Kusama, Kentridge, and Kjartansson Among Eli Broad’s Latest Acquisitions

The Broad. Rendering by Diller Scofidio + Renfro. Courtesy The Broad.

Get ready for another flurry of selfies from within Yayoi Kusama‘s Infinity Mirrored Room – The Souls of Millions of Light Years Away (2013), which sparked eight-hour lines last year at David Zwirner in New York. The irresistibly fun installation has been acquired by Eli and Edythe Broad for their forthcoming Los Angeles museum, The Broad, which is slated to open in 2015. It is the marquee piece among a slew of recent acquisitions announced on Monday, including Ragnar Kjartansson‘s popular multi-channel video installation The Visitors (2012), a tapestry of reclaimed metal by El Anatsui, a large-scale Kara Walker drawing of a slave ship, a 24-foot-wide painting by Julie Mehretu, large-scale sculptures by Takashi Murakami and Thomas Houseago, and William Kentridge‘s dynamic installation The Refusal of Time (2012).

“After all these years, Edye and I still delight in discovering a new artist and in seeing and  experiencing groundbreaking artwork for the first time,” Eli Broad said in a statement. “It is what has driven  us for so long to build a public collection, because we want to share this art and these  artists with audiences around the world. And now we find even greater joy when we  imagine visitors to The Broad responding to these artworks.”

It’s still unclear where the Kusama Infinity Room installation will be situated at the Broad, and whether or not it will be in place in time for next year’s opening, Jori Finkel reports in the New York Times.

As The Broad’s director, Joanne Heyler, points out: “With a piece like this, you also have to consider: Where do people line up to get in? Do we need to do timed tickets, even if they are free? These are things that we are thinking about.”


Follow Artnet News on Facebook:


Want to stay ahead of the art world? Subscribe to our newsletter to get the breaking news, eye-opening interviews, and incisive critical takes that drive the conversation forward.
Article topics