Yayoi Kusama’s Exhibition Draws Record Crowds to National Gallery Singapore

The Gallery Sees Highest Exhibition Attendance Since Its Opening

Singapore, 4 September 2017 – Known for her iconic dots, nets and pumpkins, Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama’s art has captivated millions all over the world, and now including those in Singapore and Southeast Asia. National Gallery Singapore welcomed over 235,000 visitors to the recently concluded Yayoi Kusama: Life is the Heart of a Rainbow, and connected more people with the life and works of an artist who now has a firm place in the global and regional art history. 

Due to overwhelming response from the public, which also saw visitors from the region flying down specially for the show, the Gallery had also extended its operating hours till midnight for the exhibition in the final three days of its run.

Yayoi Kusama: Life is the Heart of a Rainbow is internationally-acclaimed artist Yayoi Kusama’s first major survey in Southeast Asia. The exhibition featured over 120 works, including new, never-before-seen, pieces and offered an unprecedented opportunity for visitors in Singapore to explore seven decades of her extraordinary artistic practice.

“We are encouraged to see the overwhelming response to this exhibition. We have seen visitors from all walks of life gain access into the bold and captivating world of Yayoi Kusama. Kusama is one of Asia’s most prominent artists. Her long artistic history, connection and immense impact on the art world - both modern and contemporary - are also highly relevant to our interest in exploring the relationships between Asian art and the rest of the world. It is an important mission of the Gallery to make the arts more accessible; to engage new audiences through art and to further the understanding of art amongst our publics. Through this exhibition, we hope that audiences in Singapore and Southeast Asia have gained a new appreciation of an artist whose works transcend geographical boundaries and generations.” said Dr Eugene Tan, Director, National Gallery Singapore. 

The intimate and immersive exhibition, which ran from 9 June to 3 September, intrigued and thrilled visitors with Kusama’s signature pieces, such as her pumpkin installations, infinity mirror rooms and her most recent works – a cluster of soft sculptures and several paintings from her ‘My Eternal Soul’ series (2009–ongoing), some of which were on display for the first time.

The exhibition is a collaboration between National Gallery Singapore and Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art (QAGOMA), Brisbane, Australia. The exhibition is co-curated by Russell Storer and Adele Tan of the Gallery and Reuben Keehan of QAGOMA. The show will travel to QAGOMA in November 2017.

For more details about the exhibition, please visit www.nationalgallery.sg/yayoi-kusama