Yayoi Kusama: Infinity Mirrors exhibit

Yayoi Kusama is a renowned  Japanese artist.  At 87 years of age she is most famous for her Infinity Mirrors Exhibit.  The tour has traveled to 4 major museums in the U.S. and Canada,  debuting  at the Smithsonian’s Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden on Feb. 23, 2017,  Seattle Art Museum – June 30-Sept 10, 2017,  The Broad in Los Angeles – Oct. 2017-Jan. 2018,  The Art Gallery of Ontario March – May 2018, and the last stop of the tour is the Cleveland  Museum of Art – July- Oct. 2018.

After months of anticipation, last Wednesday was the day I went  to see Yayoi Kusama: Infinity Mirrors exhibit at the Art Gallery of Ontario.  I was lucky to get a ticket to this sold out event.  My time to go was 11 am,  having battled the morning commute into the city I arrived and was excited to go inside to start my tour. The exhibit was spread over 2 floors, since it  is sold out with long line ups, there is a time limit in each of the 8 mirrored rooms.

When I arrived on the 5th floor,  I was surprised that the line-up wasn’t that long, I guess since it was in its final days, ending on the  27th

The first room was Phalli’s Field – only 3 people, 20 second time limit and you can only enter each room once.  It’s a room full of sewn, stuffed red-polka dot cotton  and mirrors.

The second room was Aftermath of Obliteration of Eternity.  This was a 30 second room that went totally dark for a few moments and then the lights came back on, such a beautiful room, again 3 to a room.

The third and fourth room was Love Transformed into Dots.  The room was filled with large pink balls with black plot dots on them.  In this room 4 people were allowed in  and there was a 30 second time limit.  Kusama teamed up with Shiseido and designed a cosmetic red polka dot bag, how amazing and chic – a collaboration of beauty and art coming  together.

not my own photo

The fifth exhibit was Love forever, a hexagonal mirror chamber that  2 people can look into at the same time &  consists of 3 light cycles.

The rest of the rooms were on the 4th floor, there were red large dots on the windows of the staircase.

The sixth room was The souls of millions of light years away room.  Again 3 to a room, with 30 seconds inside, here the LED lights flickered rapidly.

The 7th room, was All the eternal Love I have for the pumpkins – there were 2 people to a room here, and no photos were allowed (someone from the gallery went in with us to ensure that no photos were taken).  In this exhibit black glass was used (The photos below are not my own).

not my own photo since no photos are allowed

not my own photo since no photos of this room was allowed

The last room was  The Obliteration Room – as you enter this room, you are given a sheet of 6 colourful dot stickers  to place on the white furniture, walls, floor etc. wherever you wished to place.  A great way to finish up the exhibit.

As you leave the last room you walk straight into a gift shop.  I normally don’t buy anything but I was so impressed that I did buy a book, a small print and a red polka dot note-book.  Below are photos of other pieces of art by Yayoi Kusama that were featured in the gallery.

Cleveland is the last stop for this amazing exhibit, if you are close and can get your hands on some tickets  I highly suggest you go, the experience is like no other.  I am so grateful to have been a part of this amazing exhibit.

xoxo

M💞