If you're ever in Denmark, go visit the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art! It's a really fantastic collection (including the Kusama room), but also a beautiful building and a really nice place to walk around in.
I found out about her from the Polkadot blockchain test network called Kusama. Strange but cool way to find out about an amazing artist. Rest in peace.
Sad! I really enjoyed going to the Kusama exhibit with my (now) wife years ago, and my daughter had a Kusama phase when she was about 5 years old and dressed up like her with a hot pink wig and polka dot outbit.
I had an amazing time visiting her exhibit when it came through my town. Being in the mirror rooms was really fun and her glowing glass pumpkins and squashes are playful in form and color and fun to look at.
There were unfortunately so many people who insisted on taking photos of themselves inside the mirror rooms that they would drop their phones and break the glass sculptures. How frustrating that people can't just enjoy art directly!
On the other hand, I live in Japan where photography is almost always forbidden/extremely restricted in museums, which is nice because you’re not surrounded by people taking selfies and being inconvenienced… but man it’s really annoying to not be able to take photos of things for later research etc.
Several years ago I was at a conference in Las Vegas and discovered that one of her "infinity mirror rooms" was on display at... can't remember the exact location... maybe the Bellagio, but one of the major casinos along the strip. I eventually found it, but it was SO out of place -- A moment of art in a sea of crude commerce. Still... I was happy to have seen it. Major props to my spouse who has an uncanny ability to find interesting things, even in Vegas.
This fall there will be an exhibition at the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam. She stayed for some time in the Netherlands, met with Dutch artists, and organized events with them.
What a loss. I enjoyed engaging with her art in Naoshima, almost as if by accident. The sculpture with the polka dots really called my attention back then, and it was my first encounter with her art.
I once thought I'd test the hypothesis that the frequency of HN front page stories reporting a death was increasing over time. Started figuring out how to get the data, got distracted by life, and never got back to it.
edit: that was not a criticism of such stories, but I was alluding to the fact that the generation that pioneered early computing in the 70's and 80's are getting older.
Yayoi was 97 and I don't think she'd be described as such.
Given the formatting here, it wouldn't be difficult to create the tool you're speaking of. separating "computing pioneers" from non-technical deaths is the more involved part.
Yeah, I suppose it wasn't specifically relevant to Yayoi, but I was only giving an example of why my hypothesis might be true, not to restrict it to computer-related persons.
This video of her changed my life:
https://youtu.be/21NrNdse7nI
I realized that art was a way to let my crazy run downhill.
It was just a random Youtube recommendation.
I’ve been subscribed to the Louisiana Channel ever since.
My submission of the video: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18338528
If you're ever in Denmark, go visit the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art! It's a really fantastic collection (including the Kusama room), but also a beautiful building and a really nice place to walk around in.
I saw that exhibition at Louisiana :). Thank you for sharing!
Moving stuff, thanks for sharing
There's also a great Great Art Explained feature on her: https://youtu.be/wgSBtXNJjhs
I found out about her from the Polkadot blockchain test network called Kusama. Strange but cool way to find out about an amazing artist. Rest in peace.
Sad! I really enjoyed going to the Kusama exhibit with my (now) wife years ago, and my daughter had a Kusama phase when she was about 5 years old and dressed up like her with a hot pink wig and polka dot outbit.
I had an amazing time visiting her exhibit when it came through my town. Being in the mirror rooms was really fun and her glowing glass pumpkins and squashes are playful in form and color and fun to look at.
There were unfortunately so many people who insisted on taking photos of themselves inside the mirror rooms that they would drop their phones and break the glass sculptures. How frustrating that people can't just enjoy art directly!
On the other hand, I live in Japan where photography is almost always forbidden/extremely restricted in museums, which is nice because you’re not surrounded by people taking selfies and being inconvenienced… but man it’s really annoying to not be able to take photos of things for later research etc.
Grass is always greener I guess!
I was lucky to go to an exibition in Taiwan and it wasn't too crowded, once I got back to London it was almost impossible to book / super crowded.
Look out for retrospectives in Taiwan, it's not too far to visit from Japan.
My avatar on GitHub has been of one of her Infinity Rooms for years.
https://avatars.githubusercontent.com/u/12610?v=4
I never felt like I had enough time to spend in these spaces. To imagine creating them from scratch…incredible.
End of an era. The infinity rooms are unforgettable experiences in person. Glad her work touched so many lives during such a remarkably long career.
Several years ago I was at a conference in Las Vegas and discovered that one of her "infinity mirror rooms" was on display at... can't remember the exact location... maybe the Bellagio, but one of the major casinos along the strip. I eventually found it, but it was SO out of place -- A moment of art in a sea of crude commerce. Still... I was happy to have seen it. Major props to my spouse who has an uncanny ability to find interesting things, even in Vegas.
This fall there will be an exhibition at the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam. She stayed for some time in the Netherlands, met with Dutch artists, and organized events with them.
What a loss. I enjoyed engaging with her art in Naoshima, almost as if by accident. The sculpture with the polka dots really called my attention back then, and it was my first encounter with her art.
If you're ever in the San Francisco Airport, you can see her installation there: https://www.sfomuseum.org/public-art/public-collection/high-...
I really liked them, and I made a point to walk to this piece every time I am visiting SFO.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yayoi_Kusama
http://www.yayoi-kusama.jp/
Highly recommend watching her speak, for instance in the below interview. I've found her to be very eloquent and expressive verbally too.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=21NrNdse7nI
"The truth is where the sculptor's chisel stripped away the lie." Kusama-san definitely embodied that statement.
there is a 2018 documentary on her life titled Kusama: Infinity. it appears you can watch it online for free now.
https://archive.ph/SkMrL
Yayoi Kusama's illustrated Alice's Adventures in Wonderland is easily one of my most cherished possessions.
Kusama was undeniably a legend who has left an indelible mark in the art world. She will be sorely missed.
https://50wattsbooks.com/products/alices-adventures-in-wonde...
English statement from her museum/foundation: https://yayoi-kusama.jp/en/news4518/
NYTimes obit https://www.nytimes.com/2026/08/26/arts/yayoi-kusama-dead.ht...
Such an awesome figure.
That’s three!
I once thought I'd test the hypothesis that the frequency of HN front page stories reporting a death was increasing over time. Started figuring out how to get the data, got distracted by life, and never got back to it.
edit: that was not a criticism of such stories, but I was alluding to the fact that the generation that pioneered early computing in the 70's and 80's are getting older.
Yayoi was 97 and I don't think she'd be described as such.
Given the formatting here, it wouldn't be difficult to create the tool you're speaking of. separating "computing pioneers" from non-technical deaths is the more involved part.
Yeah, I suppose it wasn't specifically relevant to Yayoi, but I was only giving an example of why my hypothesis might be true, not to restrict it to computer-related persons.