In 2010 Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen purchased the work ‘Infinity Mirror Room - Phalli’s Field’ by the Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama. Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen is presenting the work permanently in the entrance area. With dots and infinite reflections, the Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama plays with our visual perception.
This work, the first of Kusama’s (Matsumoto, 1929) mirror rooms, was exhibited at Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen in the autumn of 2008 as part of her solo exhibition 'Mirrored Years'. Her enormous installations with her characteristic dots and mirrors are at the root of an increasingly rich tradition of environments in contemporary art.
Kusama created an international furore with her spatial installations, which were among the first in a long tradition of ‘environments’ in contemporary art. Her work was especially well received in the Netherlands: in the 1960s, her work was shown here more frequently than anywhere else in the world. Kusama’s work has had a huge influence on several generations of contemporary artists.