Born in 1929 in Matsumoto City, Japan, she studied painting in Kyoto before moving to New York in the late 1950s becoming, by the mid 1960s, well known in the avant-garde world for her provocative happenings and exhibitions. During her extraordinary artistic career, Kusama’s practice spanned painting, drawing, collage, sculpture, performance, film, printmaking, installation and environmental art as well as literature, fashion and product design.

In 2016, Kusama was awarded the Order of Culture by the Emperor of Japan. She also appeared on TIME Magazine’s list of the  100 most influential people in the world and named the world’s most popular artist.

The artist’s major exhibitions in 2021 include the first large-scale retrospective of her work in Germany, held at the Gropius Bau in Berlin. Yayoi Kusama’s wide ranging practice reflects a lifelong preoccupation with the infinite and sublime, as well as the themes of cosmic infinity and personal obsession, as found in pattern and repetition. 

Kusama’s recurring Infinity Nets and Pumpkins are among the most iconic artworks of the last decades. The pumpkin occupies a special place in her iconography. Kusama has described her representations of pumpkins as a form of self-portraiture.1 

1)Text inspired by Victoria Miro Gallery