Articles by me / Published Articles / TravelYayoi Kusama’s ‘Infinity Rooms’ and The Age of Instagram October 30, 2022 Written by 0 The 93-year-old Japanese artist’s work, on show at London’s Tate Modern, is free from the afflictions of elite artLondon is filled with tourists in August and September. Museums, galleries and cafés are filled with their chatter. Outside the Tate Modern, on the banks of the Thames, locals and tourists are lining up to see Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama’s exhibition.The response to her Infinity Mirrored Rooms has been so overwhelming that the museum recently extended the exhibition, which opened in June 2021, by a year. It will now run until June 2023. Kusama’s work is easy to enjoy because it is accessible and free from the afflictions of elite art. Even if you aren’t a fan of contemporary art, you are likely to be familiar with the diminutive Japanese artist’s signature polka dots and pumpkins, the leitmotif of most of her paintings, sculptures, performances and installations. The dots have followed Kusama from the time she was a little girl and began experiencing hallucinations. Today, at 93, the artist lives in a psychiatric hospital in Tokyo, her home for 45 years, and says the treatment and care at the facility have helped her to focus exclusively on her art.Inside the first Infinity Room at the Tate, a hallucination is recreated through a single chandelier and endless mirrors to produce a sensorial wonderland. In Chandelier Of Grief, an ornate chandelier rotates from the ceiling, creating a limitless field of light from the infinite mirrors surrounding it, telling you that you can experience beauty and sadness at the same time. Kusama’s mind may be a troubled place but what she has created is truly beautiful and bedazzling.Read More Further Reading... A Winter in Paradise January 23, 2023 I got my Lake Como in Srinagar, but far prettier August 19, 2024 Kerala’s temple of wonders May 4, 2024 Previous PostCapri and Nothing Else Next PostShould Some Friendships be Left in the Past?
