Japanese Artist Kusama's Retrospective to Start in Amsterdam

Amsterdam, Sept. 9 (Jiji Press)--A large-scale retrospective for Japanese avant-garde artist Yayoi Kusama, who died in August at the age of 97, is set to open at the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam on Friday.

The exhibition, previewed for the press Wednesday, will showcase more than 300 works created by the renowned artist over decades, from her childhood to later years. They include early paintings and woodblock prints, as well as works using her signature polka-dot motifs, pumpkin sculptures and "Infinity Mirror Rooms" installations.

"We have never used so much space for one artist," Rein Wolfs, director of the Amsterdam museum, said.

The Dutch city is the final venue for the three-stop retrospective, which has toured Basel in Switzerland and Cologne in Germany. The exhibition in Amsterdam will run until Jan. 17 next year.

Leontine Coelewij, a curator at the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, said that preparations for the event with Kusama's team started about four years ago and that the artist had approved the exhibition's concept. Kusama also offered ideas on the selection and arrangement of the works to be displayed.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]