Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Albright-Knox Art Gallery jointly acquire Infinity Mirrored Room by Yayoi Kusama

The First Art Newspaper on the Net    Established in 1996 Tuesday, March 19, 2024


Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Albright-Knox Art Gallery jointly acquire Infinity Mirrored Room by Yayoi Kusama
Yayoi Kusama, “Infinity Mirrored Room—My Heart Is Dancing into the Universe,” 2018. Wood and glass mirrored room with paper lanterns, 119 5/8 x 245 1/8 x 245 1/8 in. (304 x 622.4 x 622.4 cm). Courtesy Ota Fine Arts and Victoria Miro, London/Venice. © YAYOI KUSAMA. Purchased jointly by the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. (Joseph H. Hirshhorn Purchase Fund, 2020), and the Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, with funds from the George B. and Jenny R. Mathews Fund, by exchange.



WASHINGTON, DC.- In a landmark collaboration between two leading U.S. modern and contemporary art museums, the Albright-Knox Art Gallery and the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden announced today the joint acquisition of an important immersive artwork by Yayoi Kusama. “Infinity Mirrored Room—My Heart Is Dancing into the Universe” (2018) will receive its East Coast debut when “One with Eternity: Yayoi Kusama in the Hirshhorn Collection” opens at the Hirshhorn this spring; dates to be announced. The artwork will go on display in Buffalo, NY, in the years following the completion of the Albright-Knox’s campus expansion and development project designed by OMA/Shohei Shigematsu. When the museum reopens it will be known as the Buffalo AKG Art Museum.

Among Kusama’s most ambitious immersive works, “Infinity Mirrored Room—My Heart Is Dancing into the Universe” represents a dynamic continuation of her artistic investigation of space and time through a series of more than 20 dazzling Infinity Mirror Rooms that create distinctive illusions of a limitless expanse. The jointly acquired mirror room installation is lined on all six sides with reflective surfaces and filled with colorfully lit paper lanterns covered by the artist’s signature polka dots. Visitors are invited to pass through the darkened Room as the lanterns gradually change color and watch as their own reflections are absorbed into seemingly endless kaleidoscopic patterns.

The joint purchase, the result of an important collaboration between Albright-Knox Peggy Pierce Elfvin Director Janne Sirén and Hirshhorn Director Melissa Chiu, is emblematic of the museums’ shared commitment to championing the presentation and study of the leading art, artists, and ideas of our time.

“The acquisition of ‘Infinity Mirrored Room—My Heart Is Dancing into the Universe’ builds on the art-historical legacy of the Hirshhorn’s 2017 blockbuster presentation ‘Yayoi Kusama: Infinity Mirror Rooms,’ which introduced the artist’s spellbinding artworks to record audiences across North America,” said Melissa Chiu. “Our forthcoming exhibition places this recent work in the context of her early painting, sculptures and groundbreaking immersive work. We are grateful to partner with the Albright-Knox to bring this work to view on the National Mall as we celebrate our reopening.” Betsy Johnson, assistant curator at the Hirshhorn, has organized “One with Eternity: Yayoi Kusama in the Hirshhorn Collection.”




“Infinity Mirrored Room—My Heart Is Dancing into the Universe” becomes the first major work by Kusama in the Albright-Knox’s permanent collection, continuing the museum’s acquisition of immersive works by global artists. At the Hirshhorn, the acquisition builds on the museum’s holdings by Kusama, joining not only “Infinity Mirror Room—Phalli’s Field” (1965/2017), the artist’s first Infinity Mirror Room, but also her sculptures “Pumpkin” (2016) and “Flowers—Overcoat” (1964) and her early painting “The Hill, 1953 A (No. 30)” (1953). Powerfully coalescing key motifs into an environment that offers a breathtaking vision of sublime obliteration, this acquisition expands the ability of both museums to illuminate the breadth of Kusama’s impressive seven-decade career.

Sirén said, “We are delighted to partner with the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in acquiring this extraordinary work by Yayoi Kusama. We plan to debut this landmark installation in Western New York soon after our museum reopens following the completion of our campus development and expansion project. Collaborations such as this one are vital to the fulfillment of our mission to make art accessible to diverse audiences. My team and I are deeply grateful to the Hirshhorn Museum for this partnership.”

