13-03-2018

The “Yayoi Kusama. Infinity Mirrors” Exhibition reached Canada

Yayoi Kusama,

Cathy Carver,

Toronto, Canada,

Gallery,

Exhibition,

AGO, Art Gallery of Ontario, in Toronto, is the only Canadian leg of the “Infinity Mirror” exhibition by famous Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama.



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The “Yayoi Kusama. Infinity Mirrors” Exhibition reached Canada AGO, Art Gallery of Ontario, in Toronto, is the only Canadian leg of the “Infinity Mirror” exhibition by famous Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama. A unique occasion to experience six of Kusama’s iconic kaleidoscopic environments, alongside new works of this prolific artist.


Just few days before her 89th birthday, Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama inaugurated her exhibition “Yayoi Kusama. Infinity Mirrorsat the Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO), in Toronto. After being hosted at the Seattle Art Museum and at the The Broad museum of Los Angeles, the AGO will be the only Canadian leg of the exhibition. After Toronto, it will return to the United States, opening its doors to the visitors in Cleveland and Atlanta.
“Yayoi Kusama. Infinity Mirrors” allows visitors to directly experience six of Kusama’s kaleidoscopic environments, as well as other installations, important paintings, sculptures and works on paper from the 50s to the present. Among the displayed works of this world-famous Japanese artist, who is still actively creating in her Tokyo studio, the exhibition hosts vibrantly coloured paintings, the recently realised Infinity Room “All the Eternal Love I have for Pumpkins” (2016), featuring dozens of yellow dotted pumpkins, and her famous “Narcissus Garden” (1966) that, with its over 1300 stainless steel balls, was installed in the Signy Eaton Gallery of the AGO.
Yayoi Kusama is considered one of the 100 most influential people in the world. Born in 1929 in Matsumoto, Yayoi Kusama started painting as a therapy to give shape to the hallucinations that she began experiencing when she was only 10 years old. After studying the Nihonga painting, she moved to New York in the 50s. Soon, she became known for her artistic experimentation, with the “dots” becoming her signature mark, and for transforming her work into performance with the Kusama Happenings, where the human body became a part of the work of art.
In the 70s, after the great success of her work, and after exhibitions at the most important galleries of the world, Kusama returned to Japan. Due to her mental health issues, she decided to live in a psychiatric clinic, that today she still leaves every day to reach her atelier. Here is where her writings, sculptures and installations are born, often showing a pumpkin and the ubiquitous dots as a recurrent theme. The use of mirrors in her works helps convey to the audience the hallucinations that plague Kusama, who defines herself an “obsessional artist”. 
Yayoi Kusama, artist, performer, director and writer, is known to the general public also for her collaborations with the big names of the fashion, music and art worlds, from Louis Vuitton to Peter Gabriel. 
The exhibition “Yayoi Kusama. Infinity Mirrors” will display 70 years of artistic production at the AGO of Toronto, letting us jump into Kusama’s coloured world, and will be open until 27 May. 

