Fans of Yayoi Kusama, the grand dame of Japanese avant garde, will get to view the artist's expansive oeuvre spanning seven decades at Yayoi Kusama: Life Is The Heart Of A Rainbow, held at the National Gallery Singapore from Friday (June 9).
This will be the 88-year-old's first major museum exhibition in South-east Asia and will include the global premiere of never-seen-before soft sculptures and paintings that are part of her series My Eternal Soul which she began working on in 2009.
In addition, a mirrored peep room called I Want To Love On The Festival Night has been specially created for the Gallery. It is an updated version of her earlier work, mirrored room Endless Love Show, but features three holes at different heights for visitors to peek through.
Also part of the exhibition are more than 120 of her artworks - paintings, sculptures, videos and installations - from the 1950s to the present day.
Expect her signature splash of polka dots, mesmerising infinity mirror rooms (there are three), pumpkin sculptures and more.
The exhibition will be open to the public from Friday to Sept 3 at the National Gallery's Singtel Special Exhibition Gallery on level 3. Entry will cost $15 for Singaporeans and permanent residents, or $25 for non-Singaporeans.
Timed entry tickets will be issued to prevent overcrowding and advance online booking is encouraged.
The showcase is spread across close to 2,000 sq m and divided into three sections. Visitors will be greeted by her signature motifs of dots, nets and pumpkins followed by works that engage with the human body, before arriving at her two recent series: Love Forever and My Eternal Soul. It will culminate with one of the few large scale installations Narcissus Garden - a garden of 1,500 reflective stainless steel balls.
It is curated by Mr Russell Storer, National Gallery Singapore's deputy director (curatorial and collections department) and curator Adele Tan.
Said Mr Storer: "Kusama's world is complex: full of colour and powerful symbolism...you are transported to a universe that is deeply intimate as well as potentially boundless."
The exhibition is a collaboration between National Gallery Singapore and Queensland Art Gallery and Gallery of Modern Art. It will travel to the museum in Brisbane following its showing here.
For more ticketing information visit www.nationalgallery.sg/YAYOI-KUSAMA.
