On the centennial anniversary of the birth of artist Toshiko Takaezu (1922–2011), The Isamu Noguchi Foundation and Garden Museum announced a major touring retrospective and monograph centered on her work and life. Opening first at The Noguchi Museum from March 20 to July 28, 2024, Toshiko Takaezu: Worlds Within is the first nationally touring retrospective of Takaezu’s work in twenty years. The new monograph co-published with Yale University Press, also titled Toshiko Takaezu: Worlds Within, represents the most ambitious monograph on an American ceramic artist to date.
Toshiko Takaezu with works in Hawai‘i, 1987. Photo: Macario Timbal. © Family of Toshiko Takaezu
Worlds Within aims to trace the evolution of her practice and reframe Takaezu as one of the most compelling and conceptually innovative American artists of the last century. It considers the range, depth, and development of Takaezu’s work with a particular focus on the worlds she conjured within individual forms and in stunning environmental installations. The title of the show is meant to evoke the vital sense of resonant space expressed in Takaezu’s work and alludes to her assertion that the most important aspect of her closed forms is “the dark space that you can’t see” — the hidden worlds within.
To represent this evolution, the show will present a series of installations loosely inspired by ones that Takaezu created in her own lifetime: from a set table of functional wares from the early 1950s to an immersive constellation of monumental ceramic forms from the late 1990s to early 2000s.
Toshiko Takaezu, Gaea, LongHouse Reserve, East Hampton, New York, July–September 1994. © Family of Toshiko Takaezu
Toshiko Takaezu: Worlds Within will feature about 200 works from private and public collections around the country, including her signature “closed forms,” Moons, Garden Seats, Trees, and select monumental works from her late masterpiece, the Star Series. It will also feature a broad selection of her vibrant and gestural acrylic paintings and weavings, many of which have rarely been seen, as well as a bronze bell. Sound will also play an important role in this exhibition as many of Takaezu’s closed ceramic forms contain unseen “rattles.”
Following its presentation at The Noguchi Museum, the exhibition will travel to several additional venues across the United States.
Toshiko Takaezu with moons, 1979. Photo: Hiro. Toshiko Takaezu Archives. © Family of Toshiko Takaezu
The retrospective is organized by The Isamu Noguchi Foundation and Garden Museum with assistance from the Toshiko Takaezu Foundation and the Takaezu family. It is co-curated by art historian Glenn Adamson, Noguchi Museum Curator Kate Wiener, and composer and sound artist Leilehua Lanzilotti. The exhibition was conceived and developed with former Noguchi Museum Senior Curator Dakin Hart.
Like what you see? Get it first with a subscription to aspire design and home magazine.