The Infinite Yayoi Kusama

An episode dedicated to Yayoi Kusama: arguably the most famous artist in the world and yet among the most indefinable, elusive, and transformative. Helen Molesworth is joined by scholar Jennifer DeVere Brody, art critic Johanna Fateman, and curator Catherine Taft to unpack the many versions of Yayoi Kusama—and her singular importance in 20th and 21st century art. A global travelling retrospective of Yayoi Kusama opens at the Fondation Beyeler in Switzerland in October 2025; it will travel to the Museum Ludwig in Cologne in Spring 2026, and the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam in Fall 2026. Jennifer DeVere Brody is Professor of Theater & Performance studies, and, by courtesy, African & African American Studies at Stanford University. A Guggenheim Fellowship in Fine Arts Research supported her forthcoming book, Moving Stones: About the Art of Edmonia Lewis (Duke UPress, 2026).  Johanna Fateman is a writer, co-chief art critic at Cultured Mag, and a member of the band Le Tigre.  Catherine Taft is a writer and curator and deputy director of The Brick, a non-profit exhibition space in Los Angeles.