Today, Yayoi Kusama’s largest permanent public sculpture to date was inaugurated at London’s Liverpool Street rail station. Titled Infinite Accumulation (2024), the work is the 95-year-old artist’s first permanent public installation in the U.K. The piece is part of the Crossrail Art Foundation’s public art program, which was launched in 2014 to celebrate the London train’s newly minted Elizabeth line. This piece is supported in part by the London-based gallery Victoria Miro.
Infinite Accumulation stands over 32 feet high and spans about 320 feet in length, towering above the Elizabeth line entrance. The piece is made up of a series of serpentine arches adorned with silver mirrored balls—recalling Kusama’s signature use of polka dots as well as her widely celebrated Narcissus Garden (1966). Kusama’s Infinite Accumulation is the last piece of art to be installed and commissioned as part of the Crossrail Art Programmee for the Elizabeth line.
“Commuters and visitors are in for a real treat when they arrive at Liverpool Street and are welcomed by Kusama’s Infinite Accumulation,” said Justine Simons OBE, deputy mayor for culture and the creative industries. “Kusama is one of the world’s leading artists and so it is fitting that this is the final work in a brilliant series of contemporary art commissions for the Elizabeth line. The arts are a vital part of London’s success, helping transform our spaces and connect our communities as we build a better London for all.”
Kusama’s work joins other notable public artworks along the Elizabeth line. It follows Douglas Gordon’s undergroundoverheard (2024), a multi-lingual video installation playing on a giant television screen, which was unveiled at Tottenham Court Road in February. These works join Chantal Joffe’s laser-cut aluminum figures from her “A Sunday Afternoon in Whitechapel” (2018) series, which was commissioned for the Whitechapel station in 2017.
This past July, Kusama revealed another significant public artwork in London, Pumpkin (2024). The 19-foot-tall yellow pumpkin sculpture is installed near the Round Pound in Kensington Gardens. This piece, presented by the Serpentine and The Royal Parks, was Kusama’s tallest sculpture before the new Crossrail commission.
Large-scale installations by Kusama, prominently featuring the polka dot motif, have been erected at prominent locations around the world. For instance, the Towada Art Center’s Love Forever, Singing in Towada (2010) in Japan is a massive installation that doubles as a playground featuring a giant yellow pumpkin, animals, figures, and mushrooms all adorned with polka dots. One of her most famous installations, the polka dot–covered Yellow Pumpkin (1994) on Naoshima Island, was reinstated in October 2022 after being damaged in a typhoon in August 2021.
from Artsy News https://ift.tt/UkK7WF4
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