The exhibition Yayoi Kusama: 1945 – Today, held at the Serralves Museum of Contemporary Art
The exhibition Yayoi Kusama: 1945 – Today, held at the Serralves Museum of Contemporary Art, highlights the profound and multifaceted impact of the Japanese artist on contemporary society. Over the course of seven decades, Kusama has built a powerful and, in part, highly philosophical body of work that invites the viewer to explore the boundaries of infinity, radical connection, and the cycles of life and death. This exhibition successfully conveyed the central themes of her work, from accumulation and highly expressive self-portraits to immersive and kaleidoscopic experiences.
Organized both chronologically and thematically, the exhibition clearly portrayed Kusama’s artistic and personal evolution. From her early teenage drawings to the vibrant canvases of the My Eternal Soul series, each work reveals the artist’s emotional depth and her relentless pursuit of transforming pain into beauty. The inclusion of archival materials and sculptures such as the Accumulations underscores the technical and thematic innovation that Kusama has brought to the contemporary art scene.
Image: Portrait of Yayoi Kusama. Photograph by Yusuke Miyazaki.
Courtesy of Ota Fine Arts, Victoria Miro and David Zwirner. ©YAYOI KUSAMA
The installation Dots Obsession – Aspiring to Heaven's Love stood out as the exhibition’s climax, offering visitors a singular sensory experience. The mirrored environment creates an illusion of infinity and reinforces Kusama’s obsession with the dissolution of the “self” into the cosmos. This space encapsulates the artist’s characteristic repetitive aesthetic while also inviting the audience to reflect on their own existence in relation to the universe—conveying a sense of smallness intertwined with the vastness of the world itself.
The exhibition also serves as a celebration of Kusama’s philosophical vision, which interconnects biological and cosmic reality. The way she employs patterns and organic shapes—such as pumpkins, dots, and infinite nets—to explore universal questions can even be unsettling. This striking dialogue between the micro and macrocosm continues to position Kusama as one of the most unique and influential artistic voices of the 20th and 21st centuries.
The performances Kusama staged in the 1960s, strongly marked by the concept of self-obliteration, not only reflected her artistic vision but were also intertwined with civil rights movements and protests against the Vietnam War. These socially impactful actions solidified her presence in the cultural landscape, highlighting her commitment to political and social issues. The exhibition curated by the Serralves Museum revisits these historical moments, offering an interpretation that emphasizes the political dimension of her work. More than a purely aesthetic expression, Kusama’s art emerges as a powerful tool for social critique and transformation, demonstrating how art can transcend the boundaries of the museum and actively engage with the tensions and struggles of its time.
The exhibition Yayoi Kusama: 1945 – Today, presented at Serralves, deeply explored the key elements that have shaped Kusama’s artistic trajectory, offering visitors an immersive experience into her unique vision of the world. Through her engaging installations, repetitive forms, and characteristic use of color and light, it challenged the audience to reconsider their perceptions of identity, space, and time, leading them into a sensory and, above all, reflective experience.
More than a mere retrospective, this was an intense and striking exhibition that captured the essence of Kusama’s ever-visionary spirit. The impact of her works, marked by a fusion of artistry and existential thought, will undoubtedly continue to resonate in the minds of all who visited, making this exhibition a truly remarkable event in Portugal’s cultural landscape.
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Thanks to: Fernando Rodrigues Pereira, Serralves.