Uploaded September 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
(27 Aug 2026)
ASSOCIATED PRESS
ARCHIVE: Tokyo, Japan - 21 February 2017
1. Various of Yayoi Kusama at preview of her solo exhibition in Tokyo
2. SOUNDBITE (Japanese) Yayoi Kusama, artist:
"I will fight until I'm dead. Even after my death, I hope that people can understand the purpose of my creations, as well as my hope and passion for art.”
ASSOCIATED PRESS
ARCHIVE: Cologne, Germany - 12 March 2026
3. Various of "Infinity Mirrored Room – The Hope of the Polka Dots Buried in Infinity Will Eternally Cover the Universe", 2025, Mixed Media, collection of the artist, by Yayoi Kusama at exhibition at Ludwig Museum
ASSOCIATED PRESS
London, UK - 27 August 2026
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Tabish Khan, art critic:
"I think what she will be most remembered for is the infinity rooms. So these are the rooms where you step in, you're surrounded by lights and the mirrors mean that the room recedes on forever. So it looks like you're staring into infinity, which in the age of Instagram has become a massive sensation. But interestingly enough, her vision for it was recognizing that we are small specks in the vast scale of nothingness. So what she was actually aiming for was the complete opposite of what it's become, but you can't control that legacy as an artist."
ASSOCIATED PRESS
ARCHIVE: Cologne, Germany - 12 March 2026
5. Tilt-up of visitors entering "Infinity Mirrored Room – Illusion Inside the Heart", 2021, on the roof terrace of the Museum Ludwig
6. Pan of inside "Infinity Mirrored Room – Illusion Inside the Heart"
7. Various of "Infinity Mirrored Room – The Hope of the Polka Dots Buried in Infinity Will Eternally Cover the Universe", 2025, Mixed Media, collection of the artist, by Yayoi Kusama at exhibition at Ludwig Museum
ASSOCIATED PRESS
London, UK - 27 August 2026
8. SOUNDBITE (English) Estelle Lovatt, art critic:
"She's thinking about infinity and beyond infinity at a time when man hadn't even landed on the moon yet. She's thinking about the bigger world, the bigger space. And to her, it wasn't a science. To her, it was her way of dealing with her hallucinations that scared her as a little child. It was a way of dealing with her vivid dreams. It was a way of making her feel as though she wasn't disappearing."
ASSOCIATED PRESS
ARCHIVE: Tokyo, Japan - 21 February 2017
9. Various of Kusama waving
ASSOCIATED PRESS
ARCHIVE: London, UK - 9 July 2024
10. Various of 'Pumpkin' sculpture next to Round Pond in Kensington Gardens, London
ASSOCIATED PRESS
London, UK - 27 August 2026
11. SOUNDBITE (English) Tabish Khan, art critic:
"I think the pumpkin is one of those things where the polka dot was very much her pattern. And then she did it with tentacles, but for some reason it's the pumpkin that really just caught fire. And maybe that was because of the brand collaborations with the likes of Louis Vuitton, so it became very much a saleable, merchandisable item. And that's what she's most remembered for. But I wouldn't say that her art is primarily all about the pumpkins, even if that's how she's remembered in the public consciousness."
ASSOCIATED PRESS
ARCHIVE: New York, US - 9 April 2021
12. Various of Kusama's work 'Starry Pumpkin'
ASSOCIATED PRESS
London, UK - 27 August 2026
13. SOUNDBITE (English) Estelle Lovatt, art critic:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
ARCHIVE: Tokyo, Japan – 1 August 2012
14. STILL of Japanese avant-garde artist Yayoi Kusama, wearing a bright red wig and a Louis Vuitton polka dot scarf, speaks during an interview at her studio in Tokyo
(ID: 69100965033)
AP Photo by Itsuo Inouye
15. STILL of Kusama
(ID: 478358598373)
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(27 Aug 2026)
ASSOCIATED PRESS
ARCHIVE: Tokyo, Japan - 21 February 2017
1. Various of Yayoi Kusama at preview of her solo exhibition in Tokyo
2. SOUNDBITE (Japanese) Yayoi Kusama, artist:
"I will fight until I'm dead. Even after my death, I hope that people can understand the purpose of my creations, as well as my hope and passion for art.”
