Yayoi Kusama, the iconic Japanese avant-garde artist whose decades-spanning career redefined global contemporary art, has passed away at the age of 97, her official company confirmed in a formal public statement this week. The pioneering creator died on August 14, 2025, while receiving care at a Tokyo hospital, ending a life singularly dedicated to boundary-pushing artistic innovation.
Widely recognized for her instantly recognizable visual language of infinite polka dots, immersive installations, and bold, colorful large-scale sculptures, Kusama rose to widespread international acclaim late in her life, cementing her status as one of the most influential contemporary artists of the 20th and 21st centuries. Unlike many creators who confined their practice to a single medium, Kusama built a boundary-crossing career that spanned far beyond visual art: her body of work includes groundbreaking performance pieces, published fiction, and collections of poetry, each marked by her distinctive exploration of infinity, obsession, mental health, and human connection.
For much of her later life, Kusama chose to live voluntarily in a Tokyo psychiatric hospital, a decision she framed as central to sustaining her artistic practice while managing her long-standing mental health challenges. She was equally famous for her iconic public persona as for her art, often appearing at exhibitions and public events in her signature bright crimson wig and playful polka-dot clothing, a look that became synonymous with her unapologetically creative and whimsical approach to life and work.
Born in 1929 in Matsumoto, Nagano, Kusama moved to New York City in the 1950s to pursue her artistic career, where she became a central figure in the 1960s avant-garde movement alongside pop art and minimalist pioneers. Though she faded from public attention for decades after returning to Japan in the 1970s, a global critical re-evaluation of her work starting in the 1990s catapulted her to the mainstream fame she holds today, with blockbuster exhibitions drawing record crowds at museums around the world. Tributes to her life and work have begun pouring in from art institutions, fellow creators, and fans across the globe, who celebrate her as a visionary who turned personal struggle into universally resonant art.