Yayoi Kusama's First German Retrospective Postponed at Gropius Bau

Yayoi Kusama's first retrospective in Germany, originally scheduled to open March 19, 2021 at Berlin's Gropius Bau, has been postponed to April 23, 2021 due to the COVID-19 lockdown extended to March 28. The exhibition, titled "Yayoi Kusama: A Retrospective," will run until August 1, 2021. Curated by Gropius Bau director Stephanie Rosenthal, it spans 70 years of Kusama's career, highlighting her influence in Europe. It features a newly created Infinity Mirror Room alongside a reconstruction of her first such installation, "Phalli's Field" (1965), which used tentacular, polka-dotted inflatable sculptures in a mirrored room to create an illusion of infinite space. The show also includes eight additional exhibitions from 1952 to 1983 and archival materials, focusing on Kusama's lesser-known period in Europe and arguing her work prefigured social media and redefined women's roles in art. In November 2021, the exhibition will travel to the Tel Aviv Museum of Art. Kusama, who turns 92 on March 22, expressed joy that her retrospective will be held at the "wonderful Gropius Bau."