The exhibition Kusama Yayoi: All About Love Speaks Forever kicked off last Thursday at FoSun Foundation in Shanghai. Weeks before the exhibition's opening, the media outlets started reporting about it. The public also had high expectations for the exhibition.
This is Kusama's second solo exhibition in Shanghai. Back in 2004, the number of visitors to her first solo exhibition had reached an astounding 6000 per day. The name of "Kusama Yayoi" guarantees a high number of visitors and great financial gain.
However, this fame was misused last year as someone held "fake" exhibitions around China using the artist's name. Last May, an unauthorised exhibition appeared in Shanghai and Shenzhen among other cities. The exhibitions featured copies of the famous polka dot installations and infinity mirror room. People didn't realise the exhibition was not original until Kusama's studio released a statement to the public. This year's exhibition at FoSun Foundation, which is operated by the artist and her studio, seems to also be another statement towards last year's unauthorised exhibitions.
▲The authorised Kusama's exhibition last year in Shanghai
After seeing the exhibition at FoSun, we are confident to say that it is truly much better than the copycats. Not only are the artworks themselves dazzling, but the curation is also very detailed.
Kusama's new exhibition occupies the second and third floor of the FoSun building near the Bund. On the second floor are huge new immersive installations especially created for the exhibition by Kusama herself. The third floor displays some of the artist's newest paintings and sculptures.
Second Floor:
This floor featured a few immersive installations. At the entrance, what first came to our sight was a corridor filled with convex mirrors on the wall. The Invisible Life is among the new artworks that Kusama made especially for the show. It aims to make people reconsider the relationship between humans and the world through multiple reflections.
▲Yayoi Kusama, Invisible Life, 2019, Installation view at Fosun Foundation Shanghai "Yayoi Kusama: All About Love Speaks Forever",2019
©YAYOI KUSAMA
Image Copyright: Fosun Foundation Shanghai
After the two installations in the first space, there was another black corridor. We quite liked the curation of putting a black corridor between two display rooms. The sudden blackness washed away the strong colour lights from the first showroom and made us ready for the next display place. It had the same effect as gourmets drinking water to refresh their palettes between two dishes.
The installations in the room after the corridor was probably the best of the whole exhibition. After a few seconds of blackness, we were surprised by huge yellow twisting stems with black dots on it. The bright colour and expressive shapes brought a dramatic visual impact to the audience. The installation The Hope of the Polka Dots Buried in Infinity Will Eternally Cover the Universe was originated from Kusama's painting Yellow Trees created in the 90s. The painting has appeared through many other forms already including on the Louis Vuitton building at Fifth Avenue in New York City. However, this was the first time the artwork was shown in 3D.
▲The Hope of the Polka Dots Buried in Infinity Will Eternally Cover the Universe, 2019 Installation view at Fosun Foundation Shanghai “Yayoi Kusama: All About Love Speaks Forever”,
2019
©YAYOI KUSAMA Courtesy of Ota Fine Arts, Tokyo/ Singapore/ Shanghai
Image Copyright: Fosun Foundation Shanghai
After seeing the last installation on this floor, the famous Infinity Mirrored Room - My Eternal Soul Sparkles and Blazes Away, we passed another corridor to a small display space. The big screen on the wall was playing Kusama singing out poems about her own creative process. There was also a timeline of her career as well as several books about her work. This small space helped the audience better understand Kusama's artworks and prepare them for the next level.
Third Floor:
Compared to the second floor, the third floor was a much quieter space. It mainly showcased some of Kusama's newest painting as well as the new flower sculpture Yayoi Kusama: All About Love Speaks Forever. The paintings and the scuplture was great yet the lighting at the third floor is a bit too dimmed. It is not the most ideal lighting for appreciating the new sculpture.
▲ Installation view at Fosun Foundation Shanghai“Yayoi Kusama: All About Love Speaks Forever”, 2019
©YAYOI KUSAMA, Courtesy of Ota Fine Arts, Tokyo/ Singapore/Shanghai
Image Copyright: Fosun Foundation Shanghai
Fairly speaking, even though the whole exhibition was much smaller than we thought, it was delicately curated. Through the multiple original artworks by Kusama that we saw, we can now better understand the artist and her bizarre, colourful, and spectacular world.
