Over 300 works explore Yayoi Kusama’s visionary world across 70 years of radical, boundless creativity
This autumn, the Fondation Beyeler unveils the first major contemporary art retrospective in Switzerland dedicated to Yayoi Kusama (b. 1929), one of the most influential artists of the 20th and 21st centuries. Organized in close collaboration with the artist and her studio, the exhibition brings together more than 300 works from international collections across Japan, Europe, and Asia.
This expansive project not only celebrates Kusama’s boundless imagination but also affirms her ongoing global relevance and cultural impact.
Seventy years of visionary practice
The journey begins in the 1950s with rarely seen paintings and watercolors created in Kusama’s hometown of Matsumoto, Japan. The narrative then follows her to New York, where she emerged in the late 1950s and quickly became a central figure in the American avant-garde.
In the 1970s, Kusama returned to Japan, ushering in a more intimate and introspective phase of her work. Across decades and continents, her art maintained a radical coherence—an uninterrupted vision expressed through painting, drawing, sculpture, installation, and performance.
© YAYOI KUSAMA, Courtesy of Ota Fine Arts, Victoria Miro, David Zwirner
Beyond categorization
Throughout her career, Kusama has consistently refused to be confined by labels. Her work spans media as diverse as painting, sculpture, installation, performance, literature, fashion, film, and even architecture. This contemporary art retrospective reflects her complete artistic universe—unapologetically experimental, conceptually rich, and free from boundaries.
Kusama’s impact reaches far beyond visual art, inspiring generations across disciplines.
The aesthetic of infinity
Infinity lies at the core of Kusama’s practice—not just as a visual motif, but as a lived, spiritual and psychological experience. Her iconic polka dots, nets, mirrors, and repeated patterns serve not just as visual signatures, but as symbols of deeper themes: the dissolution of the self, mortality, and transcendence.
From the hypnotic brushwork of her Infinity Nets to the immersive experience of her Infinity Mirror Rooms—including a brand-new installation created for this exhibition—Kusama invites the viewer into a world where perception is fluid and infinite.
Infinity Mirrored Room – Illusion Inside the Heart, 2025
Infinity Mirrored Room – The Hope of the Polka Dots Buried in Infinity Will Eternally Cover the Universe, 2025
Photo: Mark Niedermann
Art as collective experience
Kusama’s work is not only seen—it is felt. Her installations envelop the visitor in immersive environments where boundaries dissolve: between body and space, self and universe.
Through repetition and rhythm, she transforms personal fragility into shared emotional journeys. Her art becomes a space for reflection, healing, and transformation.
Photo: Mark Niedermann
Iconic works and exclusive premieres
he exhibition presents a rare convergence of Kusama’s most iconic pieces—including more than 130 never before shown in Europe—alongside new works conceived specifically for Fondation Beyeler. Highlights include Narcissus Garden (1966/2025), Accumulations, Infinity Nets, and the spectacular Infinity Mirrored Room: Illusion Inside the Heart (2025).
Expanding beyond the museum walls, monumental sculptures and outdoor installations extend the experience into the surrounding park.
Photo: Mark Niedermann
A challenge to the senses
This contemporary art retrospective is more than an exhibition—it’s a sensory journey. Kusama continues to challenge how we see, feel, and engage with art. Through color, light, and form, she redefines perception itself.
A totalizing artistic experience, the show celebrates Kusama’s limitless imagination—and reminds us that infinity lives within each of us.
