We hope you will understand.'' With typically fervent
Japanese politeness, Yayoi Kusama's staff warned me that
the resurgent queen of the Japanese art world, now
approaching 80, no longer permits herself to be
photographed. But when she learned that the photographer in
question was Nobuyoshi Araki, the celebrated master of nude
bondage pictures, it turned out that Kusama was only too
happy to oblige. And so, on a quiet Thursday afternoon,
after an hour or so of failed efforts to interview Kusama, I
waited with the artist and her staff around a conference
table for Araki's arrival. Wearing a bright red wig,
matching lipstick and her signature polka-dot motif -- a red
kimono-like dress adorned with circles of black and white
felt -- Kusama looked like a small grave clown, in the lull
before a birthday party begins.