Yayoi Kusama // Biography

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Who is Yayoi Kusama?

Yayoi Kusama was born in 1929 in Matsumoto, Japan, and began painting at an early age, using polka dots and nets as her signature motifs. By her teenage years she was already creating works in watercolour, pastel and oil, laying the foundations for the distinctive style that would make her one of the world’s most recognised contemporary artists.

In 1957 Kusama moved to the United States, settling in New York at the height of the avant-garde scene. There she produced large-scale Infinity Net paintings, immersive mirror rooms, and radical soft sculptures, placing her at the forefront of the Pop Art and Minimalist movements alongside Andy Warhol and Claes Oldenburg.
During the late 1960s, Kusama staged what she called “happenings” — experimental live art events that blurred the boundaries between art and audience. These included body-painting festivals, fashion shows, and anti-war demonstrations, designed to immerse participants in a shared experience of performance, protest, and art. They drew international attention and reinforced Kusama’s reputation as a fearless innovator.

She also expanded into film, publishing and performance art, winning multiple awards for her experimental film Kusama’s Self-Obliteration (1968). By the early 1970s she had exhibited extensively across Europe and America, becoming a sought-after name in both galleries and critical circles. In 1973, Kusama returned to Japan, closing the first chapter of a career that had already secured her place as an internationally significant artist and market-driven figure in contemporary art.
LATER LIFE
1960s - Present ©Photo by Lizzy Shaanan, PikiWiki Israel, CC BY 2.5, via Wikimedia Commons.
©Jeremy Sutton-Hibbert / Alamy

Return to Japan and International Acclaim

After returning to Japan in 1973, Yayoi Kusama balanced art with writing, publishing novels and poetry while continuing to exhibit internationally. Her breakthrough came in the 1980s and 1990s with major solo shows in France, the United States, and the United Kingdom, and in 1993 she represented Japan at the Venice Biennale. From the mid-1990s she began producing monumental outdoor sculptures and public commissions, including her iconic pumpkin installations and mirrored environments. A landmark retrospective in 1998–1999 toured from LACMA to MoMA New York, the Walker Art Centre, and the Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo.

In the 2000s and 2010s, Kusama’s reputation grew into that of a global icon. Her KUSAMATRIX exhibition at the Mori Art Museum in 2004 attracted over half a million visitors, while her 2011–2012 retrospective toured the Reina Sofía, Centre Pompidou, Tate Modern, and Whitney Museum. Collaborations such as the Louis Vuitton × Yayoi Kusama collection (2012) brought her motifs to new audiences, while international touring exhibitions broke attendance records across South America and Asia. By 2020, Kusama’s Infinity Rooms and pumpkins had become some of the most celebrated works in contemporary art, cementing her status as one of the most influential artists of her generation.
MOTIFS
From polka dots to Infinity Nets ©Photo by Ncysea, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
“Our earth is only one polka dot among a million stars in the cosmos. Polka dots are a way to infinity.”

– Yayoi Kusama

Yayoi Kusama’s practice is unified by a set of recurring motifs that have become inseparable from her artistic identity. Her polka dots, which first appeared in drawings during her childhood, symbolise infinity and the dissolution of the self into the cosmos. By repeating these dots endlessly across canvases, sculptures, clothing, and entire rooms, she sought to overwhelm the viewer and blur the line between individual and universe.
The pumpkin is another central motif, one rooted in personal memory. As a child, Kusama found comfort in the shape, colour, and stability of pumpkins, describing them as “humorous” and “solid” companions. Over time, the pumpkin became both a playful emblem and a deeply personal symbol of resilience. From delicate prints and bold acrylic paintings to monumental outdoor sculptures, Kusama has reinterpreted this motif across decades of work, ensuring its place as one of her most recognisable signatures.

Perhaps most famous are her Infinity Rooms, immersive mirrored installations that create an illusion of boundless space. By filling these chambers with lights, pumpkins, or reflections of dots, Kusama invites viewers to step inside her vision of endless repetition and eternal space. These installations combine her signature motifs into total environments that dissolve boundaries between art and life, making them among the most celebrated and sought-after experiences in contemporary art.
Prints and Multiples
Explore Kusama’s prints.
Originals
Explore Kusama Originals