Yayoi Kusama (Japanese, born 1929), Aftermath of Obliteration of Eternity, 2009, wood, mirrors, plastic, acrylic, LEDs, glass, and aluminum. Collection of the artist. Courtesy of Ota Fine Arts, Tokyo/Singapore; Victoria Miro, London; David Zwirner, New York. © Yayoi Kusama. Courtesy of the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.
As a young girl growing up in Japan, Yayoi Kusama turned to art to understand and cope with the visual and aural hallucinations brought on by obsessional neurosis, drawing repetitive patterns to soothe the chaos in her mind. Those repetitive patterns eventually manifested themselves in a series of room-sized works of art that, particularly in the last several years, have become sold-out museum sensations.
One such exhibition, Infinity Mirrors, will transform the entire second floor of the High Museum of Art when it arrives on November 18, bending dimensions and leading viewers into Kusama’s colorful mind. The exhibit consists of six rooms filled with repetitive objects and patterns—one contains spotted glass pumpkins, another sparkles with thousands of LED lights—where mirrors take the place of walls, multiplying the patterns and swallowing the viewer into a completely immersive experience. The exhibition also features the artist’s films, sculptures, paintings, and other works from her more than 60-year career.
Courtesy of the artist. Art © Yayoi Kusama. Photograph by Tomoaki Makino. Courtesy of the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.
Yayoi Kusama (Japanese, born 1929), All the Eternal Love I Have for the Pumpkins, 2016, wood, mirrors, plastic, glass, and LEDs. Collection of the artist. Courtesy of Ota Fine Arts, Tokyo/Singapre and Victoria Miro, London. © Yayoi Kusama. Photograph by Cathy Carver. Courtesy of the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.
Members of the High will get first dibs at tickets to this world-renowned exhibit, which broke attendance records when it debuted at Washington D.C.’s Hirshorn Museum in February 2017 and has sold out at other museums across the country. A limited number of members-only tickets will go on sale beginning at 10 a.m. on August 27 through 31. Tickets will go on sale beginning September 17 at 10 a.m. for nonmembers.
Tickets for this exhibition come with another twist: Due to the high demand and the limited capacity of the mirror rooms, each ticket will be sold for a specific time slot. Tickets cannot be refunded, exchanged, or transferred to another person.
Yayoi Kusama (Japanese, born 1929), Infinity Mirrored Room—The Souls of Millions of Light Years Away, 2013, wood, metal, mirrors, plastic, acrylic, rubber, LEDs, and water. Courtesy of David Zwirner, New York. © Yayoi Kusama. Courtesy of the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.
Here’s a quick breakdown of how it works:
High Museum members:
• First, if you are not yet a member, you have until Friday, August 17 to sign up or renew your membership for the first-dibs opportunity.
• Tickets will go on sale each day at 10 a.m. from August 27 through 31. Only a limited amount will be sold each day—when they’re gone, you can try again the next morning.
• Member prices are $14.50 for ages 6 and up and $5 for ages 5 and under. Tickets include museum admission.
Nonmembers:
• Tickets will go on sale beginning Monday, September 17 at 10 a.m. Only a certain number of tickets will be sold each day, and tickets will be available for purchase each weekday at 10 a.m. until all tickets are sold.
• Tickets are $29 for ages 6 and up and $5 for children 5 and under. Tickets include museum admission.
Both tiers will use Queue-it, a ticketing system that marks your virtual spot in line and gives you an estimate on how much time you have left. There’s also a $175 VIP ticket option that includes the exhibit’s official catalogue.
But if all of this sounds too hectic to deal with, a small handful of tickets, around 100, will be available at the door for walk-up purchases beginning on the first day of the exhibit. These tickets are only valid for the day of purchase.
Once you have a ticket, the High warns visitors to arrive 30 minutes prior to their designated arrival times and be prepared for long lines to enter the rooms, with waits up to 20 minutes each. This is due to the fact that only 2-3 people can enter a room at once. You’ll be allotted 20-30 seconds to view each room, and the High notes attendees should plan to be at the exhibition for about 120 minutes total. But if the thousands upon thousands of Instagram photos from the exhibition’s tour are any indicator, the art is worth the wait.
Read the full ticket and exhibition FAQ from the High here.
