After Two-Year Wait, Kusama Exhibit Debuts in DC with Support from World-Renown Champagne Brand

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Veuve Clicquot and Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama have come together once more to bring the world an art-meets-champagne extravaganza throughout Washington, D.C.

In April, The Smithsonian's Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, with the support of the Champagne house, unveiled its latest exhibit, One With Eternity: Yayoi Kusama in the Hirshhorn Collection. From now through November 27, 2022, visitors can view five of her works in the museum's permanent collection, including two of Kusama's Infinity Mirror Rooms, several sculptures, an early painting, and photographs. As the museum explained on its website, "This exhibition honors Kusama's distinctive vision of self-obliteration by exploring its development across media while also underscoring the Museum's mission: to present the most exciting art and ideas of our time."

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But that's not the only thing happening between this legendary pair around the city.

In 2006, Kusuma and the champagne company kicked off their partnership with the unveiling of her original portrait of Madame Clicquot with signature polka dots overlaid for a project titled Twist with Madame Clicquot! The piece went up for sale at a Tokyo charity auction.

Then, in 2020, the brand called upon the artist once again, this time to interpret Veuve Clicquot's premium cuvée, La Grande Dame, and design a unique bottle for the vintage.

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"Yayoi Kusama adorns the La Grande Dame 2012 case and bottle with her iconic symbols," the champagne company explains on its site. "The opulent flower symbolizes vital energy, love and celebration of life. The polka dots, Yayoi Kusama's signature patterns, are reworked like champagne bubbles to embody La Grande Dame 2012."

This specially designed bottle went on display alongside Kusama's sculpture titled My Heart That Blooms in the Darkness of the Night at the Conrad Hotel in Washington DC in April. Though the sculpture is no longer available for viewing, the hotel is still offering a menu filled with seasonal dishes paired with the La Grande Dame 2012. The hotel's "Garden Gastronomy Experience" is available on the hotel's rooftop bar, Summit. And the Conrad is also featuring a special offer that includes a membership to the Hirshhorn and two anytime passes to the Kusama Exhibit.

Kusama's continued collaborations with Veuve Clicquot, Adriana Angulo, senior brand director of La Grande Dame by Veuve Clicquot told Afar, are meant to help spread more joy and hope through her colors and their bubbles. "Like Madame Clicquot, Yayoi Kusama was a daring figure in her own field," Angulo said, "visible in her flawless commitment to her art, making a name for herself through her passion and creative energy. These two fascinating women shared parallel destinies while living centuries apart."

Entry to the One With Eternity: Yayoi Kusama in the Hirshhorn Collection requires a daily pass, which the museum distributes at the Hirshhorn's plaza beginning at 9:30 am daily until all the day's passes have been claimed. For more information, visit hirshhorn.si.edu, and snag your own bottle of the limited-edition La Grande Dame 2012 by Yayoi Kusama at veuveclicquot.com.