George Yabu and Glenn Pushelberg Share Personal Connection to Yayoi Kusama Artwork

In a 2026 Late Fall issue of Galerie Magazine, designers George Yabu and Glenn Pushelberg recounted their personal connection to a Yayoi Kusama artwork. Yabu praised Kusama as an underdog who was dismissed as a girl from Japan despite being part of the New York art scene in the 1960s alongside Andy Warhol. About 15 years ago, Yabu attended a dinner for Kusama at David Zwirner, where he was invited to meet her early. Kusama bypassed the line and made a beeline for Yabu, the Japanese guy. Pushelberg recalled landing in the city early the next morning from Beijing and being told by Yabu they had a meeting to buy a painting before the gallery opened. They purchased a painting that sang to them, and later, at Christmas, Pushelberg's mother called it the ugliest thing he had ever bought. Three years later, they acquired one of the last privately commissioned Kusama pumpkins, now at their Toronto home. Yabu noted the juxtaposition of the canvas and the three-dimensional pumpkin sculpture, saying the painting is so expressive that you can't help but smile.