KUSAMA YAYOI

• KUSAMA YAYOI is one of the most prominent avant-garde artists of postwar Japan, known for her diverse body of work spanning painting, sculpture, installation, performance, and literature. In 1957, she moved alone to the United States and began working from New York. During the 1960s, she gained attention for her use of polka dots and repetitive motifs, intersecting with movements such as minimalism, pop art, feminism, and anti-war activism, and earned international acclaim. Kusama's works frequently feature repeated motifs like polka dots, net patterns, and pumpkins—elements rooted in her hallucinations and obsessive thoughts. These motifs blur the boundaries between self and universe, reality and fantasy, creating immersive experiences. Her artistic language is deeply connected to her lifelong struggle with mental illness, and she has described art as "a means to survive." Her works are housed in major institutions around the world, including the Dallas Museum of Art, the Hirshhorn Museum, the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York, Tate Modern, Centre Pompidou, the 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art in Kanazawa, and the Nakanoshima Museum of Art, Osaka. Kusama is regarded as one of the most renowned and influential female artists of our time.

• relevant artists

  • MoMA