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Japanese contemporary artist Yayoi Kusama, one of the world's most celebrated and commercially successful artists known for her iconic polka-dot paintings and immersive 'Infinity Mirror Rooms', has died at the age of 97, CNN reported.
According to a statement on the artist's official website, Kusama passed away at a hospital in Tokyo. "It is with profound sorrow that (we announce) the passing of Yayoi Kusama at a hospital in Tokyo on August 14," the statement read. Kusama gained worldwide recognition for her large-scale installations that used mirrors, lights and repeated patterns to create the illusion of endless spaces. Her distinctive pumpkin sculptures and polka-dot artworks also became some of the most recognisable pieces in contemporary art, generating millions of dollars at auctions, as per CNN. Her global success came after decades of personal struggles, including childhood trauma, mental health challenges and years of limited recognition in the art world. Born in 1929 in Japan, Kusama experienced a difficult childhood and began seeing vivid hallucinations at a young age. The repeated dot patterns she saw became a defining element of her artistic style. During World War II, she worked in a military factory sewing parachutes for Japan's imperial army. After briefly studying the traditional Japanese painting style 'nihonga' at an art school in Kyoto, Kusama moved towards abstraction and developed her famous 'Infinity Nets' paintings. Inspired by American artist Georgia O'Keeffe, she moved to the United States in the late 1950s, first settling in Seattle before moving to New York. In New York, Kusama became part of the emerging avant-garde movement and created paintings, sculptures, films, literature and performance art. During the 1960s counterculture era, she staged artistic "happenings" where bodies were transformed into canvases covered with her signature dots, CNN reported. She also used her art to address issues including gender equality, gay rights and anti-war movements. Despite friendships with artists such as Andy Warhol and Donald Judd, Kusama remained outside the mainstream art establishment for years. Criticising the lack of recognition she received, Guggenheim Museum senior curator Alexandra Munroe wrote in 2018 that Kusama's identity as "a foreign woman of color from a chastened Asian power" and the psychological themes in her work separated her from the Western art narrative of the 1960s. Kusama returned to Japan in the early 1970s and later voluntarily moved into a psychiatric hospital, where she continued creating art. Her work received renewed attention in the late 1980s, including a major retrospective at New York's Center for International Contemporary Arts in 1989. In 1993, she represented Japan at the Venice Biennale, decades after she had unofficially displayed 1,500 mirrored balls outside the Italian Pavilion in 1966. Her artistic legacy grew significantly in later years. In May 2022, her early painting 'Untitled (Nets)' sold for nearly USD 10.5 million, setting an auction record for her work. In 2023 alone, her artworks generated around USD 190.5 million in auction sales worldwide, CNN reported. Kusama's popularity expanded beyond galleries, with her pumpkin sculptures becoming landmarks at museums and cultural spaces. A museum dedicated to her work opened in Tokyo in 2017, while her 'Infinity Mirror Rooms' became a global attraction. Her collaborations with luxury brand Louis Vuitton and the 2018 documentary 'Kusama: Infinity' further increased her international visibility. Tributes poured in following her death, with many remembering her influence on contemporary art. Alexandra Munroe said in an Instagram post that Kusama's "stories changed how the history of avant-garde art was written and understood." Gallery owner David Zwirner also paid tribute, recalling visitors who waited in "hour-long lines for the chance to experience her work." "At the time of her passing, Kusama was, without a doubt, the most famous living artist in the world," Zwirner said, CNN reported. (ANI)
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