First anniversary and public opening of Yayoi Kusama: 1945 to Now

M+, Asia’s first global museum of contemporary visual culture in Hong Kong’s West Kowloon Cultural District, celebrated its first anniversary on November 12, 2022, with the public opening of the museum’s first Special Exhibition, Yayoi Kusama: 1945 to Now. 

Yayoi Kusama: 1945 to Now is the largest retrospective of the artist in Asia outside Japan. Featuring more than 200 works, including paintings, drawings, sculptures, installations, and archival material, this exhibition surveys Kusama’s career from the earliest drawings she made as a teenager during World War II to her most recent immersive art pieces. Organised chronologically and thematically, the retrospective guides visitors through Kusama’s career-long creative pouring divided into major themes: Infinity, Accumulation, Radical Connectivity, Biocosmic​, Death, and Force of Life.

In addition to tracing the origins of her practice, Yayoi Kusama: 1945 to Now presents three brand-new works to bring audiences together. Death of Nerves (2022) is a colourful large-scale installation commissioned by M+ that provides a mesmerising extension of Kusama’s Infinity Nets motifs into three-dimensional space; Dots Obsession—Aspiring to Heaven’s Love (2022) is an ambitious immersive environment that includes the artist’s signature mirrored spaces and polka dots as well as suspending balloons to provide a kaleidoscopic perceptual experience; and two large sculptures titled Pumpkin (2022) will also be available for public viewing in the Main Hall.

In addition to Yayoi Kusama: 1945 to Now, M+ has an exciting programme of exhibitions for its second year:

New general admission attractions
Beeple: HUMAN ONE, Focus Gallery, December 9, 2022–April 30, 2023

HUMAN ONE is a groundbreaking digital-and-physical artwork by the pioneering American artist Mike Winkelmann (a.k.a. Beeple). This will be the first presentation of the work in Asia.

The return exhibition of Angela Su: Arise, Hong Kong in Venice (title to be announced later) co-organised with Hong Kong Arts Development Council, Courtyard Galleries, June 17, 2023–January 7, 2024.

Artist Angela Su’s acclaimed exhibition representing Hong Kong at the 2022 Venice Biennale will be showcased at M+ in 2023 with an adapted and site-responsive presentation.

Special exhibitions opening in 2023
Madame Song: Pioneering Art and Fashion in China, West Gallery, July 29, 2023–April 14, 2024
Song Huai-Kuei (1937–2006), widely known during her lifetime as Madame Song, was a legend in China’s elite cultural circles in the 1980s and 1990s. Organised thematically and divided into five sections, Madame Song: Pioneering Art and Fashion in China traces Madame Song’s life and practice from the 1950s to the early 2000s and unveils her thus-far overlooked and underestimated influence in transforming a largely closed China into today’s cosmopolitan and culturally diverse society.

The Sigg Prize 2023 exhibition, Main Hall Gallery, September 16, 2023–February 18, 2024
M+ will present the Sigg Prize 2023 exhibition of six shortlisted artists for this prestigious recurring prize. This is the second time M+ is exhibiting the work of leading contemporary artists born or working in the Greater China region and selected by an international jury. The Sigg Prize winner will be announced in early 2024. 

In addition, M+’s opening displays will continue to bring visitors to the world of contemporary visual culture:

The Dream of the Museum, on view in the Courtyard Galleries through April 23, 2023
M+ Sigg Collection: From Revolution to Globalisaton, on view in the Sigg Galleries through July 23, 2023
Individuals, Networks, Expressions, on view in the South Galleries through November 19, 2023
Things, Spaces, Interactions, on view in the East Galleries through June 9, 2024
Hong Kong: Here and Beyond, on view in the Main Hall Gallery through June 11, 2023