Inhotim opens permanent gallery dedicated to Yayoi Kusama

Starting July 16, Instituto Inhotim will open its twentieth permanent gallery to the public, dedicated to Yayoi Kusama , one of the most renowned and emblematic artists of our time. Galeria Yayoi Kusama houses two of her works: I'm Here, But Nothing (2000) and Aftermath of Obliteration of Eternity (2009) , works belonging to the Instituto Inhotim Collection, acquired in 2008 and 2009, respectively. “The opening of the Yayoi Kusama Gallery fulfills a central artistic ambition at Inhotim in relation to the work of one of the most visionary artists of our time,” says Allan Schwartzman , co-founder of Inhotim. “This occasion allows us to offer a permanent presence for three of the artist’s most emblematic works, each of which embodies a distinctly different environmental expression of the artist’s creative universe: the optical transformation of a dark space into a psychological place of sensory overload; a contemplative infinite space; and a suspended floating garden composed of countless metallic spheres hovering over Inhotim’s natural landscape. Galeria Yayoi Kusama embodies Inhotim’s highest goals of offering unique environments for the experience of exceptional large-scale works of art for a broad and diverse audience,” adds Allan. Yayoi Kusama is recognized worldwide for her work characterized by creative and captivating imagination, with a diversity of media and languages, especially in immersive installations, which invite the viewer to enter her universe, sharpening their perception. Happenings , performances, paintings, sculptures, installations, literary works and films are part of the artist's creative collection. The collective participation in her immersive installations gives meaning to her works, realizing an experience without limits, without borders, with colors, contrasts, lights and shadows. The architectural design for the Yayoi Kusama Gallery was developed by architects Fernando Maculan (MACh) and Maria Paz (Rizoma) , with an area of 1,436.97 m², located on the Orange Axis, close to the Cosmococa Gallery and Jardim Veredas. The gallery's architectural design not only considers a protected space to house the installations, but also for its audience, working with the idea of waiting and remaining in a convivial space. “Given the relevance of Yayoi Kusama's work and its well-known appeal to large audiences, the gallery's design includes a large waiting and preparation area,” explain the architects. The landscaping of the Yayoi Kusama Gallery features a winding stone path that reveals the gallery to the public, with curves along the path, arousing the curiosity of those who arrive. The landscaping project was carried out by Juliano Borin, Inhotim's Botanical Curator, Geraldo Farias, from the Inhotim Botanical Garden team, with contributions from Bernardo Paz. The planned garden is inspired by a multicolored tropical garden, with a touch of psychedelia, where more than 4,000 bromeliads were planted and presents the already consolidated landscaping language of the museum and botanical garden.

About Yayoi Kusama

Repetitive patterns have marked Yayoi Kusama's artistic career since her childhood drawings, a period in which, due to her mental health, she began to experience hallucinations involving dots and circles - polka dots - constantly. Her desire to become an artist, coupled with family conflicts and a lack of support in this endeavor, led Kusama to move to the United States in the late 1950s. It was in one of her first exhibitions in New York that the artist became known for her large-scale paintings, with infinite monochromatic dots on the canvas. As she experimented with a series of supports and languages, Yayoi Kusama developed increasingly audacious artistic projects for the conservative context of the time, expressing herself politically and proposing the liberation of the body through happenings and performances. In Kusama’s work, there is a general idea that connects all of her works and accompanies her throughout her career – the concept of self-obliteration , which consists of abolishing individuality in order to become one with the universe, and is found in the title of one of the works that are on display in the new gallery at Inhotim. This is how Kusama reminds us that we are connected by something greater and that we are part of a whole. In a 1967 performance during the screening of the film Kusama's Self-Obliteration, Yayoi Kusama used paint and fluorescent lamps to make visible her perception of the world, which involves the repetition of elements such as dots and body parts. After using people as canvases for her paintings, the artist began to transform perception through immersive environments, as in I'm Here, But Nothing.

