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that seems to swell, as if lit from behind,
with a taste of her “Infinity Mirror” rooms’
luminescence. The warm “Autumn” simu-
lates the sensation of looking through a
microscope. Geometric and organic pat-
terns collide, as if building to a bigger form
and recalling the automatic drawings of
the surrealists. “Forlorn Spot” appears like
a glimpse of a far-off constellation, coming
into focus. Here she is trying out shapes:
dots and net patterns that will appear in
her later “Infinity Nets” series. The works
are displayed alongside Cornell’s mixed-
media work “Ideals Are Like Stars; You Will
Not Succeed in Touching Them,” which
echoes that yearning feeling of standing in
one of Kusama’s rooms, on the edge of
eternity and yet light-years away from it.
“Artist to Artist” is on view through Sept.
3, 2023. Smithsonian American Art Mu-
seum, Eighth and G streets NW. america-
nart.si.edu. Free.Bonus Kusamas
If you’re craving a little more Kusama
after the Hirshhorn, the Smithsonian
American Art Museum has two of her early
works included in the exhibition “Artist to
Artist.” Made when Kusama was in her
mid-20s, the works “Autumn” and “Forlorn
Spot” were purchased by her friend, the
sculptor Joseph Cornell, and discovered by
an archivist in 2019. Kusama described her
relationship with Cornell as deeply roman-
tic but platonic. They exchanged notes, he
wrote her poems and, when Kusama was a
struggling artist in New York, Cornell, who
was nearly three decades older, gave her
artworks that she could sell to support
herself. Given Kusama’s larger-than-life
reputation, the delicate works on paper
read like artifacts from some primordial
era, fossilized traces of her artistic think-
ing, in which her hand — rather than her
brand — is on view. Both works have a glowVisitors look at “Flowers — Overcoat,” a sculpture that recalls a vision in which the
flowers of a patterned tablecloth appear to have filled the space around the artist.PHOTOS BY SHURAN HUANG FOR THE WASHINGTON POST
Eternity: Yayoi Kusama in the Hirshhorn Collection,” at the Hirshhorn Museum and
rror” rooms included in the show. ABOVE RIGHT: Lamont Spears of Atlanta explores the
One With Eternity” highlights five Kusama artworks owned by the museum.
If you go
ONE WITH ETERNITY: YAYOI KUSAMA IN THE HIRSHHORN COLLECTION10 a.m., any unclaimed passes will be made
available at the lobby welcome desk.
Navigation: The show, on the museum’s
lower level, consists of five galleries arranged
in a loop. Staff will enforce a one-way traffic
flow, so once you pass through a gallery, you
cannot double back. Two people at a time (or
an adult with two children) can enter each
“Infinity Mirror” room, and each group will
have 30 seconds in the space, per the artist’s
recommendation. For more information, visit
the museum website’s FAQ.
Pro tip: Arrive early. Passes will not be honored
more than 10 minutes after each scheduled
slot. Although entry is timed to minimize lines,
there may be waits of 10 to 15 minutes to enter
the show and an additional 10 to 15 minutes to
enter the two “Infinity Mirror” rooms.
Special event: On opening weekend, the
Hirshhorn will remain open until 8 p.m. Friday
and Saturday, and distribute additional tickets
accordingly.Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden.
Independence Avenue and Seventh Street SW.
hirshhorn.si.edu.
Dates: Through Nov. 27.
Tickets: The Hirshhorn’s 2017 show brought
teeming crowds and hours-long, winding lines
that would unnerve almost anyone in a
pandemic-cautious world. This time around, the
museum is trying to eliminate such headaches.
Visitors over age 12 will need free, timed-entry
passes — distributed Thursday through Sunday,
first-come, first-served, beginning at 9:30 a.m.,
at the north side of the museum’s plaza, near
the Jefferson Drive entrance. (Entry slots begin
at 10 a.m., with the last entry at 4:30 p.m.) Each
visitor can request two passes and may bring
two children under 12 into the exhibition with
them. The number of available passes will vary
based on maintenance schedules, school tour
groups and other factors, and the museum’s
website will announce when tickets for each
day have sold out. After the museum opens at