To this day, the YAYOI KUSAMA: INFINITY MIRRORS Exhibit at the Art Gallery of Ontario continues to draw huge lineups. Before it concludes later this month, Films We Like x Mr. Will want to give Toronto Readers a chance to see the Documentary KUSAMA – INFINITY with a Run-of-Engagement Pass while it is in theatres.
Synopsis:
A rival of Warhol in the ‘60s, Kusama battled sexism and racism in America while her hallucinations of polka dots eventually led her to the Tokyo mental institution.
Kusama – Infinity explores artist Yayoi Kusama’s journey from a conservative upbringing in Japan to her brush with fame in America during the 1960s (where she rivaled Andy Warhol for press attention) and concludes with the international fame she has finally achieved within the art world. Now in her 80s, Kusama has spent the last 30 years living in a mental institution in Japan. Yayoi Kusama: Life in Polka Dots is a feature documentary about Yayoi Kusama. The film explores Kusama‘s fierce determination to become a world-renowned artist.
Kusama was born into a conservative family in rural Japan and she made her way to America on the heels of WWII. There, without connections and speaking only broken English, she devoted herself to her one true love, making art. On her first day in New York, Kusama has stated that she climbed to the top of the Empire State Building, looked down upon the city below, and made a decision to stand out from everyone she saw below and become a star.
Artwork:
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Films We Like release KUSAMA – INFINITY Friday, May 11, 2018 at TIFF Bell Lightbox.
The INFINITY MIRRORS really is all that! We had the pleasure of being among the first to check it out. Read more here.
(Photo/video credit: Films We Like)
The hottest ticket in town right now isn’t a concert or a movie premiere. YAYOI KUSAMA has come to be known for her groundbreaking art, her career having spanned several decades. Even at 89 years of age, the icon is still hard at work. Known best for her mirrored installations using dot and net themes in her work, she moved from her native Japan to New York for a duration, counting among her peers the likes of Andy Warhol.
The Art Gallery of Ontario is giving Toronto a rare chance to see and experience Kusama‘s work for a limited time only, hosting the Exhibit YAYOI KUSAMA: INFINITY MIRRORS from March 3 through May 27, 2018. Tickets sold-out online quickly with the buzz being feverish, and it is estimated approximately 100,000 tickets were sold.
While capacity is monitored closely always, a new window will be opening for tickets as follows:
AGO Members: March 20, 2018 (online only, starting at 10am) and the public’s next date is Public: March 27, 2018 (online only, starting at 10am)
The Exhibit in addition to sculptures, photographs and paintings, is highlighted by six remarkable Infinity Mirror Rooms which guests can step into in groups of two to three (depending on volume) for 20 seconds and experienced exactly as Kusama intended them to be. They are presented in chronological order ranging from the 1960s through modern day. Photography is allowed with the exception of one room and your flash should be turned off.
It is little wonder that Kusama‘s Exhibit connects so perfectly with today’s Instagram-obsessed culture. It is an immersive experience which can and should be shared to many likes on Social Media, but one must remember that the purpose of this all is to enjoy and take in the meditative experience for what it is versus through a photo lens. It has hard not to leave feeling anything by enlightened and uplifted based on its sheer serene beauty and spectacle.
While tickets are without a question sold-out to INFINITY MIRRORS, a tip is to line-up at the AGO around 9:00 AM the day-of as Same-Day Rush Tickets are indeed available on a first come, first serve basis. Upon getting a voucher to buy up to two tickets ($30 each for non-members), you will be assigned a time to visit again later in the day. We got there around 9:30 AM and were assigned an 11:00 AM slot just for your reference. The Exhibit has been timed with precision to a tee and moves rather briskly once you are in.
Be sure to allot between one to two hours for the entire experience and be sure to budget aside a little bit for some super-cool merchandise from the Exhibit including t-shirts, mugs, magnets, umbrellas and more.
See more from the Exhibit here. Hover cursor left and right to navigate slideshow.
Learn more about YAYOI KUSAMA: INFINITY MIRRORS here.
(Photo credit: Mr. Will Wong)
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