Japanese Artist Yayoi Kusama Passes Away at 97 > 월드뉴스

Yayoi Kusama, the renowned Japanese outsider artist, passed away at the age of 97 in a Tokyo hospital on August 14, as announced by her company Yayoi Kusama Inc. In a statement, the company reflected on Kusama's extraordinary lifetime dedicated to artistic creation, highlighting her internationally acclaimed career as a pioneering avant-garde artist. Kusama's creative practice included visual art, performance, fiction, and poetry, and she continued to paint until her final days, exploring themes of love and the eternal soul. Known for her distinctive bright red bobbed wig and psychedelic color schemes, Kusama gained immense popularity through her "infinity mirror room" installations, especially with her 2024 exhibition in Australia, which became the most popular in the country's history. Despite her success, Kusama faced challenges in her early life, including an unhappy childhood marked by an abusive mother. Born in Matsumoto, Japan, in 1929, she began experiencing hallucinations as a child, which influenced her art. After moving to New York in 1958, she made significant contributions to the art world, including her "infinity net" paintings and "soft sculptures." Her work garnered critical acclaim, with her piece White No 28 selling for $7.1 million at auction in 2014, setting a record for a living female artist.