Albright-Knox Chief Curator Cathleen Chaffee said, “Yayoi Kusama has always been a trailblazer and a visionary, and we are honored to welcome ‘Infinity Mirrored Room—My Heart Is Dancing into the Universe’ into the Albright-Knox collection, where it can be contextualized alongside Pop, Minimalist, and installation artworks by many artists who have been her peers, as well as works by contemporary artists for whom she has been a true inspiration. This particular Room is transformational. It is emblematic of Kusama’s kinetic use of color as well as her lifelong disruption of art viewership, as she asks us to see ourselves seeing.”

Between February 23 and May 14, 2017, the Hirshhorn welcomed almost 160,000 visitors to “Yayoi Kusama: Infinity Mirrors” and a record 475,000 visitors to its building and sculpture garden during the same period—its highest spring visitation since the museum’s opening in 1974, driving attendance in 2017 to 1.2 million. The touring exhibition welcomed more than 800,000 visitors to partner museums across the U.S. and Canada during the next two years.










Today's News

January 21, 2022

'Georgia O'Keeffe and American Modernism' opens at McNay Art Museum

The Met announces gift of a rare painting by Nicolas Poussin from Jon and Barbara Landau

Annie Leibovitz & Sally Mann among February Photographs Auction highlights

Françoise Gilot: 'It girl' at 100

Asia Week New York and The Winter Show present webinar on J.P. Morgan

Christie's New York announces sale of Outsider Art

Gagosian announces new gallery in Gstaad, Switzerland

Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Albright-Knox Art Gallery jointly acquire Infinity Mirrored Room by Yayoi Kusama

Sable Elyse Smith joins Regen Projects

The day New Queer Cinema said: Let's do this

Art Basel Hong Kong 2022 exhibitor list announced

47 Canal opens a group exhibition featuring works by Michele Abeles, Josh Kline, and Stewart Uoo

The Philadelphia Show announces 60th anniversary on museum grounds

Christie's France announces 'Oceania Now: Contemporary Art from the Pacific' sale

Exhibition at Casey Kaplan celebrates the life and work of Marlo Pascual

Christie's announces Shanghai to London sales series

Art Fund New Collecting Awards will expand UK's collections

Gaspard Ulliel, French actor and 'Moon Knight' star, dies at 37

Irish Museum of Modern Art presents a stunning new immersive installation by Aoife Dunne

What to wear in the metaverse

France's colonial conflict, filmed from both sides

Stanford appoints Deborah Cullinan vice president for the arts

Fred Parris, creator of a doo-wop classic, dies at 85

Erin Lee Antonak appointed Multidisciplinary Arts Curator at the Contemporary Arts Center, New Orleans

Minerals from revered Rock Currier to shimmer in Heritage Auctions Nature & Science Event

Three of the Best Museums in Washington that you Need to Visit if you have a Passion for Art

Things to Keep in a Keepsake Box

Art and Beauty in Modernity

5 Ways to Get Your Kids into Art This Year

Is Front Door Replacement DIY A Good Idea?

Buy Cardano and other alternative cryptocurrencies to Bitcoin




Museums, Exhibits, Artists, Milestones, Digital Art, Architecture, Photography,
Photographers, Special Photos, Special Reports, Featured Stories, Auctions, Art Fairs,
Anecdotes, Art Quiz, Education, Mythology, 3D Images, Last Week, .

 



Founder:
Ignacio Villarreal
(1941 - 2019)
Editor & Publisher: Jose Villarreal
Art Director: Juan José Sepúlveda Ramírez

Royalville Communications, Inc
produces:

ignaciovillarreal.org juncodelavega.com facundocabral-elfinal.org
Founder's Site. Hommage
to a Mexican poet.
Hommage
       

The First Art Newspaper on the Net. The Best Versions Of Ave Maria Song Junco de la Vega Site Ignacio Villarreal Site
Tell a Friend
Dear User, please complete the form below in order to recommend the Artdaily newsletter to someone you know.
Please complete all fields marked *.
Sending Mail
Sending Successful