Yayoi Kusama, the Japanese artist whose immersive infinity mirror room is on display at the Cincinnati Art Museum in Eden Park, died Aug. 14 at a Tokyo hospital. She was 97.

Her exhibition "All the Eternal Love I Have for the Pumpkins" is free to visit Aug. 28, during the museum's Art After Dark event from 5–9 p.m. Tickets for the infinity room must be reserved online in advance at cincy.art/kusama. Free slots were released at 11 a.m. Aug. 28.

Kusama's representative David Zwirner said she died of multiple organ failure, NPR reported. Her studio's statement said she painted until her final days.

The exhibition, which opened July 17 at the museum's Eden Park campus, features a 2016 installation of yellow gourds adorned with black polka dots, surrounded by mirrors that create the illusion of an infinite field of glowing pumpkins.

Museum Director Dr. Ainsley M. Cameron told CityBeat before the exhibition opened in July that a presentation of Kusama's work was "overdue." She said the infinity room gives visitors a chance to "be immersed in art, immersed in beauty, surrounded by joy, and that's what Kusama brings."

Kusama was born in 1929 in Matsumoto, Japan. She moved to New York in 1957 and became one of the first Japanese women to pursue art there, according to the Los Angeles Times. She first exhibited her Infinity Mirror Rooms in 1965. She returned to Japan in the 1970s and voluntarily checked herself into a psychiatric hospital in Tokyo around 1977, where she lived for the rest of her life while continuing to create art in a studio across the street.

She won Japan's Order of Culture in 2016 and held the record for the most expensive work sold at auction by a female artist.

Beyond the infinity room, Friday's Art After Dark includes DJ Ike in the Great Hall, a silent disco in the Marek Family Commons provided by Cincinnati Public Radio, and a solar-viewing activity with Cincinnati Observatory from approximately 5–6:30 p.m. General Art After Dark admission is free and requires no reservation.

Parking at the museum, 953 Eden Park Dr., is limited. The museum recommends arriving early or using rideshare. CAM is accessible via Metro routes 4 and 11.

Upcoming

The Kusama exhibition runs through Oct. 18. Regular admission is $17 for adults and $14 for students, seniors and children. Museum members enter free.