Yayoi Kusama AGO Toronto: INFINITY MIRRORED ROOM – LET’S SURVIVE FOREVER

AGO (Art Gallery of Ontario) presents: Yayoi Kusama – INFINITY MIRRORED ROOM – LET’S SURVIVE FOREVER

AGO Yayoi Kusama – LET’S SURVIVE FOREVER

AGO Yayoi Kusama – LET’S SURVIVE FOREVER

AGO Yayoi Kusama – LET’S SURVIVE FOREVER

After the success of Yayoi Kusama’s Infinity Mirrored Rooms touring exhibition in 2018,  the AGO began a fundraising campaign to purchase a permanent one for its collection.  Generous donors, including the David Yuile & Mary Elizabeth Hodgson Fund and over 4,700 others made this happen.  On May 25, 2019, Yayoi Kusama-INFINITY MIRRORED ROOM – LET’S SURVIVE FOREVER, will be open to the public.

We got a chance to get the first look at this beautiful installation.  Stephan Jost, the CEO of the AGO and Adelina Vlas, Associate Curator of Contemporary Art for the AGO held opening remarks and gave us background on the campaign.  This is Canada’s first permanent Infinity Mirrored Room. We all were very excited to be there, and each of us was given 2 minutes in the Infinity Mirrored Room.  The instructions were to be careful while inside and do not touch or lie down in the room.

Once inside the room, we were in complete awe.  There were mirrored spheres hanging from the ceiling and carefully positioned on the floor. In the room, there was a mirrored column where we looked inside to see an infinite field of silver orbs.  It was magical.  It was hard to leave it once our 2 minutes were complete.

Yayoi Kusama is a 90-year-old Tokyo based artist who has been creating these magnificent pieces for more than 60 years. Her work is beloved all over the world.  She has produced paintings, literary works, film, design, performances, outdoor sculptures, and room-size presentations. She first started producing her Infinity Mirrored rooms in 1965 with the Infinity Mirrored Room—Phalli’s Field. Since then she has created 20 of these unique rooms. These all have various themes ranging from tulips to pumpkins, and all are kaleidoscopic, so one feels like one is in infinite space.

Infinity Mirrored Room- Let’s Survive Forever is located in the Signy Eaton North Gallery on Level 2. Access to the artwork is via Galleria Italia and is included with General Admission.
AGO‘s Yayoi Kusama – LET’S SURVIVE FOREVER will be open to the public on May 25, 2019.