existence is engulfed in infinitely repetitive patterns such as polka dots and nets while the self is immersed into a boundless world. These works express a desire for salvation from psychological disorders and simultaneously reflect her intention to liberate society from absurd oppression through happenings and other forms of expression. However, from the late 1970s to the 1980s, after returning to Japan due to mental and physical health conditions, Kusama created small-scale works such as collages and works on \u2018shikishi\u2019 paperboards in her room in a psychiatric hospital. Subsequently, her creations expanded to an environmental scale, such as multi-canvas paintings and gigantic inflatable works. Kusama\u2019s concept of \u201cself-obliteration\u201d is no longer solely a matter of the artist\u2019s inner psyche; rather, it invites us into this sensation as though we are caught in a solemn \u201creverberation from the universe.\u201d\r\n <\/p>\r\n

\r\n This exhibition focuses on the theme of illness, which can be described as the driving force behind Kusama\u2019s art, showcasing a diverse range of works and related materials from her early years to the present day. We invite you to witness these productions of Kusama\u2019s abundant creativity that reverberate to the farthest reaches of the universe.\r\n <\/p>\r\n

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\r\n Exhibition Video<\/strong>
\r\n Reverberation from the Universe<\/em> is available down below.\r\n <\/p>\r\n

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\r\n All artworks \u00a9 YAYOI KUSAMA
\r\n Photo: Eikoh Hosoe(01\u201952\u2019\u2019-02\u201909\u2019\u2019)
\r\n Collaboration between Yayoi Kusama and Queensland Art Gallery. Commissioned Queensland Art Gallery. Gift of the artist through the Queensland Art Gallery Foundation 2012. Collection: QAGOMA(03\u201957\u2019\u2019-04\u201947\u2019\u2019)
\r\n Film by Koichi Wakui
\r\n Sound design by SKANK
\r\n \u00a9 2025 YAYOI KUSAMA FOUNDATION
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