Yayoi Kusama’s infinity room, Aftermath of Obliteration of Eternity, officially reopens to the public today at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston.
Yayoi Kusama, “Aftermath of Obliteration of Eternity,” 2009
The MFAH purchased the piece in 2016 when it was on view alongside a second infinity room titled Love Is Calling, in the museum’s summer exhibition Kusama: At the End of the Universe. Ms. Kusama’s infinity rooms, the most famous of which feature small lights inside a cubed room with mirrored walls, ceilings, and floors, have been a major hit at museums across the world. During the MFAH exhibition, Glasstire interviewed museum visitors to capture their enthusiastic responses to the immersive experience.
On the occasion of the work’s reopening, Alison de Lima Greene, the Isabel Brown Wilson Curator of Modern & Contemporary Art at the MFAH, told Glasstire: “In 2016 the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston had the opportunity to acquire Yayoi Kusama’s Aftermath of Obliteration of Eternity (2009), and it was the centerpiece of a special exhibition that summer, drawing more than 64,000 visitors. Many returned more than once, finding both transcendence and solace in Kusama’s meditation on the cycle of life. Kusama commented, ‘We keep flashing, disappearing, and again blossoming out in this Eternity,’ words that echo all the more profoundly today.”
Kusama: At the End of the Universe closed in the fall of 2016, then in 2018, Aftermath of Obliteration of Eternity was loaned to the McNay Art Museum in San Antonio for Immersed: Local to Global Art Sensations. The piece was then intended to go back on view in 2020 when the MFAH’s new Kinder building opened, and was installed on the building’s first floor, but ultimately the Houston redebut of the work was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
While Aftermath of Obliteration of Eternity has been available for museum members to experience over the past few days, it officially opens to the public today, September 21, 2022. As the piece is part of the permanent collection, museum visitors with either a general admission or special exhibition ticket will be able to view the installation. Timed tickets will only be given if a line begins to form to view the piece. Visitors should be aware that the room can only fit three individuals at a time, and the light cycle within the room lasts approximately one minute.
To learn more about the work visit the MFAH’s website.
