Sunday Showcase

Kusama: Infinity
Directed by Heather Lenz

Sunday, August 11, 12:30 pm 

Free, tickets distributed from the Speed Cinema kiosk starting at noon 

“If you love art, this is a must-see”—Mark Glassman, POV Magazine 

In 1958, a fledgling, yet fierce, young Japanese artist wrote to Georgia O’Keeffe to express admiration and to seek guidance on how to break into the New York art scene. Miraculously, O’Keeffe wrote back, and emboldened Yayoi Kusama to leave behind what she considered the conformist culture of Japan to assert herself in Manhattan. Inspired by the 1960s American political and social revolutions, Kusama’s avant-garde innovation garnered notoriety but little fame or success as she pioneered audacious and unprecedented soft sculptures, staged nude Vietnam protests, and fashioned dazzling polka-dot creations. 

Encountering both racism and sexism in a realm dominated by men whose work often directly pilfered her conception, she eventually returned to Tokyo and voluntarily retired to a mental institution. Only in the last couple of decades has the rest of the world caught up to Kusama’s radical vision.  

In spite of it all, Kusama has endured and has created a legacy of artwork that spans the disciplines of painting, sculpture, installation art, performance art, poetry and literary fiction. After working as an artist for over six decades, people around the globe are experiencing her installation Infinity Mirrored Rooms in record numbers, as Kusama continues to create new work every day. 2018, U.S., DCP, in English and Japanese with English subtitles, 76 minutes.  Recommended for 14+ 

Screened in conjunction with the exhibition Yayoi Kusama: Infinity Mirrored Room: LET’S SURVIVE FOREVER on view July 12, 2024-January 12, 2025