A couple nights ago, AM was able to stop by the Whitney Museum in New York to attend the opening of the Yayoi Kusama solo exhibition. The traveling retrospective, which was recently shown at the Tate Modern in London (covered), features a diverse selection of her work from the 1940s through the present including traditional Japanese paintings, her canvases utilizing repeating motifs of dots and nets, furniture bristling with soft-sculpture phalluses, her polka-dot-painted pumpkins, whole room light installations, and more. Wandering through a wonderland of the Japanese artist’s making, it’s not hard to imagine how her well-documented mental difficulties served as inspirations for much of her work. The show is definitely recommended so stop by if you are in NYC as it is open through September 30th. While in town, attendees should also visit the Louis Vuitton pop-up shop that opened concurrently specifically to display their new collaborative line with Kusama of clothing and accessories, all in her now widely recognized signature dots.

Discuss Yayoi Kusama here.