Yayoi Kusama: All the Eternal Love I Have for the Pumpkins

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"Yayoi Kusama: All the Eternal Love I Have for the Pumpkins" (2016) features an array of yellow gourds in various sizes, adorned with black polka dots and surrounded by mirrors. The result is an immersive installation that allows visitors to become part of the artwork as they seemingly enter an infinite field of glowing pumpkins. All the Eternal Love I Have for the Pumpkins illustrates Kusama’s signature themes, including infinity, the sublime and obsessive repetition. The artist has described the pumpkin — one of her most recognizable symbols — as a form of self-portraiture. A rare assemblage of 12 Pumpkin acrylic paintings on canvas, created between 1990 and 2004, will also greet gallery visitors, courtesy of the Masterworks Foundation. Kusama’s career spans more than seven decades, and her Infinity Mirror Rooms are among her most experimental and iconic works. Infinity Mirror Room — Phalli’s Field (1965) was Kusama’s first installation to use mirrors to create a sense of endless space. The work features a floor covered with hundreds of red-spotted, white fabric-stuffed tubes. These mirrored installations marked an innovative step in the emergence of an increasingly experiential artistic practice. In each work, visitors see their reflections extend into infinity while simultaneously experiencing an intimate and individualized environment. All the Eternal Love I Have for the Pumpkins draws on Kusama’s seminal pumpkin room, "Mirror Room (Pumpkin)" (1991), which was exhibited in the Japanese Pavilion at the 1993 Biennale Arte in Venice. Please Note : Extended members-only hours are 11 a.m.-noon Tuesday through Friday and 10 a.m.-noon Saturday and Sunday.The exhibition will be free for members and nonmembers every Thursday from 5-8 p.m. and during Art After Dark on July 31, Aug. 28 and Sept. 25 from 5-9 p.m. Tickets must be reserved online in advance for all free admission times. 11 a.m.–5 p.m.