About the works

The work can also be seen as part of the artist's concept of self-obliteration, in the sense of the dissolution of the spectator in his or her own environment – which, for some people, can bring a sense of security, by being in contact with recognizable objects and furniture, while for others it can bring a feeling more related to absence, as the title of the work suggests. Aftermath of Obliteration of Eternity (2009) is based on the principles of the artist's philosophy of self-obliteration, the desire to deny one's existence by uniting with infinity as part of a whole. In this immersive environment, the idea is to lead the viewer to a universe completely different from the outside, a transcendental cosmos. The appearance of the work reminds us of a continuous mirage illuminated by lanterns, which gradually fades as our perception moves away from reality. In Japanese tradition, this type of illumination is linked to spirituality, a connection with ancestors. “In both works, with distinct aspects, Yayoi Kusama starts from the concept of self-obliteration, which the artist has been investigating in her work for many decades. The idea is to think about the dissolution of individualism, seeking a communion with the universal, blurring the boundaries of what is work, space, body and landscape”, explains Douglas de Freitas , curator of Inhotim. “In I'm Here, But Nothing a recognizable domestic space is the starting point for a change in the perception of space through light and fluorescent paint dot stickers. In Aftermath of Obliteration of Eternity the artist creates a space that is averse to the recognizable space of the other work. The play of mirrors and light creates a cosmos, an image of emptiness that gradually illuminates and reflects itself infinitely”, concludes the curator.

Architectural project

For the Yayoi Kusama Gallery, small spaces with wooden benches were created as an invitation for those visiting the gallery or simply enjoying the ambiance and view to stay. Seen from above, as a colorful intervention in the landscape, the project connects two moments of existing vegetation – the spontaneous forest and the planned garden – and seems to conceal a magical world to be discovered by those visiting the park. “Our project is summarized in two actions on the already altered landscape: the creation of a light roof to shade the entire area, and the insertion of a long building that extends across the entire border of the square with the forest, anchored on the two lateral slopes”, specify Fernando Maculan and Maria Paz. A flexible metal screen runs along the entire length of the square and the gallery, supporting the growth of a plant of Asian origin – Congea tomentosa – a type of climbing plant with a wide covering of vegetation, with dense flowering that usually occurs after winter. Congea gives the Yayoi Kusama Gallery project a sense of time and continuous transformation, with its inflorescences alternating in color tones of white, pink, lilac and gray.

Landscaping

In the planned garden of the Yayoi Kusama Gallery, the reddish hue of the corten steel structure of the main building was followed in the choice of green, yellow and reddish bromeliads – many of which have natural circles on their leaves, referencing the artist's work. To highlight the wide, column-free space of the gallery space, low-growing plants were chosen. The use of the Conchocarpus macrophyllus shrub, a species native to the Atlantic Forest, brings the unique verticality of the plants to align with the floor and the metal sheets of the gallery's cladding. “We used many plants from the Marantaceae family, with their leaves that look like they were hand-painted, making the garden more dreamlike,” says Juliano Borin , botanical curator at the Inhotim Botanical Garden. The stones used in the gallery garden area are solid blocks of iron ore that, according to Borin, convey an identity to Inhotim and the gallery itself.

SERVICE - Yayoi Kusama Gallery

Works present at the Yayoi Kusama Gallery: Aftermath of Obliteration of Eternity (2009), mirror, wood, plastic, acrylic, LED, aluminum. I'm Here, But Nothing (2000), stickers, ultraviolet fluorescent lamps, furniture, household objects, dimensions variable. Visiting hours: Tuesday to Friday, from 9:30 am to 4:30 pm, and Saturdays, Sundays and holidays, from 9:30 am to 5:30 pm Entrance fee: R$50 full price (half price valid for identified students, over 60s and partners). Children up to five years old do not pay entrance fee. Location: Inhotim is located in the municipality of Brumadinho, 60 km from Belo Horizonte (approximately 1h15 drive). Access via km 500 of BR381 – direction BH/SP. It is also possible to reach Inhotim via BR-040 (approximately 1h30 drive). Access via BR-040 - direction BH/Rio, at the entrance to Retiro do Chalé. Special operation for visiting the works, more information on the website .