Queen of the polka dots

Yayoi Kusama, known for her iconic dots, nets, pumpkins and infinity rooms began painting at the age of 10, from intensely personal, hallucinations that she experienced as a child.  Her art has been revered worldwide with exhibitions at the Whitney in New York, The National Gallery Singapore The Hirshhorn and the Tate Modern.  

​Now, aged 88 she is planning to open her own Tokyo museum in the residential neighbourhood of Shinjuku, close to her studio and the psychiatric hospital where she has lived, voluntarily since 1977.  The new museum was designed by the architectural firm Kume Sekkei and stands five stories tall and will host her iconic infinity rooms and other installations, in addition to two changing exhibitions each year. In 2008 one of her works sold for $5.1 million, which at that time, was a record price for a living female artist and she is considered on of the greatest female artists of all time. 

Author - Sarah