Christiane Bürklein

Exhibition “Yayoi Kusama. Infinity Mirrors”
From 03 March to 27 May 2018
Curator: Mika Yoshitake
AGO coordinating curator: Adelina Vlas, Associate Curator of Contemporary Art
Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, Canada
For further information: www.ago.net
Images: 
01_E-08878_c_Yayoi_Kusama_full.jpg - Yayoi Kusama. All the Eternal Love I Have for the Pumpkins, 2016. Wood, mirror, plastic, black glass, LED. Collection of the artist. Courtesy of Ota Fine Arts, Tokyo / Singapore and Victoria Miro, London. © Yayoi Kusama.
02_E-08874_c_Yayoi_Kusama._Photo_by_Tomoaki_Makino_full.jpg - Yayoi Kusama with recent works in Tokyo, 2016. Courtesy of the artist © Yayoi Kusama. Photo by Tomoaki Makino.
At-Moderna-Museet-Sweden_-IMG_8837(C)_YAYOI_KUSAMA,_courtesy_YAYOI_KUSAMA_Inc_full.jpg - Narcissus Garden, installation view at Moderna Museet, Stockholm, Sweden 2016 (C) YAYOI KUSAMA, courtesy YAYOI KUSAMA Inc
E-08876_c_Yayoi_Kusama._Photo_by_Cathy_Carver_full.jpg - Yayoi Kusama. Dots Obsession – Love Transformed Into Dots, 2007, at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden. Mixed media installation. Courtesy of Ota Fine Arts, Tokyo/Singapore; Victoria Miro, London; David Zwirner, New York. © Yayoi Kusama. Photo by Cathy Carver.
E-08879_c_Yayoi_Kusama._Photo_by_Cathy_Carver_full.jpg - Yayoi Kusama. All the Eternal Love I Have for the Pumpkins, 2016, at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden. Wood, mirror, plastic, black glass, LED. Collection of the artist. Courtesy of Ota Fine Arts, Tokyo / Singapore and Victoria Miro, London. © Yayoi Kusama. Photo by Cathy Carver.
E-08880_c_Yayoi_Kusama._Photo_by_Cathy_Carver_full.jpg - Yayoi Kusama. Aftermath of Obliteration of Eternity, 2009, Installation view at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden. Wood, mirror, plastic, acrylic, LED, black glass, and aluminum. Collection of the artist. Courtesy of Ota Fine Arts, Tokyo/Singapore; Victoria Miro, London; David Zwirner, New York. © Yayoi Kusama. Photo by Cathy Carver.
E-08882_c_Yayoi_Kusama._Photo_by_Cathy_Carver_full.jpg - Yayoi Kusama. Infinity Mirrored Room – Love Forever, 1966/1994, at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden. Wood, mirrors, metal, and lightbulbs. Photo by Cathy Carver.
E-08883_c_Yayoi_Kusama._Photo_by_Cathy_Carver_full.jpg - Yayoi Kusama, Infinity Mirror Room— Phalli’s Field, 1965. Installation view at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, 2017. Sewn stuffed cotton fabric, board, and mirrors. Courtesy of Ota Fine Arts, Tokyo/Singapore; Victoria Miro, London; David Zwirner, New York © Yayoi Kusama. Photo by Cathy Carver.
E-08884_c_Yayoi_Kusama._Photo_by_Cathy_Carver_full.jpg - Yayoi Kusama. Infinity Mirrored Room – The Souls of Millions of Light YearsAway, 2013, at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden. Wood, metal, glass mirrors, plastic, acrylic panel, rubber, LED lighting system, acrylic balls, and water, 113 1/4 x 163 1/2 x 163 1/2 in. Courtesy of David Zwirner, N.Y. © Yayoi
E-08886_c_Yayoi_Kusama._Photo_by_Cathy_Carver_full.jpg - Yayoi Kusama: Infinity Mirrors at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, 2017. Left to right: Living on the Yellow Land, 2015; My Adolescence in Bloom, 2014; Welcoming the Joyful Season, 2014; Surrounded by Heartbeats, 2014; Unfolding Buds, 2015; Story After Death, 2014. Photo by Cathy Carver
E-08892_c_Yayoi_Kusama._Photo_by_Cathy_Carver_full.jpg - Yayoi Kusama. Installation view of Yayoi Kusama: Infinity Mirrors at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, 2017. Left to right: Infinity Mirrored Room – Love Forever, 1966/2014; Accumulation of Stardust, 2001. © Yayoi Kusama. Photo by Cathy Carver.
E-08897_c_Yayoi_Kusama._Photo_by_Cathy_Carver_full.jpg - Yayoi Kusama. Infinity Mirrored Room – The Souls of Millions of Light Years Away, 2013. Wood, metal, glass mirrors, plastic, acrylic panel, rubber, LED lighting system, acrylic balls, and water, 287.7 × 415.3 × 415.3 cm. Courtesy of David Zwirner, N.Y. © Yayoi Kusama.

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