Yayoi Kusama, the renowned Japanese artist, died on August 14 at a hospital in Tokyo due to multiple organ failure. She was 97. Her death was announced on August 27.
Kusama was one of the most famous living artists in the world. The global art community has lost another great legend.
I have been a fan of Kusama and her work for many years. In Tokyo, I once visited a solo exhibition of hers at the Mori Art Museum.
After I began living in New York, a city deeply connected to Kusama, I had many opportunities to encounter her art throughout the city. Time and again, I was struck by the strong presence of her work in the American art world.
Even just thinking of the examples that come immediately to mind, there were exhibitions at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) and the Whitney Museum of American Art, Infinity Mirror Rooms at the gallery, the solo exhibition KUSAMA: Cosmic Nature at the NY Botanical Garden, and her collaboration with Louis Vuitton.
I have also read English-language books and children’s books about Kusama and watched documentaries about her, learning about her life as a whole—from her childhood and family to her years in New York.
In conversations with artists I have interviewed over the years, Kusama has also come up several times. One of them was Ushio Shinohara, the avant-garde artist better known as “Gyū-chan.”
- Ushio Shinohara in His 90s Reflects on His Life and Future (Original: 渡米半世紀 : 90代になったNY前衛芸術家・篠原有司男のこれまでとこれから)
“Only a handful of artists who challenged contemporary art actually became successful. One of them is Kusama-san, who is three years older than me. She has achieved incredible success—there’s hardly any greater success than hers. And yet, when she first started out, people treated her like a crazy girl.”[…]
Note: The quoted article contains a word that is not normally used by this web magazine. It has been retained in the original form to convey the force and atmosphere of Shinohara’s words during the interview.
Remembering the Day I Met Yayoi Kusama
After I moved to New York, a city deeply connected to Yayoi Kusama, I had the opportunity to meet her “in person” exactly once. Looking back, it was a very special encounter for me.
I met Kusama in December 2013, when she was 84 years old.
It happened at David Zwirner, a world-renowned gallery in Manhattan’s Chelsea neighborhood. Kusama had a long-standing relationship with the gallery, which has presented several exhibitions of her work.
I Who Have Arrived In Heaven
I met her at a press event held in connection with her 2013 exhibition, Yayoi Kusama: I Who Have Arrived In Heaven .
Yayoi Kusama: I Who Have Arrived In Heaven
During the press event, I was taking photographs. When it ended, I went to the front of her to introduce myself to Kusama.
A crowd of people involved with the exhibition had gathered around her. But as a Japanese, I was able to take advantage of a small opening and speak to her in Japanese.
She immediately looked toward me. I naturally reached out my hand. Kusama casually took my hand and shook it.
I still remember the feeling of her hand. It was soft and slightly plump, warm and comforting, as if it could gently envelop my own.
Me: “Nice to meet you. I’ve wanted to meet you for such a long time.”
Ms. Kusama: “Who are you?”
Me: “I’m Abe.”
It was probably a confusing answer. I thought she probably would not know the name of my company, so I simply gave her my surname.
She looked at me as if asking which Abe I was.
Ms. Kusama: “Have we met before?”
Me: “No, this is the first time.”
I briefly explained that I was a journalist for a publishing company. She responded with a soft “Oh…” and, at that point, other people stepped in, bringing our conversation to an end.
Written down like this, our brief exchange may sound rather distant. But that was not how it felt at all. Kusama remained calm and gentle throughout.
She was surrounded by so many guests and people involved with the exhibition that, understandably, it must have been difficult for her to keep track of who was who. And there I was—one Japanese journalist speaking to her in Japanese.
Soon afterward, Kusama, who was in a wheelchair, was accompanied by staff back to the room behind the exhibition space.
Looking back, this was precisely the period when the “Yayoi Kusama boom” was accelerating around the world.
It was only a brief encounter, but it became a memory I will never forget.
In recent years, I had not heard much about Kusama’s life and often wondered how she was doing. When I learned of her passing, that day in 2013 came vividly back to me.
Yayoi Kusama has now departed for heaven. But the works she left behind will live forever.
Rest in peace.
Photos：Collaborative works featuring Kusama can be seen throughout New York City. © Kasumi Abe
Text by Kasumi Abe — original Japanese version published on August 27, 2026
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