Yahoo News Yayoi Kusama exhibition to open at the Tate in spring 2021
Updated on 23 October 2020: The Tate Modern has announced that its much-anticipated Yayoi Kusama exhibition will now open in spring 2021, following Covid-19-related delays. The showcase will be on display for a year until spring 2022, giving visitors plenty of time to see Kusama's Mirror Infinity Rooms. Tickets will cost non-members £5.
Two immersive installations will allow visitors to step inside Kusama's mini universes. Infinity Mirrored Room – Filled with the Brilliance of Life was first shown at the gallery in 2012 and is back by popular demand, featuring hundreds of small, round LED lights that flash on and off in different colour configurations giving the illusion of infinity. Chandelier of Grief focuses on a chandelier which - as the Tate describes - hangs on a "rotating mechanism and, combined with its flickering, pulsating lights and the mirrored walls, is intended to create a destabilising yet mesmerising effect".
If ever there was a time for escaping int Kusama's light-filled world, it's now.
Original story published on 13 February 2020: The Tate Modern will open a year-long Yayoi Kusama exhibition on 11 May to coincide with the gallery's 20th birthday.
The showcase will offer a chance to see two of the artist's immersive mirror room installations, including 'Infinity Mirrored Room - Filled with the Brilliance of Life', which was originally created for her popular 2012 retrospective also hosted at the Tate Modern. This will be shown alongside 'Chandelier of Grief', which which creates the illusion of a boundless universe of rotating crystal chandeliers. Expect your Instagram feeds to be filled with mirror selfies - Kusama always knew that we like looking at ourselves.
Famed for her repeating dot patterns, Kusama is one of the most influential living artists, and is said to have inspired Andy Warhol and Damien Hirst. Having started her career as a painter in Japan, she became integral to the 1960s New York arts scene, which was then heavily male-dominated, using her identity as an 'outsider' to create thought-provoking, original works that, not only imbued a sense of fun, but also reflected social issues of the time, including women's rights and Vietnam war protests.
Kusama has lived voluntarily in a psychiatric institution since 1977 and her work represents her desire to escape psychological trauma, resulting in the mirrored spaces or endless dots.
The Kusama exhibition forms just one part of the Tate's planned birthday celebrations. Other highlights include the return of Louise Bourgeois’ iconic giant spider, 'Marman'. Since its opening 20 years ago, the Tate Modern has become the world’s most visited museum of modern and contemporary art, changing public perceptions of the genre and making art more accessible than ever (entrance to the gallery is famously free).
“Our plans for May 2020 encapsulate the best of Tate Modern. We will shine a spotlight on some of the newest artists to join our collection, go behind-the-scenes in our conservation studio, and run talks and tours across the building," says Tate Modern director Frances Morris. "We also want to highlight some of the artists Tate Modern has championed over the past 20 years: Kusama and Bourgeois, for example, not only represent our commitment to great artists with truly international careers, but they also embody art’s journey from the avant-gardes of the early 20th century to the immersive installations being created today.”
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