TAMPA, Fla. -- Tampa Bay Lightning owner Jeff Vinik and his wife Penny recently purchased a wild new art installation called “Love Is Calling” by famed Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama.
They are now bringing their new purchase to the Tampa Museum of Art.
“We loved it right away,” says Penny of the trippy glowing “infinity room.”
“Kusama’s idea is for you to get lost in her world,” says Jeff of the artist, one of the most Instagrammable in the world.
“Love Is Calling” opens at the museum on Friday.
It is a family-friendly experience. Up to 10 people at a time can enter the playfully disorienting “Infinity Room,” which is filled with polka-dotted tentacles emerging from the ceiling and floor.
Each group can stay in the room for two minutes.
“Yayoi Kusama has not always been comfortable with the world that surrounded her,” says Michael Tomar, Executive Director for the Tampa Musuem of Art. “So from a very early age, she’s been creating worlds of art that she can live within.”
The Viniks were also responsible for bringing to town the Art of the Brick in 2017 and The Beach ball pit at Amalie Arena in 2016. While those two experiences were free, you will be required to pay regular admission to see “Love Is Calling.”
The Infinity Room will be at the museum for at least four months.
For more information, visit tampamuseum.org/exhibition/yayoi-kusama-love-is-calling.
