Yayoi Kusama, the Japanese artist whose polka dots and immersive installations captivated audiences from Tokyo to New York, died on 14 August at a hospital in Tokyo. She was 97. Her studio announced the news on Thursday, without disclosing the cause of death.
In a statement, her studio said: “She continued to paint until her final days, never setting aside her brush, and continued exploration of forever love and eternal soul. We will carry forward Kusama’s wishes and, through art, continue to bring hope and strength for the future to people around the world.”
Kusama’s career spanned more than seven decades, during which she became one of the most recognisable figures in contemporary art. Her signature style—repetitive patterns, especially dots—was rooted in hallucinations she experienced from childhood. She once told the Associated Press in 2012, “Polka dots are fabulous,” while wearing her trademark orange bob wig and polka-dot attire.
Born into a middle-class family in Matsumoto, Japan, Kusama felt misunderstood by parents who expected her to marry rather than pursue art. She left for the United States in 1957, arriving in New York at a time when action painting dominated the scene. Her distinctive dots were far outside the mainstream, and she faced years of poverty and obscurity. Yet she persisted, developing a style that would eventually make her a global icon.
From obscurity to international acclaim
In the late 1960s, Kusama gained attention with anti-war “happening” performances and forged friendships with artists such as Andy Warhol, Georgia O’Keeffe, and Joseph Cornell. Her works ranged from “Macaroni Girl,” which explored the fear of food, to the giant tulip sculptures of “The Visionary Flowers” and the mirrored installation “Mirrored Corridor.”
Despite years in psychiatric institutions, Kusama maintained an international career. Her later years brought worldwide fame, including collaborations with fashion houses like Louis Vuitton, which put her designs on clothing, cups, and accessories. In 2008, one of her works sold for $5.8 million (€4.9 million) at Christie’s auction house. In 2016, she received Japan’s prestigious Order of Culture.
Kusama also made films and published novels. She often said she was unsure where her ideas came from—she simply picked up her brush and started drawing. “I think, ‘Oh, I drew that? I was thinking that,’” she told the AP, describing the mysterious process that sometimes surprised even herself.
Known for her quiet and shy manner, Kusama remained committed to her distinctive style for decades, bringing her art to audiences around the world. Her installations, such as “A Bouquet of Love I Saw in the Universe” at Berlin’s Martin Gropius Bau museum in 2021, drew long queues and captivated visitors across Europe.
Kusama embraced the attention and praise her art received, while remaining a mix of vulnerability and defiance. She described herself as “an artistic revolutionary,” but also admitted: “I am so afraid, all the time, of everything.” In her final years, she said: “I feel there is little left in my life, but I am now still fighting to the death for my art. I am giving all I have so that many people will continue to be interested in my art, even after I am dead.”
Her death marks the end of an era for contemporary art, but her influence will endure in museums and public spaces across Europe and beyond. As European institutions continue to showcase her work, her legacy as a pioneer of immersive and psychedelic art remains firmly intact.
