【ANN NEWS, TOKYO】
Renowned Japanese avant-garde artist and “Queen of Polka Dots” Yayoi Kusama has died at the age of 97.
According to Japanese media reports on August 27, Kusama died on August 14 at a hospital in Tokyo. The cause of death was multiple organ failure.
Kusama, who created fantastical artistic worlds filled with countless polka dots, pumpkins and mirrors, has brought her extraordinary life to a close.
From Polka Dots in Hallucinations to the “Pumpkins” Known Around the World
Kusama was born in 1929 in Matsumoto, Nagano Prefecture, Japan. From an early age, she experienced visual and auditory hallucinations and began drawing the recurring dots, net-like patterns and other images she saw.
Those visual experiences that once troubled her later became her most recognizable artistic language.
In 1957, Kusama moved to the United States and began gaining recognition in New York’s art scene. Her work spanned painting, sculpture, installation, performance art and literature.
Dense polka dots, endlessly repeating Infinity Nets, enormous pumpkin sculptures and Infinity Mirror Rooms that make visitors feel as though they have entered another universe gradually became her signature works.
In particular, her yellow pumpkins covered in polka dots became perhaps the most famous visual symbol associated with Kusama apart from the artist herself.
A Legendary Life: From New York’s Avant-Garde Art Scene to a World-Renowned Artist
In the 1960s, Kusama was active in New York’s avant-garde art scene, staging numerous performances and creating experimental works.
After returning to Japan in 1973, she continued creating art.
In the 21st century, Kusama’s international influence expanded further. Her works were exhibited at major museums around the world, while her “Infinity Mirror Rooms” became some of the world’s most popular immersive artworks.
In 2016, she received Japan’s Order of Culture.
In 2017, the Yayoi Kusama Museum, named after her, opened in Tokyo.
Even into her 90s, Kusama continued creating art and holding exhibitions. Until her death, her works remained prominent in museums and the art market around the world.
She Turned “Polka Dots” Into a Cultural Symbol of an Era
Kusama’s influence had long extended beyond contemporary art in the traditional sense.
From museums and public art to fashion, luxury brand collaborations and immersive exhibitions in the social media era, the polka dots, pumpkins and infinite spaces she created became part of global popular culture.
Kusama once described her artistic philosophy as a form of “self-obliteration”——through endless repetition, the individual ultimately dissolves into the infinite universe.
Now, the artist who spent her life endlessly repeating dots, nets and pumpkins has left the world.
But those seemingly endless polka dots and mirrored reflections have already become an indelible part of contemporary art history.
