A Thousand Dots, One Universe: Yayoi Kusama at the Museum Ludwig
3 min read
Grand. But not loud.
Over 300 works spanning more than nine decades, an Infinity Mirror Room created especially for Cologne, sculptures on the roof terrace with a view of the cathedral – it all sounds monumental. Yet Yayoi Kusama tells her story quietly, and with an intensity that is hard to shake off.
Behind the icons lies something more personal.
Her polka dots, pumpkins and mirrored installations are now known around the world – on Instagram, in museums and on merchandise.
The story behind it is more complex: Kusama describes how, as a child, she experienced hallucinations in which dots and patterns seemed to take over her body and the world around her. Painting was a way for her to regain control. This theme runs through her entire body of work to this day.
It’s a long journey.
From early drawings from the 1930s, through the provocative happenings in 1960s New York, to the large-scale series of works from her later years.
Early key works such as ‘Aggregation: One Thousand Boats Show’ from 1963 are on display, as is the environment ‘I’m Here but Nothing’: a living space bathed in black light and strewn with fluorescent adhesive dots. Anyone who has ever stepped inside it understands what Kusama means when she speaks of dissolution and infinity.
