Yayoi Kusama Brings Cosmic Nature to New York's Botanical Gardens

If you're crawling out of Covid isolation feeling pale and weary, the New York Botanical Gardens has the perfect antidote for you. Cosmic Nature, an interactive installation featuring the artwork of immensely popular artist Yayoi Kusama, is running from now till October 31st.

The artist is famous for her obsession with repetitive patterns, especially polka dots.  Despite the large scale and vivid, hallucinatory nature of her sculptures, they seem perfectly at home among the flowers and cherry blossoms of the botanical gardens.

At 92 years old, Kusama is an art fan favorite. Her infinity rooms especially draw crowds who are willing to wait in long lines for a chance to be immersed in her artwork.

The artist's life story is just as compelling as her artwork. At age 10, Kusama started having intense visions of dots that stretched out to infinity, as well as endless fields of talking flowers. To this day, these childhood experiences inform her artwork. At age 13, she was forced to work in a factory, sewing parachutes for the Japanese army during World War II. Her career spans decades, and she was involved in the "happenings" and counterculture of the 1960's. She has been very open about her mental health issues, and has taken up permanent residence is a psychiatric hospital in Tokyo, not far from her studio.

In addition to sculpture, she has worked in film and fashion and written prose and poetry.

The current show highlights Kusama's fascination with nature. Plant inspired, polka-dotted sculptures are scattered among the flowers and meadows of the botanical gardens, creating a fanciful landscape. Although the sculptures are clearly manufactured, they seem to enhance their garden environment rather than clashing with it.

There are two monumental sculptures: "Dancing Pumpkin" and "I Want To Fly To The Universe" are being exhibited for the first time at NYBG. The massive but playful Dancing Pumpkin is reminiscent of a giant polka dotted squid, with plenty of space between tentacles for art lovers to walk through. 'Universe" is a multi-colored, polka dotted, tentacled sun, and an immediately endearing sculpture.

Kusama's infinity rooms are wildly popular, always drawing a huge crowd. A new infinity mirror room, "Illusion inside the heart", will allow interior access after August 3rd. Advance purchase is highly recommended.

Tickets for the garden are $15.00 for New York Residents, $25.00 for non-residents. Tickets to the garden and gallery are $35.00. And, for New York Residents, access to the garden on Wednesday is free!

A day in the gardens, surrounded by fun and funky artwork, is the perfect way to shake off any lingering after effects of isolation. Due to timed entry tickets, you'll have a chance to stroll through 250 acres of garden without braving a large crowd. Kusama Garden and Gallery tickets do sell out, so be sure to pre-order here.

The more attractions you discover around Manhattan and the rest of New York City, the more reasons you’ll have to bring your workspace into the heart of it all. Broadway Suites can help! Contact us and let’s look at affordable Manhattan shared office space options for your business today!