Very few artists can boast having such a recognisable style than Yayoi Kusama. As such, the highly anticipated Yayoi Kusama exhibition at the National Gallery of Victoria (NGV) has been packed with visitors everyday since its opening last December. Known for her iconic polka-dot patterns, pumpkin obsession and immersive rooms, the now 95-year-old artist is one of the world’s most celebrated and inspiring individuals in arts and culture.

Yayoi Kusama is another blockbuster exhibition by the NGV with 200 works on display that span across Kusama’s entire creative journey and life. Like previous exhibitions of this scale, the exhibit occupies the entire ground floor of the gallery and the ‘Great Hall’. Moreover, there are several public installations that even extends out front of the NGV on St Kilda Road.

As you arrive at the NGV, visitors are greeted by 60 pink-and-white polka-dot trees, an easy start to the other-worldly immersion awaiting inside. Then upon walking past the pink waterwall, you are immediately welcomed with two of Kusama’s most famous works, Narcissus Garden and her Dancing Pumpkin. An epic introduction that points to the massive scale of the exhibition.

The retrospective exhibition starts by introducing Yayoi Kusama’s humble beginnings in the late ‘30s and ‘40s, with her early paintings and collages that hint to the repetitive style of patterns she is known for. Alongside these are some of her early sculptural works that compliment her early Infinity Paintings. Then, the exhibition stages Kusama’s contribution to the avant-garde style with her works from the ‘50s and ‘60s in New York. Here the exhibit presents intimate insights into her early career with works from archived and personal collections. Highlighting her performance, fashion and photography practices, often motivated by her social and political activism.

The second section of the exhibition showcases Kusama’s more contemporary works from the past four decades. Here is where her Infinity Rooms are found along with her largescale sculptures and paintings. Right from entering part two of the exhibition, it becomes a fully immersive experience, rooms colourfully filled with polka-dots, pumpkins and mesmerising mirror rooms. Each of these rooms are unique from one another and worth viewing. While you only get 30 seconds in each Infinity Room, it is fully immersive with an uninterrupted view of ‘infinity’. A highlight from this section was the fantastical The Hope of the Polka Dots Buried in Infinity Will Eternally Cover the Universe, 2019, a black-and-yellow polka-dot room with giant tentacle-like forms. Here, you can really feel the fun and joy Kusama seeks to inspire using oversized inflatables and colour. In the last room of the exhibition, Kusama invites visitors to participate in her work by sticking a poppy sticker in a fully furnished, life-like apartment.

The exhibition of course is visually impressive and features many photo opportunities for the gram, but it is also a very deep and meaningful exhibit once you take a second to pause, put your phone away and ponder what Kusama’s art means. Beneath the veneer of all the colours, pumpkins and drugs, it’s beautiful to see the world through Yayoi Kusama’s eyes. While slightly disturbing, Kusama’s work on ‘self-obliteration’ to reach ‘infinity’ and her other works are messages of love. The exhibition for her “is in celebration of this everlasting hope that I offer Love to my eternal humankind.”

The exhibition is an escape from the scorching hot reality of Melbourne’s summer, and into Kusama’s cool and creative worldview. Just a heed of warning when visiting during weekends or holidays, while gallery limits the number of visitors using timed entry, some of the infinity rooms can have queues to get in. And please, don’t forget basic social etiquette and manners when lining up! You’ll get your turn, and the exhibit definitely isn’t one to speed run through.

Yayoi Kusama is on display from 15 December 2024 to 21 April 2025 at NGV International.

Images:

Yayoi Kusama’s Infinity Mirrored Room – My Heart is Filled to the Brim with Sparkling Light, 2024, on display at the NGV International, Melbourne for the National Gallery of Victoria’s Yayoi Kusama exhibition from 15 December 2024-21 April 2025. ©

YAYOI KUSAMA Photo: Sean Fennessy | Yayoi Kusama’s Dancing Pumpkin, 2020, now on display for the Yayoi Kusama exhibition at NGV International, Melbourne until 21 April 2025. Purchased with funds donated by Loti & Victor Smorgon Fund, 2024 ©

YAYOI KUSAMA. Photo: Sean Fennessy | Installation view of Yayoi Kusama’s The Hope of the Polka Dots Buried in Infinity Will Eternally Cover the Universe, 2019 as part of the Yayoi Kusama exhibition at NGV International, Melbourne until 21 April 2025. © YAYOI KUSAMA Photo: Sean Fennessy