A Grand Yayoi Kusama Dots Exhibit is Coming to Chicago

Starting May 12, guests at Chicago’s WNDR Museum will dive deep into Yayoi Kusama’s love for polka dots, the theme of repetition, and her cherished sentiment—feeling diminutive in the face of the universe—with a three-story infinity room titled Dots Obsession.

The installation will dominate the atrium of the Chicago location of the WNDR Museum, a space committed to offering multisensory, immersive art and technology experiences while transforming “the traditional museum experience with interactive displays.” Founded in 2018 as a pop-up in Chicago, WNDR now has locations in San Diego, Seattle, and soon Boston. In Chicago, visitors can also explore a radiant “light floor” that reacts to movement, along with a piece by visual artist Andy Arkley, Try To Get Higher, which fuses wood sculpture, music, and video.

Dots Obsession will feature suspended black and yellow polka dot-like spheres within a mirrored space that visitors can walk through and engage with through a few peep-in installations. For context, many of Kusama’s infinity rooms, such as the ones at the Broad in Los Angeles and Gleaming Lights of the Souls at the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art in Humlebæk, Denmark, are typically confined to a single room and are usually just one story high.

“From my early years, I have consistently created art featuring polka dots. Earth, moon, sun, and humanity are all represented as dots; a single particle among billions,” Kusama has stated.

Dot Obsession was created by Kusama in 2008 and has been showcased in various locations globally, including Lithuania, London, Australia, and Singapore. Its most recent exhibition took place in Jakarta, Indonesia, in 2018 at the Museum MACAN. This will mark its debut in the United States.

Dot Obsession will take the place of WNDR’s Let’s Survive Forever infinity room, also by Kusama, which was removed from the Chicago site on April 30 to be displayed at its Boston location. Of the 20 infinity rooms Kusama has developed throughout her career, Let’s Survive was the only infinity room in the Midwest, making it essential for WNDR to maintain Kusama's presence in Chicago.

“Yayoi Kusama is arguably the most prolific and revered living artist . . . and we believe her work should be accessible to the public as a source of wonder and inspiration,” stated creative director David Allen. “At WNDR Museum, we aim to challenge the sense of exclusivity and detachment that often characterizes the art experience, redefining the museum as a space for engagement and playful inspiration.”

Planning Your Visit to “Dots Obsession”

General admission tickets for the WNDR Museum in Chicago can be purchased via its website starting at $32 per person. Children aged 3 to 12 can enter for $22, while those two years old and under enjoy free admission. VIP tickets are also available for $50, which include a limited-edition pin, a 10 percent discount at the gift shop, a photo opportunity, and a second walkthrough of the exhibit (general admission only permits a single visit).

If you’re considering a trip to Chicago for this exhibit, both Nobu Hotel Chicago and the Hoxton Chicago provide nearby accommodations to the WNDR, situated in the former warehouse district of Fulton Market. Nobu Hotel Chicago is under a 4-minute drive (or a 13-minute walk) from the WNDR, offering the brand’s signature Japanese-inspired luxury along with an on-site Nobu restaurant. The Hoxton is a 5-minute drive away (or a 16-minute walk), featuring stylishly designed rooms that reflect the artistic essence of the warehouse district, alongside Cira, a Mediterranean-inspired dining venue, and Cabra, a rooftop Peruvian cevicheria.