Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama, whose bold use of repetition, color, and mirrored space reshaped contemporary art, has died in Tokyo at the age of 97. Her career spanned more than seven decades and left a lasting imprint on painting, installation, performance, literature, and fashion.
Born in Matsumoto, Kusama began drawing at an early age, turning personal visual experiences into a distinctive artistic language. After studying traditional Japanese painting, she moved to the United States in 1957 and soon became part of New York's avant-garde scene. There, she developed the celebrated Infinity Nets, large canvases built from countless repeated marks that helped define her approach to scale and repetition.
Her practice expanded into immersive environments such as the Infinity Mirror Rooms, along with performances and public interventions that challenged the boundaries between art, audience, and space. Works like Narcissus Garden further strengthened her reputation as an artist who consistently reimagined how art could be experienced.
After returning to Japan in the 1970s, Kusama continued writing and making art, later entering a new phase of global recognition. Major museum retrospectives, a dedicated museum in Tokyo, and collaborations with fashion houses introduced her work to new generations. Her pumpkin motifs, polka dots, and radiant color fields became instantly recognizable symbols of her universe.
Even in her later years, Kusama remained remarkably productive, creating large bodies of work that reflected themes of infinity, love, and continuity. Her legacy now stands as one of the most influential in modern art, showing how personal vision can evolve into a universal visual language. Her influence is likely to keep expanding across future generations of artists and audiences.
