Fireflies The Yayoi Kusama Infinity Room

Fireflies is not so different from kusama s past work as it builds on her hallucinatory approaches and psychedelic space conceptions.

Fireflies the yayoi kusama infinity room.

Whitney museum of american art new york. The first publication to focus on yayoi kusama s infinity mirror rooms t his richly illustrated volume includes insightful essays by mika yoshitake alexander dumbadze and gloria sutton as well as an interview with the artist by melissa chiu the hirshhorn s director. Like yayoi kusama s earliest room sized installations including infinity mirror room 1965 in which she combined mirrors and her signature polka dotted phallic protrusions in an enclosed chamber fireflies embodies an almost hallucinatory approach to reality. Mirrors plexiglass lights and water 111 144 1 2 144 1 2 in.

Covered in polka dots these tentacle like forms gradually change colours. Like obliteration room and infinity mirror room it showcases her love of unnerving darkness and fascination for infinite space. The installation s official name you who are getting obliterated in the dancing swarm of fireflies says it all. 281 9 367 367 cm.

Kusama s fireflies on the water 2002 with its carefully constructed environment of lights mirrors and water is one of the outstanding examples of this kind of installation which creates a space in which individual viewers are invited to transcend their sense of self. But the newer work embodies a more tranquil version of her obsessions. An installation at phoenix art museum since 2005 yayoi kusama s you who are getting obliterated in the dancing swarm of fireflies 2005 is one of the artis. While related to the artist s personal mythology and therapeutic working.

Yayoi kusama s depictions of seemingly endless space have been a central focus of her artistic career. Ethereal fireflies at phoenix art museum artist yayoi kusama s recent exhibition at the david zwirner gallery in new york city saw big crowds and long lines but the phoenix art musuem owns a similar larger permanent installation which is always on display. Purchase with funds from the postwar committee and the contemporary painting and sculpture committee and partial gift of betsy wittenborn miller 2003 322. Reuben keehan curator of qagoma s 2017 18 yayoi kusama focused survey in brisbane provides a brief history of kusama s infinity rooms including the national gallery s 2018 acquisition.

At the institute of contemporary art love is calling is yayoi kusama s largest and most immersive infinity mirror room.