Avant-garde Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama has passed away at 97 years of age. Revisit an excerpt from her autobiography, Infinity Net, published in The FADER’s 78th issue.
Kusama was well known for her highly colorful (and Instagramable) works which heavily deployed polka dots, holes, and mirrors as motifs. Her sculptures and installations have been some of the most commercially successful exhibitions for international institutions such as the Foundation Beyeler.
In a public statement memorializing Kusama, art dealer and gallery owner David Zwirner said in part:
It’s been one of the great privileges of my professional life to have been able to represent Yayoi Kusama’s extraordinary art for the last fifteen years. The last time Kusama visited New York, a city where she lived for many years, was in 2013. During that visit, she opened the first of many exhibitions in our galleries that had hour-long lines for the chance to experience her work. Her steadfast message of love and peace has now reached millions of admirers around the globe. At the time of her passing, Kusama was, without a doubt, the most famous living artist in the world.
Kusama’s permanent work is largely outside of the U.S., including her tallest public work, Infinite Accumulation, in London and a number of installations around Japan, including her own museum in Tokyo. Kusama also has two permanent installations in Australia: Flowers That Bloom in the Cosmos in Sydney, and The Spirits of the Pumpkins Descended into the Heavens in Canberra. And in a few weeks, the Stedelijk Museum in the Netherlands will open a wide-ranging retrospective of Kusama’s work, which will be on display from September 11, 2026, to January 17, 2027, in Amsterdam.
For those of us without the means to leave the country, there are still a few options to see Kusama’s work right now. Bear in mind these exhibitions were already highly trafficked, and news of Kusama’s passing will only intensify demand: if you’re trying to get a timed ticket, you’ll need to be on the ball as they become available.
Cincinnati, Ohio
The Cincinnati Art Museum is currently hosting Yayoi Kusama’s All the Eternal Love I Have for the Pumpkins, a mirrored installation featuring polka-dotted pumpkins, a mainstay in Kusama’s work that harkens back to familial hardship during World War II in Japan, when Kusama’s family subsisted on a diet of pumpkins. Tickets to the exhibit are released one month in advance, meaning that the last few weeks of tickets will be available between today and September 18 (the exhibit closes on October 18). While tickets to the Kusama exhibit are paid, general admission to the Cincinnati Art Museum is free. The museum is open from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday, with extended evening hours on Thursdays.
New York City
The Guggenheim’s current exhibit Guggenheim Pop: 1960 to Now runs until January 10, 2027, and includes Kusama’s INFINITY MIRRORED ROOM – DANCING LIGHTS THAT FLEW UP TO THE UNIVERSE (2019).
Admission to the Infinity Room is included with general admission to the museum. Visitors will then be given access to an online queue for a time slot in the exhibit. Basically, just get to the Guggenheim as early as you can. On the bright side, you won’t have to plan too far in advance. The Guggenheim is open daily from 10:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., and general admission costs $16.
Miami
The Rubell Museum in Miami features three of Kusama’s installations: two Infinity Rooms (Where the Lights in My Heart Go, 2016 and INFINITY MIRRORED ROOM – LET’S SURVIVE FOREVER, 2017) and an iteration of her 1966 work Narcissus Garden. Admission to the Rubell Museum is $18 for adults, with various discounted options available. The museum is open Wednesday to Sunday from 11:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., with extended hours until 7:30 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays.
Los Angeles
The Broad Museum has two of Kusama’s Infinity Rooms in its permanent collection. Infinity Mirrored Room—The Souls of Millions of Light Years Away (2013) requires advance reservations, while Longing for Eternity (2017) is open to museumgoers throughout the day. Admission to Infinity Mirrored Room is an additional fee with a timed ticket, while Longing for Eternity is included in general admission to the museum. The Broad Museum is open from Tuesday to Sunday.