Japanese Avant-Garde Artist Yayoi Kusama Dies at 97

Yayoi Kusama, the renowned Japanese avant-garde artist, passed away on August 14 at the age of 97, according to a statement from her studio team. Kusama had recently been hospitalized in Tokyo, but the cause of her death was not disclosed. Despite her advanced age, Kusama continued painting until her final days, famously stating she "never put down the brush."

Born in 1929, Kusama rose to prominence in her twenties as a unique figure in Japan's art scene, inspired by hallucinations of flashing lights, dots, and flowers. Her distinctive artistic language featured repetitive patterns, nets, and dots, later incorporating pumpkins and infinity rooms, which became her trademarks. At 27, she left Japan for the United States, seeking freedom from conservative societal constraints. In New York, she became a leading avant-garde figure, creating bold paintings, sculptures, and performances, engaging in anti-Vietnam War activism, and influencing artists like Andy Warhol. Kusama also wrote literature and poetry.

Returning to Japan in the 1970s, Kusama voluntarily admitted herself to a psychiatric hospital in Tokyo, where she lived for nearly 50 years while continuing her art daily in a nearby studio. She described still experiencing hallucinations of dots everywhere, which she painted. Although recognized as a pioneering artist since the 1960s, Kusama gained global fame later in life, becoming a cultural icon with her psychedelic colors, infinity rooms, and signature red bob and polka-dot attire. She was the most tagged living artist on social media, with her works exhibited in major museums worldwide.

Kusama's art also resonated in Israel, where the Tel Aviv Museum of Art hosted her first major retrospective in 2021-2022. The exhibition attracted hundreds of thousands and featured around 200 works spanning eight decades, including four infinity rooms and a specially created mirror room that remains on display after the exhibition's conclusion.