Infinity comes to Toronto

It’s almost here! Thanks to the David Yuile & Mary Elizabeth Hodgson Fund and more than 4,700 #InfinityAGO donors, internationally acclaimed artist Yayoi Kusama’s incredible artwork, INFINITY MIRRORED ROOM - LET’S SURVIVE FOREVER, is coming to the AGO in just a few short weeks and will remain here…forever.

For more than 60 years, Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama (born 1929) has invited people to participate in her groundbreaking visions of infinity. She is an extraordinary figure in contemporary art, highly original and tremendously popular. Since the 1960s, she has been creating Infinity Mirror Rooms that provoke a sense of boundlessness and transcendence through extreme repetition of shapes and patterns. At age 90 Yayoi Kusama continues to produce immersive, infinity-like spaces, as well as paintings and sculptures.

INFINITY MIRRORED ROOM - LET’S SURVIVE FOREVER is larger than many other Infinity Mirror Rooms and features metallic spheres suspended from the ceiling and arranged on the floor. A mirrored column inside the room invites visitors to peer into a seemingly infinite field of silver orbs. Artnet News described the work as “the sculptural equivalent of Inception’s dream-within-a-dream sequence.” Up to four visitors can enter the work at one time, and spend up to one minute inside.

Blending Pop and Minimalist sensibilities to create these works, Kusama described her love of silver spheres in the 1960s, saying “The silver ball is also
representative of the moon, of sunshine, of peace… When the people see their own reflection multiplied to infinity, they then sense that there is no limit to man’s ability to project himself into endless space.”

So how do you get to experience this exciting new addition to the AGO Collection? Well, if you were one of the 4,700 to donate, you can see it first! Donors can book their free timed-entry tickets online for the Exclusive Donors’ Preview beginning March 19.

AGO Members can book their free timed-entry tickets online starting April 15. An AGO Member email will be sent in early April with instructions and details about the Members’ Viewing.

And beginning May 25, members of the public will be directed to the Kusama Kiosk inside the AGO, where they can reserve a same-day time slot. The artwork will be located inside Signy Eaton North Gallery on Level 2, and access will be via Galleria Italia. It is included in General Admission.

For more information about how and to plan to see this exciting addition to the AGO Collection, visit our website.

Installation sponsored by:

ARTWORK IMAGE CREDITS: Yayoi Kusama, INFINITY MIRRORED ROOM - LET'S SURVIVE FOREVER, 2017. Wood, metal, glass mirrors, LED lighting system, monofilament, stainless steel balls, and carpet, 123 x 246 x 245 1/4 inches/312.4 x 624.8 x 622.9 cm. © YAYOI KUSAMA. Courtesy David Zwirner, New York; Ota Fine Arts, Tokyo/Singapore/Shanghai; Victoria Miro, London/Venice. Photography by Maris Hutchinson / EPW Studio Purchased with funds from the David Yuile & Mary Elizabeth Hodgson Fund, Michelle Koerner & Kevin Doyle, Robert Dorrance & Gail Drummond, The Schulich Foundation, Soichiro & Junko Yamamoto, Diane Bald & Michael Budman, Don & Denyse Green, DH Gales Foundation, Maxine Granovsky Gluskin & Ira Gluskin, Barry Appleton & Magaly Bianchini, Emmanuelle Gattuso, Sheryle & David Saunders, Robin & David Young, Laura E. Baldini, Diana Billes, Edison Chai, Julian Chan & Yi Hyun Park, The Francis and Denise Connolly Family, Creeds, Eileen Farrow, Ivan Fecan & Sandra Faire, Hallisey Family, Victoria Jackman, Val Koziol, David Kozman & Kristin Blakely-Kozman, The Charles & Jane Kucey Foundation Fund, Jämes Lee & the Julie Institute, Chelsea Longaphy & Bernie Li, Martha LA McCain, Abby, Perry & Jordan Minuk, Carolyn D. Mullin, Samuel & Alice Peralta, In Memory of Pierrette & Abel Rancourt, Heather & Aaron Regent, Shevlen Family, Mary Sinclair, Jay Smith & Laura Rapp, J. Kenneth & Margaret Syer-Torrance, and the generosity of thousands of art lovers, 2018