Notice Regarding Yayoi Kusama's "Pumpkin" Exhibit at Benesse Art Site Naoshima
Yayoi Kusama＂Pumpkin＂2022 ©YAYOI KUSAMA（Photo : Tadasu Yamamoto）
Benesse Art Site Naoshima is pleased to announce that Yayoi Kusama's "Pumpkin," the outdoor sculpture displayed at Benesse House Museum that had been damaged by Typhoon Lupit last August, had been newly created and exhibited at the same location as the original work on October 4th, 2022, following repeated discussions with all relevant parties.
Kusama's "Pumpkin" had been installed on an old pier jutting out into the sea, creating a scene unique to Naoshima that stands out against the blue sea and green trees in the background.
Please refer the following blog for the background of the installation of the pumpkin, which has become a symbol of Benesse Art Site Naoshima, and the relationship between the artist Yayoi Kusama and Naoshima.
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Yayoi Kusama: "Art is an Endless Struggle, Art is Love, Art is Life"
In the art scene, the Pompidou Center in Paris presented an exhibition that year, "Magiciens de la Terre" curated by Jean-Hubert Martin, following the 1984 exhibition "Primitivism in the 20th Century Art: Affinity of the Tribal and the Modern" curated by William Rubin at the Museum of Modern Art, New York. -
Benesse Art Site Naoshima Archive series 1st :
"Pumpkin" by Yayoi Kusama
Pumpkin was first shown at the 1994 Naoshima exhibition, Open Air '94 "Out of Bounds" --Contemporary Art in the Seascape--. The above photo is a snapshot of the exhibition's opening ceremony, taken in September 1994. Kusama is shown standing next to her sculpture Pumpkin, which had just been shown for the first time.
We would like to express our deepest gratitude to the artist, Yayoi Kusama, and everyone else who was involved in the production and exhibition of this work, as well as to all fans and local residents who have been looking forward to the exhibit work. Moving forward, we will also be adopting more robust disaster prevention precautions for the management and protection of artwork under our care.
