Dots, Pumpkins and Mirrors: Yayoi Kusama at the Hirshhorn (photos)

If you are beginning to see polka dots everywhere, it does not necessarily mean you need to have your vision checked. You may be standing near “Dots Obsession – Love Transformed into Dots,” a large-scale multimedia installation by legendary Japanese avant-garde artist Yayoi Kusama. Polka dots are Kusama’s lifelong inspiration, obsession and passion, and her works are featured in a major exhibition, “Yayoi Kusama: Infinity Mirrors,” at the Smithsonian’s Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Gallery in Washington, D.C., from Feb. 23 to May 14. Visitors will have the opportunity to discover six of Kusama’s “Infinity Rooms” alongside a collection of several other key works, including a number of paintings from her most recent series, “My Eternal Soul,” that have never been shown in the U.S.

Visitors can enter most of the “Infinity Rooms” one or two persons at a time. Another can be viewed by sticking one’s head through open windows in the side. The effect of using carefully placed mirrors is that of an infinitely large space. The lights change color every few seconds, creating a kaleidoscope of colors. In the “Obliteration Room,” visitors are invited to stick multicolored polka dots all over a white living room.

Kusama arrived in New York in 1957 and began producing her first “Infinity” paintings with nets and spots as a young, struggling artist. She eventually gained the attention of the avant-garde art world, influencing pop artists Claes Oldenberg, Andy Warhol and others. In 1968, Kusama established Kusama Fashion Company Ltd. and began selling avant-garde fashion.

The 87-year-old pioneering artist, who has a history of neurosis and has lived as a voluntary resident at a mental hospital in central Tokyo, continues to work in her three-story studio from 9 to 6 every day. Her work has been described as “containing an inherent paradox, that infinity can somehow be quantified within a framework of a canvas.” Her artworks today command million-dollar price tags and can be found in museums all over the world. Time magazine recently named Yayoi Kusama one of the world’s “100 Most Influential People.”

The large exhibition completely circles the museum on the second floor. Free timed passes, released online every Monday at noon for the following week, are required. Demand should remain high, and passes go quickly when released. A limited number of same-day walk-up timed passes will be available at the museum. For more information about obtaining timed passes, click [here](http://hirshhorn.si.edu/kusama/passes/).

*View Jeff Malet’s photos from the exhibition “Yayoi Kusama: Infinity Mirrors” at the Hirshhorn Museum by clicking on the photo icons below.*