ASSOCIATED PRESS
ARCHIVE: Cologne, Germany - 12 March 2026
3. Various of "Infinity Mirrored Room – The Hope of the Polka Dots Buried in Infinity Will Eternally Cover the Universe", 2025, Mixed Media, collection of the artist, by Yayoi Kusama at exhibition at Ludwig Museum
ASSOCIATED PRESS
London, UK - 27 August 2026
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Tabish Khan, art critic:
"I think what she will be most remembered for is the infinity rooms. So these are the rooms where you step in, you're surrounded by lights and the mirrors mean that the room recedes on forever. So it looks like you're staring into infinity, which in the age of Instagram has become a massive sensation. But interestingly enough, her vision for it was recognizing that we are small specks in the vast scale of nothingness. So what she was actually aiming for was the complete opposite of what it's become, but you can't control that legacy as an artist."
ASSOCIATED PRESS
ARCHIVE: Cologne, Germany - 12 March 2026
5. Tilt-up of visitors entering "Infinity Mirrored Room – Illusion Inside the Heart", 2021, on the roof terrace of the Museum Ludwig
6. Pan of inside "Infinity Mirrored Room – Illusion Inside the Heart"
7. Various of "Infinity Mirrored Room – The Hope of the Polka Dots Buried in Infinity Will Eternally Cover the Universe", 2025, Mixed Media, collection of the artist, by Yayoi Kusama at exhibition at Ludwig Museum
ASSOCIATED PRESS
London, UK - 27 August 2026
8. SOUNDBITE (English) Estelle Lovatt, art critic:
"She's thinking about infinity and beyond infinity at a time when man hadn't even landed on the moon yet. She's thinking about the bigger world, the bigger space. And to her, it wasn't a science. To her, it was her way of dealing with her hallucinations that scared her as a little child. It was a way of dealing with her vivid dreams. It was a way of making her feel as though she wasn't disappearing."
ASSOCIATED PRESS
ARCHIVE: Tokyo, Japan - 21 February 2017
9. Various of Kusama waving
ASSOCIATED PRESS
ARCHIVE: London, UK - 9 July 2024
10. Various of 'Pumpkin' sculpture next to Round Pond in Kensington Gardens, London
ASSOCIATED PRESS
London, UK - 27 August 2026
11. SOUNDBITE (English) Tabish Khan, art critic:
"I think the pumpkin is one of those things where the polka dot was very much her pattern. And then she did it with tentacles, but for some reason it's the pumpkin that really just caught fire. And maybe that was because of the brand collaborations with the likes of Louis Vuitton, so it became very much a saleable, merchandisable item. And that's what she's most remembered for. But I wouldn't say that her art is primarily all about the pumpkins, even if that's how she's remembered in the public consciousness."
ASSOCIATED PRESS
ARCHIVE: New York, US - 9 April 2021
12. Various of Kusama's work 'Starry Pumpkin'
ASSOCIATED PRESS
London, UK - 27 August 2026
13. SOUNDBITE (English) Estelle Lovatt, art critic:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
ARCHIVE: Tokyo, Japan – 1 August 2012
14. STILL of Japanese avant-garde artist Yayoi Kusama, wearing a bright red wig and a Louis Vuitton polka dot scarf, speaks during an interview at her studio in Tokyo
(ID: 69100965033)
AP Photo by Itsuo Inouye
15. STILL of Kusama
(ID: 478358598373)
Find out more about AP Archive: aparchive.com/HowWeWork
Twitter: twitter.com/AP_Archive
Facebook: facebook.com/APArchives
Instagram: instagram.com/APNews
You can license this story through AP Archive: aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/67dfb9de9b8f446a9356183d7acf98b4
