When you enter the exhibit proper, you’re greeted by some of Kusama’s earlier works, Baby Stroller, Arm Chair, Blue Spots, Red Stripes, and Ennui, all part of her Accumulation series. I’m quite conversant with the first two; they’re a part of CMA’s permanent collection, so I’ve been seeing them my whole life... but it doesn’t make them any less interesting now! In fact, seeing them in context brings whole new shades of meaning to their familiarity. The next Infinity Room is Phalli’s Field, Kusama’s earliest Room, and the one I’m most familiar with. This was my first introduction to Kusama over thirty years ago, and 14-year-old me became obsessed upon first glance. Yayoi Kusama came into my education through researching the NYC explosion of Pop Art and Post Modernism, (I think I actually remember Yoko Ono referring to Kusama in literature about Ono’s YES show,) and her unique perspective on our shared universe fascinated and intrigued me. To finally stand in an art piece I had only ever seen in photos (and referenced in a series of illustrations I did for a poetry zine in 1998,) was an odd but welcome blurring of reality; past and present are colliding in a serene explosion of experience. #infinitekusama #infinitymirrors #yayoikusama #clevelandmuseumofart #accumulation #softsculpture #babystroller #armchair #bluespots #redstripes #ennui #phallisfield #meandthebear (at The Cleveland Museum of Art)
