Did you also wonder where this infinity mirrors come from, which are all over your instagram feed? Well, it seems like she isn’t just my favorite art crush these days: the Japanese writer and artist Yayoi Kusama.
I’m following her since I first saw pictures of her exhibition “Infinity Mirrors” in Los Angeles in 2012. But already for more than 50 years, the Japanese Pop-Artist attracted audiences by crafting sculptural illusions with light and mirrors. Besides of her work, we also love Kusama for her career path: She had arrived in 1958 in the art scene and, within two years, established herself as a major artist in a male-dominated art world.
Infinity mirrors by Yayoi Kusama
She creates the feeling of eternity through LED, wood and plastic in big rooms. Her work is truely dazzling and overwhelming, I collected a few of my favorite rooms by Kusama:
Hirshhorn Museum in Washington: see Kusamas current exhibition
Since end of february und may 2017, you can visit her latest exhibition at Hirshhorn Museum in Washington. The opening picture, showing the pumpkins, is from this exhibition and is called “All the Eternal Love I Have for the Pumpkins“. The Hirshhorn show is the first to focus so intently on her mirrored-room environments. You find six of them there. So, who wants to come to Washington with us? I really want to go there. And I might take a selfie as well to fill my instagram feed, too.
And I wouldn’t be on my own. Because of course – how could it be different – the exhibition the most visited ones of the moment: More than 32,500 people came to the Hirshhorn Museum during that opening week, a record for the museum’s 43-year history.
Adress: Independence Ave SW, Washington, DC 20024, USA
The beginnings of her infinity rooms
When did she first do this? Yayoi Kusama, who was born in Japan in 1929. In 1965 she made her first Infinity Mirror room, “Phalli’s Field,” in New York. She started with filling the 15-square-foot floor of a mirrored space with hundreds of her signature stuffed phalli, or tubers, covered in red-on-white polka-dot fabric – which is a distinctive pattern she loves until today.
And besides her infinity mirrors, who made her famous all over the world, she is also showing some incredible sculpture work. And she also published two novels, including “Manhattan Suicide Addict,” about her experiences there. I really like this book as well and apprecciate Kusama as a writer very much, too.
Photo Credits: Yayoi Kusama, Cathy Carver, Eikoh Hosoe, Tomoaki Makino
Yes this was amazing! The most instagrammable exhibition I’ve been to as well! 😎 thanks for sharing this post!
Hi Mafalda! Thank you so much for the recommendation. Japan is indeed the next destination on our bucket list 🙂
Great post. If you love Yayoi Kusama and art filled spaces, then I would recommend Naoshima as a travel destination.
When you read her novels, you will like her even more. She is truely fascinating!
Yes, aren’t they amazing? We are also so looking forward to seeing her exhibition.
Wow, thanks for sharing. I just saw her photo on tv but had no idea who she was until now. I remembered her distinctive hair cut. Hope I get to see her installations in person some time.
Such an amazing artist! Beautiful pictures!
To be completely honest, I knew about Yayoi Kusama only when I went to Madame Tussauds in Hong Kong. The staff introduced me to her wax figure and told me about her. They dedicated a large portion for her and her works. Very interesting artist!