Get ready for mirror mania.
"Yayoi Kusama: Infinity Mirrors," an art exhibit prominently featuring pumpkins, polka dots and the infinite vistas of mirrored walls, is coming to the High Museum of Art. Demand for tickets to the show, which runs Nov. 18, 2018, through Feb. 17, 2019, is rabid.
Those who waited in virtual space for a chance to see "Hamilton" will recognize the experience.
Museums around North America displaying this conceptual installation by an 89-year-old Japanese artist have attracted the sort of lines you usually find at Disney World thrill rides.
Tickets are not available until Aug. 27 for High members (and Sept. 17 for the rest of us), and must be purchased at high.org.
But not to worry. We’re going to help you get to the front of the queue.
First, a little about the art and the artist.
Yayoi Kusama, the mind behind the mirrors, has been creating visual wonders for 60 years. They include “All the Eternal Love I Have for the Pumpkins,” an Infinity Room from 2016, lined with mirrors and filled with dozens of sculptures of Kusama’s beloved vegetable.
Kusama was already building mirrored environments in 1965. She worked in the New York art scene between 1958 and 1973, creating installations and performance art, before returning to Japan. As she approaches her tenth decade, she is still producing art in her Tokyo studio.
In addition to six Infinity Rooms, the exhibit at the High also includes more than 60 paintings, sculptures and works on paper from Kusama, offering a comprehensive look at her long career. It will occupy the entire second floor of the Wieland Pavilion.
The Infinity Mirror Rooms “open onto places within the imagination that are beautiful and transcendent,” said Michael Rooks, the High’s curator of modern and contemporary art.
This is the last tour stop for the show, which has been to New York City, Seattle, Los Angeles and Toronto, and is currently on display in Cleveland.
Because of the demand for tickets, the High will use a virtual queue that allows customers to wait online. It should cut down on the pushing and shoving, but can still be a frustrating experience.
Getting in
Members of the High Museum will get first crack at tickets, which go on sale to members Aug. 27-31. Tickets will then be offered to the general public Sept. 17 until they are gone.
Tickets for museum members are $14.50; $5 for children 5 and younger. Tickets for the general public are $29; $5 for children 5 and younger.
To be eligible for member tickets, you must secure a High membership by Aug. 17. Memberships range from $75 for an individual membership and $110 for a family membership to $1,850 to become a Circle Member. High memberships are available at high.org.
Special VIP tickets to the exhibit are available for $175 each and include an exhibition catalog and special viewing hours. About 100 walk-up tickets will be available at the museum each day of the show, beginning on Nov. 18. Those tickets sell on a first-come, first-served basis and will be valid for that date only.
These are all timed tickets, and offer access at a particular hour and minute. Those who are more than 10 minutes late for their appointed time might not gain entry.
Visitors will find lines at the elevators, and lines outside the mirror rooms, with wait times of up to 30 minutes for each mirror room.
The visitor is allowed no more than 30 precious seconds in each room to breathe in the tranquil beauty of infinitely replicated pumpkins, flowers and dots.
Visitors should plan on spending two hours on the exhibit. No more than two or three people will be allowed into any of the Infinity Mirror Rooms at a time. The rooms are not huge — her pumpkin room is only 13.6 feet by 13.6 feet by 9.6 feet, according to the Los Angeles Times — but seem enormous on the inside.
Hint: It’s done with mirrors.
For more information, go to high.org.
EVENT PREVIEW
“Yayoi Kusama: Infinity Mirrors”
Nov. 18-Feb. 17. High Museum of Art, 1280 Peachtree St. NE, Atlanta. 404-733-4400, high.org.
Cox Media Group
