The Yayoi Kusama exhibition unfolds in a chronological and thematic sequence, from Kusama’s childhood sketches in Matsumoto through her New York breakthrough, activism, and into her current large-scale installations, with an underpinning of archival material displays, fashion & video works.
The design has been carefully crafted to reflect Kusama’s artistic evolution and distinctive aesthetic, while merging into the background and privileging the immersive works.
The show begins with her early childhood works, displayed in a darkened brown space that evokes the oppressive nature of her small-town upbringing and also references her first-ever exhibition, which featured brown fabric pin-ups. As visitors move into the New York years, the space opens up with a clean white palette, exploring modernist ideals. Later in the piece, immersive mirror rooms interact with expressed volumes and white cubes, while bold yellow takeovers transform entire rooms, drawing the viewer into Kusama’s vibrant world of color.
The architecture of the exhibition expands and contracts through varying wall builds, ceiling heights, and lighting, offering a unique experience for each series of works. With such a vast number of works on display, the final exhibition design resulted from countless iterations and prototyping. This project is the result of three exhibition designers collaborating closely to develop the rooms simultaneously, supporting an ever-evolving checklist of highly complex works.