Infinitely more infinite than I thought possible, I am thrilled to have experienced the legendary exhibition, Yayoi Kusama: Infinity Mirrors, IRL. The celebrated Japanese artist had the most significant North American tour of her iconic work in nearly two decades on display at the Seattle Art Museum; including immersive kaleidoscopic environments, large-scale installations and paintings, sculptures, drawings, and ephemera from the early 1950s to present.
Yayoi Kusama: Infinity Mirrors highlights recurring themes of nature and fantasy; utopia and dystopia; unity and isolation; obsession and detachment; and life and death. With her unique radical yet playful vision, Kusama has had a definitive influence on art, design and contemporary culture. Truly a unique sensory journey through Kusama’s world and well worth the wait for copping tickets!
Yayoi Kusama, Infinity Mirror Room—Phalli’s Field (1965/2016), the artist’s milestone installation. A dense and dizzying field of hundreds of red-spotted phallic tubers in a room lined with mirrors.
Yayoi Kusama, Infinity Mirror Room—Love Forever (1966/1995), a hexagonal chamber into which viewers peer from the outside, seeing coloured flashing lights that reflect endlessly from ceiling to floor. The work is a re-creation of Kusama's 1966 mirror room, Peep Show (no longer extant), in which the artist used to stage group performances in her studio in the late 1960s.
Yayoi Kusama, Peep Show or Endless Love Show (1966)
Yayoi Kusama, Life (Repetitive Vision) (1998)
Yayoi Kusama, Infinity Mirror Room—Aftermath of Obliteration of Eternity (2009), represented by lanterns that seem to extend into infinite space.
Yayoi Kusama, Dots Obsession—Love Transformed into Dots (2009), Kusama’s signature bold polka dots are featured in a domed mirror room surrounded by inflatables suspended from the ceiling.
Yayoi Kusama, The Obliteration Room (2002), is an all-white replica of a traditional domestic setting. Upon entering, visitors are invited to cover every surface of the furnished gallery with multi-coloured polka dot stickers, gradually obliterating the entire space in colour.
Yayoi Kusama street art by Seattle artist Baso Fibonacci
All photos shot on iPhone 6