The Bass Museum Announces Yuko Mohri Exhibition and Upcoming Shows
The Bass Museum presents Yuko Mohri: Unviolated Imperfection, the Tokyo-based artist’s first solo exhibition in a U.S. museum, from September 17, 2026, through May 30, 2027. The exhibition brings together three interconnected installations that explore nature, technology, improvisation, kinetics, chance, and sound.
Yuko Mohri , Decomposition , 2024 . Photography by Koshiro Shikine. Courtesy the artist and Tanya Bonakdar Gallery, New York.
Across three galleries, Mohri transforms everyday objects and environmental forces into kinetic, multisensory works. Her installations incorporate gravity, light, water, sound, time, and other elements that operate beyond the artist’s direct control. Rather than treating an artwork as fixed, Mohri creates systems that change through movement, chance, and site-specific conditions.
The exhibition takes its title from architectural scholar Aaron Betsky’s 1990 book Violated Perfection: Architecture and the Fragmentation of the Modern. For Mohri, imperfection is not something to eliminate. Instead, it allows systems to remain responsive and adaptable. Her practice also connects physical materials and sound, drawing on the experimental work of composers including John Cage and David Tudor.
Yuko Mohri , Moré Moré (Leaky) : Variations , 2022 . Installation view, JAPAN. BODY PERFORM LIVE, PAC Milan, 2022. Phot ography by Lorenzo Palmer . Courtesy of the artist , Tanya Bonakdar Gallery , Project Fulfill Art Space , mother’s tankstation , Yutaka Kikutake Galler and White Space.
Three Installations Explore Sound, Nature and Chance
The exhibition opens with Decomposition, an installation in which decaying fruit becomes an unexpected source of sound and light. Fruits commonly found in South Florida are fitted with electrodes that detect changes in moisture as they deteriorate. Those electrical signals are translated into evolving musical tones and changes in light displayed on a large LED screen. As the fruit changes, so does the composition.
The work connects the Western tradition of still-life painting with Kusōzu, a series of Buddhist images depicting stages of bodily decomposition. Both references address transformation and the passage of time, while Mohri uses natural decay to create an installation that is continuously changing.
In the adjacent gallery, Moré Moré (Leaky) presents a new version of a work previously shown at the 2024 Venice Biennale. Water travels through a network of found objects, pumps, and other materials, producing a chain reaction of movement and sound. For its Miami presentation, Mohri has rebuilt the installation with objects sourced from secondhand locations in Miami.
The work draws on Mohri’s interest in improvised solutions to ceiling leaks in Tokyo’s underground stations. At The Bass, she deliberately creates a “leak” in the gallery and uses an elaborate closed-loop system to redirect the water. The installation turns an ordinary environmental problem into a constantly moving composition.
The largest gallery features Piano Solo, centered around a self-playing grand piano and a large LED screen showing footage of the ocean filmed along both coasts of Miami Beach. Environmental sounds from the waves are translated into notes played by the piano, creating a composition shaped by natural forces. The installation draws inspiration from John Cage’s experiments with prepared piano and chance.
Yuko Mohri , Piano Solo: Belle - Île , detail , 2024 . Installation view, Pirelli HangarBicocca, Milan, 2025. Photo graphy by Agostino Osio . Courtesy of the artist , Tanya Bonakdar Gallery , Project Fulfill Art Space , mother’s tankstation , Yutaka Kikutake Gallery , and White Space .
Mohri studied piano as a child but later became more interested in sound than classical performance. After briefly singing in a punk band in college, she developed a practice she describes as that of a “de-composer,” using environmental conditions rather than traditional musical technique to create sound.
Upcoming Exhibitions at The Bass
The Yuko Mohri exhibition is part of a broader exhibition schedule at The Bass. Upcoming and current presentations include Abraham Cruzvillegas: Autocontusión, on view July 16, 2026, through July 25, 2027; Sarah Zapata: Against a State of Malevolence, from July 30, 2026, through February 2027; and Gabriel Rico: X Mural from the Series — Reducción Objecta Orquestada, from August 29, 2026, through August 2028.
Two exhibitions open September 17 alongside Mohri: Amalia Pica: Lecturas Posibles, on view through February 12, 2027, and Yuko Mohri: Unviolated
Imperfection, through May 30, 2027.
In The Bass’s Rotunda, Pedro y Juana: Aquí is scheduled to open October 28, 2026, and remain on view through May 2028. Pepe Mar: El Gato Negro follows in March 2027 and will remain on view through October 2027.
The museum also maintains several ongoing exhibitions and installations, including The Kaleidoscopic: Writing Histories Through the Collection, Isaac Julien: Vagabondia, Assume Vivid Astro Focus: XI, Social Assembly: The Communal Table, and Art Outside.
The Bass, located in Miami Beach, focuses on international contemporary art and presents exhibitions, commissions, and programs spanning a range of media and artistic perspectives. The museum occupies a historic 1930s Art Deco building that was formerly the Miami Beach Public Library and Art Center, with an expansion designed by Arata Isozaki and David Gauld completed in 2017.
The Bass Museum
Collins Park
2100 Collins Ave, Miami Beach, FL 33139
Telefone: +1 (305) 673-7530