Welcome to The Director’s Cut, an interactive column featuring fashion, beauty and career advice from RGNN Director and Founder, @isabelevabohrer.
There are some artists that just stick with you. For me, Yayoi Kusama is one of them. If you work in fashion, her name will ring a bell – she is the one who covered all the Louis Vuitton stores, and bags, in dots in 2023. The last time I saw one of her artworks was just a few months ago at Art Basel, where an oversize pumpkin, bright yellow covered in black dots, decorated the fair’s Unlimited hall. “Beautiful Kusama” exclaimed the comments on my accompanying Instagram post.
It is a rare occasion that I go to fashion week and make a conscious decision to skip an entire day of shows to see something else. But the only permanent Kusama installation is housed at the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art in Humlebæk, Denmark, just outside of Copenhagen. And so it was that our press invite to the museum, right smack in the middle of Copenhagen Fashion Week SS25, became one of my personal highlights of visiting Denmark this summer.
I tried my best to capture it all in the videos and photos and they still hardly do it justice. You open a narrow white door and enter the world of Kusama, a four by four meter mirrored room, with hundreds of lamps, shaped like ping pong balls, hanging from the ceiling. The lamps change colors; “Gleaming Lights of the Souls” is the name of the installation at the Louisiana Museum. If you had the chance to visit the Tate Modern between May 18, 2021 to April 28, 2024, you may have been lucky to see the similar “Infinity Mirror Rooms” in action.
Planning a visit to see it yourself? Be sure to arrive early, the lines can be very long and there is a maximum of four people allowed inside, for a maximum of one minute. While you wait for your turn to snap some selfies and take it all in, you can watch the accompanying Kusama film. And when your turn does come around, do be careful and stay on the platform. That is, the platform in the center of the water, if you step all the way to the back of the installation, there is a pool, albeit shallow. If you watched my Fashion Industry Diary, this is the first time I have gotten my So Kates wet. But it’s all good (they were patent leather and dried quickly, the weather in Copenhagen accompanied nicely).
Watch my full video, including the Kusama experience at the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art on YouTube!
In fact, the allure of the Louisiana Museum transcends the Kusama installation, and especially if the weather permits, it really is the perfect day trip from Copenhagen. My advice is to plan for the whole day. For the scenic drive, take the long route Charlottenlund-Klampenborg-Skodsborg (you could even stop by the deer park Dyrehave if you have time) along the Danish coastline. Arrive at the museum and go to the Kusama first.
Then, explore the rest, because there is a lot to explore. The museum is home to works by artists from Andy Warhol to Pablo Picasso to Yves Klein, and in the garden, from Alexander Calder to Joan Miró. Are they blockbuster masterpieces? If you read my article on Rothko, the answer would be no; the Rothko on view at the Louisiana Museum is small compared to what was brought together at the Fondation Louis Vuitton or the Tate. But what does stand out is the Bourgeois x Giacometti exhibition; entirely exceptionally, the sculpture “Walking Man” by Alberto Giacometti was on loan when we visited. His relationship with Louise Bourgeois is also explored in a room that has such a calming view of the museum’s garden.
When you need a break from all the art, head for lunch. There’s a restaurant onsite with beach views – keep in mind the museum sits right at the shore. A lot of people also bring their own snacks and sit in the garden – by the way, don’t wear heels if you want to see it all, you can climb up and down unpaved trails to get even better views of the sea. It’s a day trip paradise for the whole family; the museum has special rooms and activities exclusively for kids, too. And if you are here by car and have any energy left at the end, drive up to Gilleleje, another beach town featured in all the Denmark guides (although my own preference would be the beaches just to the side of the Arken Museum down south, even more cristalline and less touristy, especially if you go on a Monday when the museum is closed). But now, back to the Louisiana museum.
It’s a day I won’t forget. In fact, I can’t decide whether to plan a trip to the Kusama museum in Tokyo, or another visit to Copenhagen. Or maybe both. “My life is a dot lost among thousands of other dots,” said Kusama famously. Make your dot worth your while, travel, explore and add the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art to your bucket list while you’re at it.
Plan your visit
Louisiana Museum of Modern Art.
- Gl Strandvej 13, 3050 Humlebæk, Denmark.
- This is a day trip from Copenhagen. Personally, I recommend arriving by car to take the coastal drive up to the museum and even up to Gilleleje as mentioned above. However, there are also trains from Copenhagen (about a 40 minute train ride) to Humblebæk station, which is within walking distance of the museum. More information on the museum website.
- Tuesday through Friday: 11.00 a.m. to 10.00 p.m. Saturday and Sunday: 11.00 a.m. to 6.00 p.m. Closed on Mondays.
- If you are specifically interested in seeing the Kusama installation, check the Louisiana website or even email (mail@louisiana.dk) them in advance; the installation is permanent but occasionally closes if other events are going on at the museum.
- Buy tickets here.
More information on the official website.
Thank you to the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art for inviting us.
Questions or comments? Follow me on IG @isabelevabohrer or TikTok and say hi! See you soon!
