Colorful, Large-Scale ‘PUMPKIN’ Brightens Cleveland Clinic Children’s Lobby
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A sculpture by world-renowned contemporary artist Yayoi Kusama (b. 1929, Matsumoto, Japan) has been installed in the lobby of Cleveland Clinic Children’s on Cleveland Clinic’s main campus. The fiberglass-reinforced plastic sculpture, titled PUMPKIN, is a bold addition and significant gift donated by Robert M. Kaye, former chair of Cleveland Clinic’s Arts & Medicine Leadership Board.
“We are delighted to share this spectacular piece of art with our patients, visitors and caregivers,” said Francois Bethoux, M.D., medical director of Cleveland Clinic’s Arts & Medicine Institute. “Mr. Kaye’s continued support and generosity helps advance our mission to promote health and healing through art. Through the Arts & Medicine Institute, our goal is to provide an optimal experience during the time spent in our facility, as well as to enhance the lives of all those we touch.”
An avant-garde sculptor, painter, and performance artist, Kusama is recognized around the world for her iconic polka dots, organic shapes, and optical environments. She created PUMPKIN in 2014, though pumpkin shapes have appeared in her work since her early art studies in Japan in the 1950s.
In discussing her work, Kusama at times will address how living with a mental health illness influences her work. In several media interviews she has shared that since childhood she has frequently experienced hallucinations and sees the world covered in proliferating forms. Creating art has enabled her to overcome these illnesses.
She has exhibited widely in international solo and group exhibitions, including the Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris; Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, D.C.; Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Calif..; the Cleveland Museum of Art, Ohio; The Museum of Modern Art, N.Y.; National Museum of Modern Art, Japan; Tate Gallery, London; Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, Minn.; Whitney Museum of American Art, N.Y.
Cleveland Clinic is a nonprofit multispecialty academic medical center that integrates clinical and hospital care with research and education. Located in Cleveland, Ohio, it was founded in 1921 by four renowned physicians with a vision of providing outstanding patient care based upon the principles of cooperation, compassion and innovation. Cleveland Clinic has pioneered many medical breakthroughs, including coronary artery bypass surgery and the first face transplant in the United States. U.S. News & World Report consistently names Cleveland Clinic as one of the nation’s best hospitals in its annual “America’s Best Hospitals” survey. Among Cleveland Clinic’s 49,000 employees are more than 3,400 full-time salaried physicians and researchers and 14,000 nurses, representing 120 medical specialties and subspecialties. The Cleveland Clinic health system includes a 165-acre main campus near downtown Cleveland, nine community hospitals, more than 150 northern Ohio outpatient locations – including 18 full-service family health centers and three health and wellness centers – and locations in Weston, Fla.; Las Vegas, Nev.; Toronto, Canada; Abu Dhabi, UAE; and London, England. In 2015, there were 6.6 million outpatient visits, 164,700 hospital admissions and 208,807 surgical cases throughout the Cleveland Clinic health system. Patients came for treatment from every state and 180 countries. Visit us at www.clevelandclinic.org. Follow us at www.twitter.com/ClevelandClinic.
The Arts & Medicine Institute was created with the purpose of integrating the visual arts, music, performing arts and research to promote healing and to enhance the lives of our patients, families, and visitors.
