Image: Yigal Ozeri, ‘Yayoi Kusama’, 2023, oil on canvas, 50 × 50 in. Courtesy ZK Gallery, San Francisco
ZK Gallery has published a memorial notice for Yayoi Kusama, who died at the age of 97. The San Francisco gallery’s newsletter reflects on Kusama’s influence through her sustained investigations of repetition, infinity, perception and the self, and presents two oil portraits of Kusama by the artist Yigal Ozeri.
The notice gives Kusama’s dates as 1929–2026 and describes her legacy as having shaped the language of contemporary art across mediums and generations, but it adds no detail about the circumstances of her death and sets out no formal memorial programme. Her death aged 97 is confirmed by David Zwirner, which represented the artist, and was reported by Apollo on 30 August 2026. No exhibition dates or public event schedule appear in ZK’s material, and the gallery’s own website carries no page for the announcement.
The accompanying section, headed ‘Through the Eyes of Yigal Ozeri’, focuses on Ozeri’s interpretations of Kusama rather than on a survey of Kusama’s own work. It is not announced as an exhibition: the gallery’s exhibitions listing contains no such show, and Ozeri’s page on the ZK site does not mention the Kusama portraits. Ozeri is described as known for highly detailed oil paintings and a photorealistic approach, and his portraits place the artist herself at the centre of the presentation, turning attention toward the relationship between an artist, her public image and the act of looking.
The two works are listed as ‘Yayoi Kusama, 2023’ and ‘Yayoi Kusama, 2022’. Both are identified as oil on canvas and measure 50 × 50 inches. ZK Gallery presents them together as works that invite close consideration of Kusama’s image and of the way perception is constructed through portraiture. The supplied materials do not identify the specific photographs or sources used by Ozeri, nor do they provide additional information about the paintings’ composition or production.
The presentation is framed by the gallery as an opportunity for collectors to acquire Ozeri’s interpretation of a major contemporary figure. Both works are listed as available through ZK Gallery, whose address, confirmed on its contact page, is 211 Jefferson Street, San Francisco, California. The material provides inquiry links for each painting but does not publish prices, exhibition dates, opening hours or details of a public display.
Kusama’s influence is summarized in the memorial notice through the recurring concepts associated with her practice: repetition, infinity, perception and the self. The gallery does not supply a biography or a broader account of her career in the announcement. Instead, it places the memorial statement alongside Ozeri’s two portraits, allowing the presentation to function as both a commercial offering and a gallery-based reflection on Kusama’s continuing visibility as an artistic figure.
