Visit: Yayoi Kusama 'Infinity Rooms' at Tate Modern

The Infinity Room exhibition at Tate Modern was by far, the hardest exhibition I have ever tried to get into!...and I’ve been to quite a few exhibitions in my time.

Personally, I think it’s the title image that draws everyone. The picture of Kusama’s installation with the never ending mirrored room filled with colour changing lights gives off an otherworldly, experiential feel…something I think everyone wants to tap into right now.

By some miracle (and 6 hours waiting in an online queue!) my mum and I finally got tickets, but only if we went for the specially designed lunch as well. We’d come this far, there was no way either of us were leaving the site without tickets, so we took the plunge and went for it.

I was quite excited to see this exhibition. At the start of the pandemic, I had 3 exhibitions I wanted to see…Alice at the V&A, Diana’s wedding dress at Kensington Palace, and Yayoi Kusama’s Infinity Rooms at Tate Modern. Luckily, and with all of the exhibition’s extended due to the pandemic, I have already been able to see the first two…this was the last one on the list. (*If you would like to see my exhibition thoughts on both Alice and Kensington, click on the links to head over to those posts).

It began hopefully…the initial rooms were filled with large images detailing her early life and work, and smaller, mirrored installations. The use of colour , pattern and reflection gives an eternal, playful vibe to her pieces, but I didn’t realise that they, her illusion paintings in particular, related to her experiences with hallucinations. She actually still lives in the mental hospital where she sought treatment when she was younger.

Then…and I don’t know what I expected, but I expected more of the next space. I was hoping to see some of the larger ‘spotted’ installations or her bolder pieces to match with the ‘playfulness’ of the first room, but instead, it was a lot of photographs of her younger life as an artist and some of her earlier works. I must admit I was a little underwhelmed at this, so much so, i didn’t really photograph that much…and when I see an exhibition, I take a lot of photographs!

The small chandelier room was nice but quite small. Anyone who suffers from claustrophobia may have issues with the size of the space but as one of the first infinity rooms of the exhibition, it leads you gently into the idea of never-ending reflections and the illusion of a larger space.

The quotes on the walls were a nice touch; some were more profound than others but gave an insight into how she connects with her work.

So…I haven’t been very positive thus far (sorry!) but I haven’t got to the reason we’re all going to this exhibition…the ‘infinity mirrored room – filled with brilliance of life’ (2011/2017). This takes up the majority of the main space and is a room within a room. We luckily were the only 2 people in on the first time we went in so we could appreciate the delicate beauty of the light and reflections. Lots of lights hang from the ceiling around a ‘zig’zag’ path surrounded by water, and the walls and ceiling are all covered in mirrors. The smooth transitions between colours bounced off the surfaces and standing in the space was genuinely lovely; such a fab experiential installation. You can’t help but look around you in wonder.

Do I wish it was bigger…yes. Do I wish that the room itself could have been duplicated and interconnected so you could walk through many of them into a makeshift mythical world…yes; but this was by far the best piece in the exhibition and it was nice to keep going back in. We only had 2-3 minutes at a time to see the ‘cycle’ of lights, so time to appreciate it was short, but you could go in as many times as you wanted.

But that was pretty much it in terms of content 😕

On a Covid note, I have preferred seeing exhibitions during covid as its allowed for ticket numbers to be spread out more. Although masks were required, no longer are you crowded in with 30+ others; you now have space to see and appreciate what you have come to see without having to look over, around or push past people to do it. Fingers crossed this appreciation for space continues going forward.

After the exhibition, we enjoyed our lunch on the top floor of the Tanks overlooking the Thames. A range of very interesting dishes; pairings I definitely hadn’t tried before (designer food as it might be called) were part of the set course menu. We had the burrata, pickled quince and salsa verde; and guinea fowl pate to start, and baked squash with 3 bean chilli and roasted hake. Some things we enjoyed more than others, but it’s always nice to try new foods and the view is amazing! Head on up to the Tate Kitchen and Bar to experience it for yourself. (*you need to have an exhibition ticket to enter).

If I’m honest, I really wasn’t that impressed with the exhibition, and I very rarely say that. I think there is only 1 other exhibition that I have ever been to where I have been disappointed, and I can truthfully say I have been to many. It was very small, and the infinity room itself is shown to be much larger in the promotional material, giving the impression that the space is larger (and more impressive) than it actually is…making it a bit of disappointment when you walk in.

However, if you like Kusama, and you enjoy experiential art, then it’s worth a visit if you can grab a ticket. They’re only £10 and although they’re sold out till the end of March, the exhibition runs until June 12^th 2022.