NIKI. KUSAMA. MURAKAMI. LOVE YOU FOR INFINITY

From September 2025 to February 2026, the Sprengel Museum Hannover is presenting the exhibition “Love you for infinity” - a major exhibition highlight that shows works by Niki de Saint Phalle together with works by Yayoi Kusama and Takashi Murakami for the first time. The occasion for this special show is the donation of over 400 works that Niki de Saint Phalle made to the Sprengel Museum in 2000. The exhibition ranges from Niki de Saint Phalle's “shooting pictures” and the famous “Nanas” to Kusama's immersive “Infinity Room” installations and Murakami's pop wallpaper. It combines painting, sculpture, installation and film.

Similarities as well as differences between the artistic styles are revealed in the synopsis. On over 2,000 square meters, surprising connections emerge between the large-format works: from exuberant joie de vivre to existential threats, from feminism and female self-assertion to male dominance.

“Love you for infinity” is the first exhibition to combine works by Niki de Saint Phalle with those of Japanese artists Yayoi Kusama (born 1929) and Takashi Murakami (born 1962). All three artists share an enthusiasm for colorful, expressive worlds of color and forms. Their visual language transcends the boundaries of art, pop culture and commerce and deals with central themes such as art and consumption, life and death as well as sexuality and trauma - each work in its own way.

BACKGROUND
Niki de Saint Phalle achieved international fame with her Nana figures, which were first exhibited in public spaces in Hanover in 1974. Hotly debated at the time, the striking sculptures still characterize the cityscape today. These and other expansive sculptures and paintings articulate a particularly memorable, popular, colorful and life-affirming visual language that is also politically charged. The same can be said for Kusama's work. The situation is similar with Murakami, whose commercialized visual language has developed an unmistakable oeuvre with a high recognition factor: What colourful Nanas are to Niki de Saint Phalle, polka dots are to Yayoi Kusama and stylized colourful flowers in emoji-style are to Takashi Murakami.

Curated by Stefan Gronert, Reinhard Spieler, Nora Niefanger and Talia Walther
Opening 5.9.25, 7.00 p.m.