Preview! Yayoi Kusama: Infinity Mirrors at Seattle Art Museum

/ Seattle Art Museum/

I'm going to kick this off with the important info: yes, advance tickets are sold out BUT you can still get day-of tickets to see this exhibit! You will probably have the best luck on a weekday.

Yayoi Kusama's world- (and Instagram-) famous Infinity Mirrors exhibit is opening at Seattle Art Museum this Friday!

Yayoi Kusama: Infinity Mirrors traverses the contemporary Japanese artist's 65-year career. At the media preview today, I learned a lot about this badass' desire to depict "self-obliteration" and political liberation through her various expressions of art. Fun fact: Kusama's first solo exhibition was right here in Seattle, at the Zoe Dusanne Gallery in 1957.

Kusama reached out to Georgia O'Keefe, who gave her advice on how to break into the U.S. art scene - and who also tried to discourage her from moving to NYC. Kusama moved to the city anyway (thank you Lawd) and from there she took an interest in activist art in opposition to the Vietnam War. Her work evolved to explore the concept of infinity and spatial installations. The first Infinity Mirror room, Phalli's Field, was created in 1965 and is one of five displayed in the exhibit.

Don't miss Kusama's early work, in the form of watercolors; dark, abstract paintings; soft sculptures; or her latest paintings in My Eternal Soul. Leave your mark in the Obliteration Room, where visitors can "become the artist" and leave dot stickers anywhere in the all-white space. By the end of the exhibit, the Room should be an explosion of colors!

Here's what you can expect when you visit Yayoi Kusama: Infinity Mirrors:

  • Expect to spend 1-2 hours at the exhibition.
  • Each Infinity Mirror Room only fits 1-3 people at a time. Be prepared to wait in lines!
  • Per the artist's request, visitors will have 20-30 seconds in each room. Make sure you're ready for the time you're allowed in there!
  • You may be asked to enter a room with people you don't know so that as many people as possible can experience each of them.

Exhibit Hours:

  • Monday: 10:00a.m. - 5:00p.m.; SAM Members ONLY 4:00 - 9:00p.m. beginning July 10
  • Closed Tuesday
  • Wednesday: 10:00a.m. - 5:00p.m.
  • Thursday & Friday: 10:00a.m. - 9:00p.m. (10:00a.m. - 5:00p.m. Friday, June 30)
  • Saturday & Sunday: 10:00a.m. - 5:00p.m.
  • Closed Independence Day
  • Open Labor Day

YAYOI KUSAMA: INFINITY MIRRORS PROGRAMS AND EVENTS

Details are subject to change; additional programs or events may be added. Go to visitsam.org/kusama for the most up-to-date information. All events at Seattle Art Museum unless otherwise noted.

Every Sunday, July 2–Sept 10: Drop-In Studio: Infinite Reflections // 11 am–1 pm

A series of drop-in studio sessions featuring demonstrations by local artists and an opportunity for hands-on art-making. Expert teaching artists will explore themes and ideas found in Infinity Mirrors and connections to their own work and processes.

  • Jul 2 & 9: Junko Yamamoto
  • Jul 16, 23, & 30: Ellen Ziegler
  • Aug 6, 13, & 20: Celeste Cooning
  • Aug 27, Sep 3 & 10: Regina Schilling

Presented by Delta Air Lines and Target.

Wednesday, July 12: Infinity Flower: Yayoi Kusama’s Films and Videos // 7:30–9:30 pm

This evening of films and videos explores Yayoi Kusama’s experimental, political, and deeply personal view of the world. A forerunner of the Pop Art movement, Kusama was part of the 1960s New York “happenings” culture. Her films sample that scene and chronicle her lifelong obsession with journeying beyond individual ego into infinity. Includes clips from Kusama’s Self Obliteration (1967), Love in Festival (1968), Flower Orgy (1968), and Yayoi Kusama: I Adore Myself (2008).

Thursday, July 13: Pom-Pom Garden Installation // 6:00 – 8:00 pm

Volunteer Park Amphitheater

As part of the Volunteer Park Trust's annual Picnic in the Park, SAM’s Gardner Center for Asian Art and Ideas invites visitors to make their own pom-poms with artist Naomi Kasumi. Add your work to a group “dandelion garden” installation on the lawn, creating a community artwork in connection with the downtown SAM exhibition Yayoi Kusama: Infinity Mirrors.

Every Thursday & Saturday, July 13–August 31: Summer at SAM // Thu 6–8 pm; Sat 9 am–3 pm

Olympic Sculpture Park 
SAM presents a free summer season packed full of activities and performances that combine visual art, music, and community. This season celebrates the sculpture park’s 10th anniversary and is inspired by Yayoi Kusama: Infinity Mirrors downtown and new installations on view at the sculpture park. Free and open to the public.

Sat Jul 15: 3D Dot Immersion Workshop // 11 am–2 pm

Be inspired by the immersive, participatory, and potentially healing installation environments of Infinity Mirrors in this workshop with artist Naomi Kasumi. Participants will consider an unresolved personal event and, without sharing the details, think of an apology they would like to make through a group installation. Kasumi leads participants in creating apology pom-poms, like 3-D dots, and assembling them into an enlivening spatial experience.

Wed Jul 19: Kitchen Sessions with The CD Forum for Art and Ideas // 7–9 pm

In partnership with The Central District Forum for Art and Ideas and poet and educator Imani Sims, this dynamic evening will explore themes related to Yayoi Kusama: Infinity Mirrors. The Forum’s recurring Kitchen Sessions are an opportunity to highlight and celebrate black female-identified artists, to reflect on and discuss art with these artists, and to develop inter-generational dialogue.

Fri Aug 11: SAM Remix // 8 pm–midnight

Olympic Sculpture Park

SAM Remix returns for a full evening of performances, tours, dancing, creating, and exploring the sculptures and installations at the Olympic Sculpture Park. Choose your own adventure during this creative late-night out inspired by Yayoi Kusama: Infinity Mirrors and new installations on view at the sculpture park. Remix is a 21+ event.

Remix is sponsored by Delta Air Lines and Starbucks Coffee Company. Media sponsors are The Stranger and KEXP 90.3 FM