Japanese Artist Yayoi Kusama Dies at 97

Tokyo, Aug. 27 (Jiji Press)--Japanese avant-garde artist Yayoi Kusama, known for her polka-dot motifs and pumpkin sculptures, died of multiple organ failure at a Tokyo hospital on Aug. 14, it was learned Thursday. She was 97.

Born in 1929 in Matsumoto, Nagano Prefecture, central Japan, Kusama began drawing polka dots and net patterns around age 10, creating fantastic works in watercolor, pastel and oil.

She moved to the United States in 1957, and her 1959 solo exhibition in New York won acclaim for "Infinity Net" paintings, featuring white net-like patterns on a black background.

She later unveiled works she called the "soft sculpture" series.

In the second half of the 1960s, she staged radical events under the name "happening," showcasing painted nude bodies in public spaces, gaining support from young people in the hippie movement.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]