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Get Lost In An “Infinity Mirror” Room

ArtandSeek.net 41

Fans of proto-pop art, pumpkins, and — perhaps most importantly — Instagrammable art are going to love what the Dallas Museum of Art is bringing this fall. One of Yayoi Kusama’s iconic “Infinity Mirror” rooms will be making its North Texas debut Oct. 1.

The DMA has acquired Kusama’s “All the Eternal Love I Have for the Pumpkins,” which makes use of the Japanese artist’s distinctive polka dotted pumpkin motif.

Yayoi Kusama Courtesy/Wikimedia Commons

Yayoi Kusama signing an exhibition. Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

“‘All the Eternal Love I Have for the Pumpkins’ provides opportunities to explore a range of contemporary art movements within our collection, as well as the undeniable influence of Kusama across decades,” said DMA director Agustín Arteaga in a press release. “We are excited to share this boundary-pushing, experiential work with our visitors and to be the only museum in North America to have one of Kusama’s pumpkin-themed mirror rooms represented in our collection.”

Kusama’s been a fixture on the New York art scene since the ’60s, when she inspired Andy Warhol and the Pop Art movement. Her first mirrored installation debuted in 1965, and the rooms have been a part of her practice ever since. She briefly dropped out of view in the ’70s, returning to Japan in poor health, and did not return into the spotlight until 1993, where she presented “Mirror Room (Pumpkin), 1991” at the Venice Biennale to acclaim.

Yayoi Kusama's Mirror Room (Pumpkin), 1991at the Hara Museum of Contemporary Art. Courtesy of Studio International

Yayoi Kusama’s Mirror Room (Pumpkin), 1991 at the Hara Museum of Contemporary Art. Photo courtesy of Studio International

Since then, Kusama has seen continued popularity and success. Time Magazine named her of “The 100 Most Influential People” in 2016, and her artworks have sold for more than $7 million.

“This major installation highlights one of Kusama’s most intense moments of innovation, in a pioneering six decades of artistic production that has traversed Conceptual art, Pop, Surrealism, and Minimalism,” said Gavin Delahunty, the museum’s senior curator of contemporary art. “The Infinity Mirror Rooms are key to understanding her practice, and as such we are delighted to welcome it to Dallas, joining several other major works by the artist in our community.”

This will be only the second time one of Kusama’s “Infinity Mirror” rooms has been on display in Texas. Last year, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston hosted the first with the “Aftermath of Obliteration of Infinity” installation.  “All the Eternal Love I Have for the Pumpkins” will be on view at the DMA Oct. 1 through Feb. 25, 2018.