In its final week of crowd funding, the Art Gallery of Ontario is continuing efforts to raise funds for the Infinity Mirror Room - LET’S SURVIVE FOREVER. As of Thursday morning, the art gallery was nearly short $1 million of its $1.3 million goal to buy the room designed by Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama.
To continue to reach its goal, the AGO has partnered with the global campaign Giving Tuesday, which encourages charity-giving on the Tuesday after Black Friday and U.S. Thanksgiving. The gallery’s communications chief, Lisa Clements, said the room is still set for purchase on November 30, regardless of how the fundraiser goes, and last-minute donations may be necessary to cover the costs.
As of this Friday, over 3,000 people have donated to the exhibit, reaching an estimated total of $410,000. Clement stated that the AGO is committed to obtaining the work by Kusama, and is confident in public support, quoting:
"We know that the supporters that know us well have been really monitoring and paying attention to the campaign (and) I really think we're going to have that support at the end of the day."
The AGO Foundation has committed to donated $1 million, covering half of the exhibit’s expense.
Over 160,000 people visited the Infinity Mirrors exhibit this past spring, which featured a series of rooms designed by Kusama. Only a handful of museums around the world contain permanent installations of the 89-year old Japanese artist’s displays, including: The Broad in Los Angeles, The Louisiana Museum of Modern Art in Humlebæk, Denmark, and the Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen in Rotterdam, Netherlands.
Six of Kusama’s Infinity Mirror Rooms were previously hosted by the AGO from March 3 until May 27; each posing a different theme and significance. Other cities featuring the contemporary art exhibit this year included: Jakarta, Indonesia, Cleveland, Ohio, and Matsumoto, Japan (the birthplace of Kusama).
Kusama’s art is defined by its abstract design, which makes heavy use of polka dots. She began her work in the 1950’s by putting on solo exhibitions of her work in Tokyo and Matsumoto, before moving to the United States in the late 1950’s; establishing herself as a prominent figure in the avant-garde movement.
Kusama’s first Infinity Mirrors exhibit began in 1965 with Phalli’s Field, which saw the artist arrange hundreds of phallic figures in a 25 square-metre mirrored room.
To support the AGO’s goal to permanently install Kusama’s Infinity Mirror Room - LET’S SURVIVE FOREVER, you can donate at: https://ago.ca/infinityago.
