Yayoi Kusama

Plagued with hallucinations and an unnatural obsession with tiny circles since childhood, avant-garde artist Yayoi Kusama started painting dot motifs at the age of 10. Instead of seeing her fixation as a setback, she embraced it, painting trees, furniture, and sometimes even the people around her in brightly colored polka dots. Then, in 1957, she moved to New York City, where she joined scores of other creative types in spearheading crazy art events in Brooklyn, anti-war demonstrations, and body painting festivals in studios across town. She shared exhibits with the likes of Andy Warhol and Claes Oldenberg, and represented Japan at the Venice Bienniale several times throughout the 1990s. Since 2000, she’s had solo exhibitions in France, Denmark, Korea, Hong Kong, and her native Japan, where she has received numerous awards.