Japanese avant-garde artist Yayoi Kusama dies in Tokyo at 97
Yayoi Kusama, the Japanese avant-garde artist known as the “polka dot queen,” died on Aug. 14 in Tokyo at the age of 97, her company and the Yayoi Kusama Museum confirmed Thursday.
Kusama, one of the world’s most celebrated contemporary artists, transformed hallucinations and trauma into vibrant works featuring her trademark dots, nets and infinity motifs over a career spanning decades. She continued painting until her final days, according to a statement from her company, which described her as a pioneering figure in visual art, performance, fiction and poetry.
Born in 1929 in Matsumoto, Nagano Prefecture, Kusama began creating her signature art at age 10. She later described childhood hallucinations, including seeing a red flower pattern from a tablecloth spread across an entire room and her own body. After studying art in Japan, she moved to the United States in the late 1950s, rising to prominence in New York’s avant-garde scene despite facing discrimination as a Japanese woman. There, she gained fame for bold paintings, provocative 1960s “happenings” featuring body painting and polka dots, and a fashion line. She also established a “Church of Self-Obliteration” and styled herself the “High Priestess of Polka Dots” to officiate at a gay wedding.
In 1968, she sent an open letter to U.S. President Richard Nixon offering to have sex with him if he ended the Vietnam War. Kusama returned to Japan in the 1970s and voluntarily entered a Tokyo psychiatric hospital, where she lived and worked for the remainder of her life.
Her work, including pumpkin sculptures on Japan’s Naoshima Island, infinity mirror rooms and immersive installations, attracted global audiences and sold for millions. The Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam announced a retrospective of her work would open on Sept. 11, calling her death “extraordinarily sad news” .
Kusama’s death was attributed to multi-organ failure, according to a Kyodo News report cited by German media . She leaves behind a legacy of groundbreaking art that redefined contemporary visual and performance traditions.
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Articles
„Polka Dots: Japans Kunstikone Yayoi Kusama ist tot
orf.at · about 3 hours ago
Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama, who filled the world with polka dots, dead at 97
news.yahoo.com · about 3 hours ago
Japanese avant-garde artist Yayoi Kusama dies at 97 Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama died at the age of 97 on August 14 in Tokyo, her company said Thursday. The avant-garde artist known as the polka dot queen had channelled her hallucinations and traumas into her work over the course of a career spanning several decades.
france24 · about 3 hours ago
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rtl nieuws · about 3 hours ago
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svenska dagbladet · about 5 hours ago
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