The New York Botanical Garden (NYBG) today announced that KUSAMA: Cosmic Nature, its major 2020 exhibition of work by internationally celebrated Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama (b. 1929), will open on May 9, 2020. Tickets for the landmark presentation will go on sale January 29, 2020, at nybg.org/kusama.

NYBG is the sole venue for KUSAMA: Cosmic Nature. The exhibition will include works from throughout her career and multifaceted practice, and debut new works created by the artist such as the monumental Dancing Pumpkin (2020).

Kusama’s profound engagement with nature will be represented in depth, with multiple installations, including her signature mirrored environments and organic forms, colossal polka-dotted sculptures of flora, mesmerizing paintings, and her first-ever participatory greenhouse installation. Sketchbooks from her youth portend Kusama’s lifelong fascination with the natural world that has inspired her aesthetic throughout her prolific career. On view through November 1, 2020, opportunities to experience her work throughout the changing seasons from spring into fall will entice return visits.

Carrie Rebora Barratt, Ph.D., CEO & The William C. Steere Sr. President of The New York Botanical Garden, said, “The Garden is uniquely suited to present this once-in-a-lifetime display of Yayoi Kusama’s work for our visitors. An exceptional selection of work invites visitors into her universe, to consider her practice through her unique vision of the natural world. Our subtitle, Cosmic Nature, references her bold investigations of materiality, media, color, form, and pattern that proliferate into an expansive sense of becoming with the cosmos. We are thrilled to mount this focused survey of the work of one of the most influential artists of our time.”

The exhibition will be installed across the Garden’s 250 acres and in several of its historic buildings. Outdoor works will include large-scale sculptures. The Enid A. Haupt Conservatory will display a spectacular horticultural tribute to Kusama based on one of her vibrant paintings. The LuEsther T. Mertz Library Building will feature immersive experiences as well as examples of her earlier work—botanical sketches, paintings, works on paper, biomorphic collages, assemblages—and recent soft sculpture and canvas works. Many of these will be on view for the first time in the U.S.

Visit nybg.org/kusama to sign up for updates and alerts on the exhibition and related public programming. Tickets go on sale for NYBG Patrons and Members on January 15, 2020.

KUSAMA: Cosmic Nature is presented with support from Major Sponsor MetLife Foundation.

About The New York Botanical Garden

The New York Botanical Garden is an iconic living museum. An oasis in this busy metropolis since its founding in 1891, the Garden is a dynamic, leading New York City cultural institution. A National Historic Landmark, the 250-acre site’s verdant landscape supports over one million living plants in extensive collections. More than one million annual visitors enjoy the Garden, not only for its remarkable diversity of tropical, temperate, and desert flora but also for programming that ranges from renowned exhibitions in the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory and LuEsther T. Mertz Library to celebrations on Daffodil Hill.

The Garden is also a major educational institution. More than 300,000 people annually—among them Bronx families, schoolchildren, and teachers—learn about plant science, ecology, and healthful eating through NYBG’s hands-on, curriculum-based programming; 90,000 of those visitors are children from underserved neighboring communities, while more than 3,000 are educators from New York City’s public school system participating in professional development programs that train them to teach science courses at all grade levels.

NYBG operates one of the world’s largest plant research and conservation programs, with 200 staff members—including nearly 100 Ph.D. scientists—working in the Garden’s state-of-the-art molecular labs as well as in the field, where they lead programs in 49 countries.

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KUSAMA: Cosmic Nature is presented by:

Major Sponsor

MetLife Foundation

Major Support provided by

LuEsther T. Mertz Charitable Trust

Additional support provided by the New York State Council on the Arts
with the support of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo and the New York State Legislature

Exhibitions in the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory are made possible by the Estate of Enid A. Haupt.

Exhibitions in the LuEsther T. Mertz Library are made possible by the LuEsther T. Mertz Charitable Trust.

Additional support for Mertz Library exhibitions has also been provided by The Andrew W. Mellon

Foundation and by a Challenge Grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities.

The New York Botanical Garden is a museum of plants located at Bronx River Parkway (Exit 7W) and Fordham Road. It is easy to reach by Metro-North Railroad, bus, or subway. The Garden is open year-round, Tuesday through Sunday and Monday federal holidays, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. For more information, please call 718.817.8700 or visit nybg.org

The New York Botanical Garden, 2900 Southern Boulevard, Bronx, New York 10458

The New York Botanical Garden is located on property owned in full by the City of New York, and its operation is made possible in part by public funds provided through the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs. A portion of the Garden’s general operating funds is provided by The New York City Council and The New York State Office of Parks, Recreation, and Historic Preservation. The Bronx Borough President and Bronx elected representatives in the City Council and State Legislature provide leadership funding.