yayoi kusama presents 'EVERY DAY I PRAY FOR LOVE' at david zwirner new york

yayoi kusama’s long-anticipated ‘EVERY DAY I PRAY FOR LOVE’ exhibition is open to the public from now through december 14, 2019 at david zwirner gallery in new york. the two-story exhibition comprises four segments that highlight the artist’s latest additions to her collection of paintings, immersive installations, and sculptures. at free of charge, visitors will also have the opportunity to read personal poems of kusama’s that have never been published before.

installation view of ‘EVERY DAY I PRAY FOR LOVE’
image © designboom

considered to be ‘one of the most influential artists of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries,’ states david zwirner gallery, ‘kusama occupies a unique position within art history.’ born in 1929, kusama had her first solo show in 1952 in japan, and established herself in new york during the 1960s. from paintings to installations, her iconic style involving repetitive elements in the form of dots are distinctly recognizable throughout her artworks, and has set countless trends in the contemporary art scene.

image © designboom

on the first floor of the gallery, visitors find the main hall, which displays 42 of kusama’s latest abstract paintings in the ‘my eternal soul’ series. each unique and different in color scheme, the paintings on the wall are tied together by kusama’s bold dot painting technique and countless organic forms. on the ground, multiple reflective stainless steel ‘clouds’ also take the form of organic blobs.

image © designboom

next to the main hall, the gallery debuts kusama’s ‘INFINITY MIRRORED ROOM – DANCING LIGHTS THAT FLEW UP TO THE UNIVERSE, 2019’ in a cubic portable room. taking in one person at a time with a one minute limit, the installation offers an immersive experience of endless space through a continuous mirroring of flickering lights from dim to bright. at the end of each minute, the lights turn bright red. through this installation, the artist intends to convey an ‘eternal unlimited universe [and] the eternity of interrelationships.’

image courtesy of david zwirner

on the second floor, visitors find an infinity light installation, ‘ladder to heaven’, as well as a separate gallery space for kusama’s sculptural pieces. placed in a dark room, ‘ladder to heaven’ is constructed out of honeycomb aluminum, and stands upright positioned between two circular mirrors — one on the floor, and one on the ceiling of the room. the infinity illusion is active when the ladder structure, lit by LED lights, gradually shifts in color and creates endless reflections. meanwhile, in the adjacent gallery space, kusama displays a handful of her sculptural pieces that range in medium from stuffed fabrics to casted aluminum.

image courtesy of david zwirner