Yayoi Kusama

A submissive hooker goes about her trade, suffering abuse at the hands of Japanese salarymen and Yakuza types. She's unhappy about her work, and is apparently trying to find some sort of appeasement for the fact that her lover has married.

Now one of the world’s most celebrated artists, Yayoi Kusama broke free of the rigid society in which she was raised, and overcame sexism, racism, and mental illness to bring her artistic vision to the world stage. At 88 she lives in a mental hospital and continues to create art.

A film exploration of the work and aesthetic concepts of Yayoi Kusama, painter, sculptor, and environmentalist, conceived in terms of an intense emotional experience with metaphysical overtones, an extension of my ultimate interest in a total fusion of the arts in a spirit of mutual collaboration. —Jud Yalkut

This film follows Yayoi Kusama during the preparations for Tate Modern's 2012 retrospective of her work, when she undertook the mammoth physical and mental challenge of creating 100 new works for the largest-ever exhibition of her art.

Captures the avant-garde artist Yayoi Kusamas creative process as she diligently works to complete her series of 50 large monochrome drawings. As her work comes to life, one can witness the essence of her art as it wells up in the conflict between life, death, and love.

A flashy polka dot outfit and a pink wig -- these are the trademarks of the 83-year-old avant-garde artist, Yayoi Kusama. In a recent auction, nearly $600 million was bid for her work. Without a doubt, Yayoi Kusama is world-renowned Japanese artist. In 2011, she held the first-ever solo exhibition by an Asian artist at the famous Tate Modern gallery in London. Later, the exhibition went to France and New York. She has also collaborated with Louis Vuitton, where her polka-dotted products have been sold in 450 stores in 5 continents. She has worked tenaciously and energetically on her creative activities in the spotlight of world attention while struggling in the shadows with illness. The real Yayoi Kusama is revealed in this close up encounter.

Japan's Yayoi Kusama is one of the most closely watched female artists on the planet. Her works sell for millions of dollars. The allure of her art transcends borders and she constantly stages grand touring exhibitions around the world. Kusama is 87 years old (at the time of filming), but she continues to paint at a frenetic pace of one painting every two or three days, as part of her "My Eternal Soul" series. This program follows Kusama through the process of producing new works, from the initial brush strokes right through to completion. With high-definition video and original music from artist/producer Towa Tei, the program portrays the moment of creation in a striking and dynamic way.