A major retrospective of the Japanese icon’s works spanning seven decades opens at National Gallery Singapore.

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I Want to Love on the Festival Night, 2017
Image: Yayoi Kusama/Ota Fine Arts Tokyo/Singapore

From the personal events in her life and that distinctive bright red bob, to the intricate net, dot and pumpkin motifs recurring in her works, the enigma that is Yayoi Kusama has captured the imagination of art collectors and enthusiasts alike. For the first time in Southeast Asia, National Gallery Singapore, in collaboration with Queensland Art Gallery and Gallery of Modern Art, stages a major retrospective of the renowned Japanese artist’s practice spanning more than seven decades.

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One of the world’s most influential artists, Yayoi Kusama, who recently turned 88, shows no signs of slowing down

Image: Yayoi Kusama/Ota Fine Arts Tokyo/Singapore, Victoria Miro London and David Zwirner New York

With a focus on the immersive and expansive nature of her artistic repertoire, Yayoi Kusama: Life is the Heart of a Rainbow, which opens on June 9, takes visitors through more than 120 of her works in various mediums such as paintings, sculptures, videos and installations from the 1950s to the present, including brand-new, never seen before works.

Step inside and get lost in Kusama’s immersive mirror rooms; discover major recent works such as her My Eternal Soul and Love Forever series; and be the first to see new paintings where the artist continues to push creative boundaries. And for the first time since the opening of National Gallery Singapore, Kusama’s Narcissus Garden takes over the historic City Hall Chamber.

Behind all this is a story of tenacity—Kusama defied societal and personal challenges to become one of the art world’s trailblazers of the 20th and 21st centuries whose work resonates across the world.


Self-Portrait, 1952

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Image: Yayoi Kusama


Death of a Nerve, 1976

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 Pumpkin, 1981

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The Spirits of the Pumpkins Descended into the Heavens, 2017

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Starry Pumpkin, 2015

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Invisible Life, 2017

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 Left-over Snow in the Dream, 1982

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 Infinity Mirrored Room – Gleaming Lights of the Souls, 2008

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Love Forever series

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 Image: National Gallery Singapore


With All My Love for the Tulips, I Pray Forever, 2013

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Image: Yayoi Kusama/Ota Fine Arts Tokyo/Singapore, Victoria Miro London and David Zwirner New York


My Eternal Soul series 

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Image: National Gallery Singapore


 Narcissus Garden, 2017

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Image: National Gallery Singapore


 Yayoi Kusama: Life is the Heart of a Rainbow is held from June 9 to September 3, at Singtel Special Exhibition Gallery, Level 3 City Hall Wing, National Gallery Singapore.

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