Friday, July 29, 2016

Yayoi Kusama: Narcissus Garden at the Glass House

The Glass House located on Elm Street in New Canaan  is pleased to present Yayoi Kusama: Narcissus Garden, a landscape installation that will be on view throughout the 2016 tour season to celebrate the 110th anniversary of Philip Johnson's birth and the 10th anniversary of the opening of the Glass House site to the public. First created fifty years ago in 1966 for the 33rd Venice Biennale, this iteration of Narcissus Garden will be incorporated into the Glass House's 49-acre landscape. Tickets start at $25 including a tour of the site that is open Thursday - Monday 9:30 a.m. - 5:30 p.m.

Photo © YAYOI KUSAMA

The Narcissus Garden, comprising 1,300 floating steel spheres, each approximately 12 inches in diameter (30 cm) has been installed in the Lower Meadow and forest, creating a dramatic view to the west of the Glass House. Drifting in the newly restored pond, the spheres will move with the wind and follow the pond's natural currents, forming a kinetic sculpture. Their mirrored surfaces will reflect the surrounding Pond Pavilion (1962), wooded landscape, and sky.

The Glass House will also install Kusama's recently created enormous steel PUMPKIN(2015). The placement of PUMPKIN will be on the hillside meadow, east-northeast of the Brick House (1949), on a concrete sculpture footing where Ellsworth Kelly's Curve II (1973) was once installed.  "The first time I saw a pumpkin was in a farm in elementary school.  In Japanese, a 'pumpkin head' is an ignorant man or a pudgy woman, but for me, I am charmed by its shape, form, and lack of pretension." says the artist.

About the Glass House
The Glass House was built between 1949 and 1995 by architect Philip Johnson, the Glass House is a National Trust Historic Site located in New Canaan, CT. The pastoral 49-acre landscape comprises fourteen structures, including the Glass House (1949), and features a permanent collection of 20th century painting and sculpture, along with temporary exhibitions. The tour season runs from May through November and advance reservations are required. For more information, and to purchase tickets, visit www.theglasshouse.org.
 
The National Trust for Historic Preservation is a privately funded nonprofit organization that works to save America's historic places to enrich our future. For more information, visit.www.savingplaces.org.  

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