Yayoi Kusama: the Japanese avant-garde artist who created a new genre of immersive art

Japanese avant-garde artist Yayoi Kusama has died, aged 97.

Kusama, who came to art later in life, was born in Matsumoto, Japan, in 1929, and began drawing as a child. Her bold, striking dots and nets were her own original way of confronting infinity, repetition and the boundaries of the self.

Yayoi Kusama – the influential artist’s life

In 1957, Kusama moved to New York, producing paintings, sculptures, installations, performances and films which later inspired minimalist and Pop Art movements. Her phallic sculptures were controversial, as were the Infinity Mirror Rooms she created in 1965, which transported the viewer into realms of endless space. Her polka dot and pumpkin works became, commercially, massively successful.

Upset at the thought that her work was being copied by male contemporaries, including Andy Warhol, Kusama returned to Japan in 1973. From the late 1970s, she lived voluntarily in a psychiatric hospital while continuing to work in a nearby studio (where her roles included guest editor of Wallpaper* for the October 2023 issue).

Her company confirmed Kusama’s death at a hospital in Tokyo on 14 August 2026. ‘Throughout an extraordinary lifetime devoted entirely to artistic creation, Kusama pursued an internationally acclaimed career as a pioneering avant-garde artist whose creative practice encompassed visual art, performance, fiction, and poetry,’ they 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.’

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