Yayoi Kusama

Yayoi Kusama was born in Matsumoto City, Japan in 1929, and studied traditional Nihonga painting, a rigorous and formal style developed during the Meiji period (1868-1912). Kusama moved to New York City in 1958, and produced her fist successful Infinity Net paintings in 1959. Her work then progressed into phallic soft-sculptures of "Accumulations", and she also began to stage provocative happenings that were characterized by sex, nudity, and polka dots. In 1973, Kusama returned to Japan and has continued to create art there in addition to writing short stories, novels, and poetry. She currently lives in a mental health facility and continues to be an exceptionally productive artist.

Yayoi Kusama was published by Rizzoli New York in July 2012 to coincide with a retrospective of her career at the Whitney Museum in summer 2012 and her collaboration with Louis Vuitton. It was edited by Louise Neri and Takaya Goto.

Yayoi Kusama is featured in Edition: Rizzoli: Art

Star Dust of One Hundred Million Light Years, (1989). Copyright Yayoi Kusama Studio, Inc. Courtesy MoCA, Tokyo
Self-Obliteration by Dots (detail), 1968. Performance documented with black and white photographs by Hal Reiff. Copyright Yayoi Kusama Studio, Inc.; Courtesy Ota Fine Arts, Tokyo; Victoria Miro Gallery, London; Gagosian Gallery, New York
Self-Obliteration Horse Play, (1967). Performance, Woodstock, New York. Copyright Yayoi Kusama Studio, Inc.; Courtesy Ota Fine Arts, Tokyo; Victoria Miro Gallery, London; Gagosian Gallery, New York
Kusamas Orgy, vol. 1, no. 2, 1969. Copyright Yayoi Kusama Studio, Inc.; Courtesy Ota Fine Arts, Tokyo; Victoria Miro Gallery, London; Gagosian Gallery, New York
Kusama in Infinity Mirror Room – Phalli’s Field (1965) at “Floor Show,” Castellane Gallery, New York. Copyright Yayoi Kusama Studio, Inc.; Courtesy Ota Fine Arts, Tokyo; Victoria Miro Gallery, London; Gagosian Gallery, New York
Kusama in her studio, New York, c. 1965, with My Flower Bed, 1962. Copyright Musée national d-art moderne, Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris
Kusama in her studio, New York, (1963-64). Copyright Yayoi Kusama Studio, Inc.; Courtesy Ota Fine Arts, Tokyo; Victoria Miro Gallery, London; Gagosian Gallery, New York
Kusama Fashion, (1968). Copyright Yayoi Kusama Studio, Inc.; Courtesy Ota Fine Arts, Tokyo; Victoria Miro Gallery, London; Gagosian Gallery, New York
Aftermath of Obliteration of Eternity, (2009). Installation view, PAC Milan, 2010. Copyright Yayoi Kusama Studio, Inc.; Courtesy Gagosian Gallery, New York
Infinity-Nets (NDTY), 2011. Courtesy Gagosian Gallery, New York (Acrylic on canvas 63 13/16 x 51 1/4 inches 162 x 130.3 cm)