Yayoi Kusama’s immersive worlds headline Museum Ludwig’s anniversary showcase

To mark its 50th anniversary, Museum Ludwig in Cologne has opened an expansive retrospective dedicated to Japanese contemporary artist Yayoi Kusama. Running until 2 August, the exhibition brings together more than 300 works that chart the evolution of Kusama’s practice across more than eight decades.

Polka dotted universe by artist Yayoi Kusama marks the 50th anniversary of Museum Ludwig in Cologne

The exhibition begins with early material from the mid-1930s, when Kusama was still a child, and continues through to a newly commissioned Infinity Mirror Room created especially for the show. Spread across multiple gallery spaces, the retrospective offers a sweeping look at the artist’s signature visual language — vivid colours, organic forms and her instantly recognisable polka dots.

Among the first works visitors encounter is Pumpkin (2009), a large sculpture placed at the museum’s entrance. The piece, made from fibre-reinforced plastic and polyurethane paint, is one of Kusama’s most widely recognised motifs and has become emblematic of her playful yet meditative approach to form and repetition.

Elsewhere in the exhibition, viewers encounter immersive installations that blur the boundaries between sculpture, architecture and experience. One of the standout works is The Universe as Seen from the Stairway to Heaven, an installation constructed from mirrors, glass and acrylic sheets. The reflective surfaces multiply the viewer’s image and surroundings, creating a seemingly endless spatial illusion — a hallmark of Kusama’s celebrated mirror rooms.

The exhibition also includes selections from Kusama’s long-running painting series My Eternal Soul (2009–2021). The colourful patchwork-like canvases combine abstract shapes, expressive brushwork and symbolic motifs, offering insight into the artist’s continuing experimentation well into her later years.

Outdoor spaces are also part of the display. On the museum’s rooftop terrace, visitors encounter Flowers That Speak All about My Heart Given to the Sky (2018), a group of painted bronze sculptures resembling exaggerated blossoms that stretch dramatically towards the sky.

Another notable installation, I’m Here, but Nothing, transforms an ordinary domestic setting into an otherworldly environment. Household objects are covered with fluorescent stickers and illuminated by ultraviolet light, creating a surreal atmosphere that evokes Kusama’s fascination with perception and transformation.

Curator Stephan Diederich describes the exhibition as an attempt to capture the full breadth of Kusama’s artistic journey. According to him, the show is “very diverse and wide-ranging”, reflecting a creative life that continues to evolve while still looking ahead.

Kusama’s work often draws from personal experiences. Born in Matsumoto, Japan, she grew up around the greenhouses and fields of her family’s seed nursery. Nature — particularly flowers and organic forms — has remained a recurring source of inspiration throughout her career.

From an early age, the artist experienced vivid hallucinations in which patterns such as polka dots or flowers seemed to expand across surfaces and spaces. These visions later became central to her artistic vocabulary. Over the decades, Kusama has spoken openly about how art helped her navigate feelings of anxiety and depression.

“In my more than 70 years as an artist, I have always been in awe of the wonder of life,” Kusama said in a statement accompanying the exhibition. She added that the power of artistic expression has sustained her through moments of sadness and uncertainty.

Now in her late nineties, Kusama continues to work daily, as far as her health allows. Although she has lived in relative seclusion in a Tokyo clinic for many years, the artist remained closely involved with the exhibition through indirect communication with the curatorial team.

The retrospective ultimately offers not only a survey of Kusama’s career but also a glimpse into the persistent creative energy that has defined one of contemporary art’s most distinctive voices.

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