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Yayoi Kusama, high priestess of polka dots, has died

Yayoi Kusama pictured in New York in 2013. Andrew Toth/Getty Images hide caption Yayoi Kusama pictured in New York in 2013. Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama, best known for her polka dot sculptures in eye-popping colors and shimmering "Infinity Rooms," has died. She was 97 years old. In a statement issued on Wednesday, her representative David Zwirner said Kusama passed away from "multiple organ failure" at a Tokyo hospital on Aug.

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Scoop News DeskJapan · Published Thursday, August 27, 2026 at 3:42 AM UTCUpdated Thursday, August 27, 2026 at 11:33 PM UTC

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1 confirmed death — Yayoi Kusama. The wildly imaginative Kusama used her art to express her obsessions: Repetitive brushstrokes on dotted canvases she called infinity net paintings; giant orange and black, polka dotted pumpkins; enclosed rooms with mirrored walls and twinkling lights that seem to go on forever; fluorescent paintings and sculptures.

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Thursday, August 27, 2026 at 11:33 PM UTC
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