Yayoi Kusama's much-anticipated Cosmic Nature exhibition is now open at the New York Botanical Garden in a riotous explosion of color and, of course, polka dots. Originally scheduled for 2020, Cosmic Nature is the perfect analogy for how many of us feel this spring: closed off and pent up for the past year, we are ready to frolic out and about in a revelry of colors.
Set amidst the gardens, the exhibition is the first to deeply explore Kusama's relationship to nature. It's a setting that feels especially appropriate as the Japanese artist grew up sketching in her family's plant nursery in Matsumoto. There is a monumental Dancing Pumpkin, which combines two of Kusama's most popular motifs, tentacles and pumpkins, her first-ever obliteration greenhouse, where guests are invited to cover the room with stickers and fake flowers, a new outdoor infinity mirror room, Illusion Inside the Heart (set to open later this summer), and a new version of her landmark 1966 Narcissus Garden. The mix of old and new work is interspersed with seasonal garden displays by NYBG's horticulturalists that celebrate biodiversity and includes Japanese plants from Kusama's childhood.
Cosmic Nature was slightly altered from its original format to so that most of the artwork is viewable outside where people can safely distance. Marked walking routes throughout the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory allow visitors to safely circulate through the Victorian-era greenhouse as well. A display of Kusama's earlier paintings and works can also be found in the library. The exhibition, which is sure to be found on everyone's social media feeds this summer, runs through October 31.
Olivia Hosken is the deputy managing editor of House Beautiful, where she oversees operations across the brand's print and digital platforms. She also writes about design and architecture and was previously the style & interiors writer at Town & Country and the managing editor of Dwell.
