Arrival of Yayoi Kusama's Pumpkin - Hirshhorn Museum

Arrival of Yayoi Kusama's Pumpkin - Hirshhorn Museum

For Yayoi Kusama, pumpkins represent a source of radiant energy. They are one of the artist’s most beloved motifs. Both endearing and grotesque, the giant gourds have been a source of inspiration for the artist since her childhood, when she was surrounded by her family’s seed nursery in prewar Japan. She has written, “Pumpkins bring about poetic peace in my mind. Pumpkins talk to me.” Viewing the pumpkin as both humble and amusing, this whimsical vegetable comes to represent an alternative self-portrait of the artist. In this time-lapse, the Exhibitions Team and Chief Conservator install the sculpture on our plaza. Kusama’s monumental Pumpkin is on view on from Dec. 10, 2016 - May 14, 2017, as part of the “Yayoi Kusama: Infinity Mirrors” exhibition. Yayoi Kusama, "Pumpkin," 2016, at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden. Courtesy of Ota Fine Arts, Tokyo/Singapore. © Yayoi Kusama

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