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Tuesday, November 12, 2024 |
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Monumental Yayoi Kusama Dancing Pumpkin sculpture unveiled ahead of exhibition |
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Yayoi Kusamas Dancing Pumpkin 2020 now on display for the Yayoi Kusama exhibition at NGV International, Melbourne until 21 April 2025. © YAYOI KUSAMA. Photo: Sean Fennessy.
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MELBOURNE.- A towering 5-metre-tall bronze pumpkin sculpture by Yayoi Kusama, weighing more than nine tonnes, was unveiled today in NGV Internationals Federation Court, marking the countdown to the major summer exhibition Yayoi Kusama, opening 15 December 2024. The newly acquired Dancing Pumpkin, 2020, supported by the Loti & Victor Smorgon Fund, features eleven dancing yellow-and-black polka-dotted legs.
Kusama first became fascinated with pumpkins as a young girl growing up on her familys seed and plant farm in Matsumoto in regional Japan. The pumpkin motif has become an icon throughout Kusamas vast career, appearing in drawings, paintings, sculptures and immersive mirror rooms created by the artist across her more than eight-decade-long career.
Dancing Pumpkin is one of Kusamas largest and most ambitious imaginings of the pumpkin to date. Taking her iconic motif into new conceptual terrain, the larger-than-life legs appear to twist and hover in the air, suggesting joyous movement. At NGV International, visitors can go underneath the sculpture and experience Kusamas beloved pumpkin from a new perspective.
The Dancing Pumpkin makes its Australian debut as part of the world-premiere blockbuster exhibition Yayoi Kusama. Only two editions of the work have been shown previously around the world, at the New York Botanical Garden in 2021 and at the Museum of Islamic Art in Qatar in 20223.
The work is one of many free-to-access artworks also on display at NGV International in celebration of the exhibition, including interactive work The Obliteration Room, 2002present, in the NGV childrens gallery; Narcissus Garden, 1966/2024, a sprawling installation of 1,400 mirrored spheres in Federation Court; and a brand new pink-and-black polka dot artwork developed especially for the iconic NGV waterwall.
Tony Ellwood AM, Director, NGV said: Were delighted to unveil Yayoi Kusamas breathtaking Dancing Pumpkin sculpture ahead of our major exhibition surveying the artists groundbreaking career. The newly acquired work, supported through the generosity of the Loti & Victor Smorgon Fund, will leave a defining impact on the NGV Collection and will be available for all Victorians to enjoy for many years to come.
Steve Dimopoulos, Minister for Tourism, Sport and Major Events said: Bringing the Yayoi Kusama exhibition to Melbourne is a testament to our city's standing as a global arts destination, as well as being a powerful economic driver - attracting visitors who support our local restaurants, hotels and entertainment venues. This exhibition is part of an unforgettable upcoming line-up of major events which also includes ALWAYS LIVE, Beetlejuice The Musical and the Frida Kahlo In Her Own Image exhibition in Bendigo.
Colin Brooks, Minister for Creative Industries said: Bold, bright and coming to Melbourne this summer, the work of iconic Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama is set to delight audiences of all ages. Victorians can now get a taste of whats to come, with the first artwork a large public sculpture Dancing Pumpkin now on display at NGV International and free for everyone to enjoy.
Nina Taylor, Member for Albert Park said: The Yayoi Kusama exhibition will be the largest showcase of Kusamas work ever to be presented in Australia and is set to be a blockbuster summer attraction, drawing visitors from around the country - and beyond - to the creative state.
Displayed across the entire ground floor of NGV International, Yayoi Kusama is one of the most comprehensive retrospective exhibitions of the artists work ever presented globally. The exhibition traces her entire career from her childhood to the present-day through a rich selection of works drawn from the artists personal collection and institutions and private collections across Japan and Australia. Featuring painting, sculpture, collage, fashion, film and installation, the exhibition reveals the astonishing breadth of Kusamas multidisciplinary practice.
Born in Japan in 1929, Kusama is one of the worlds most important and recognised practitioners working today. She is renowned globally for her singular and idiosyncratic use of pattern, colour and symbols to create immersive, thought-provoking and intensely personal works of art. She has made indelible contributions to key art movements of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, including minimalism, pop art and feminist art.
The Dancing Pumpkin sculpture is now on display at NGV International, St Kilda Road, Melbourne. FREE entry.
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