Noguchi to Asawa: Designing Postwar America

Noguchi to Asawa: Designing Postwar America is a groundbreaking exhibition that reconsiders 20th-century art and design within the context of Japanese and Japanese American incarceration during World War II and the broader history of America. The exhibition showcases the works of two generations of artists affected by forced relocation and incarceration: sculptor and designer Isamu Noguchi (1904–1988), architect and furniture designer George Nakashima (1905–1990), sculptor Leo Amino (b. Taiwan, 1911–1989), graphic designer S. Neil Fujita (b. Territory of Hawaii, 1921–2010), fiber artist and weaver Kay Sekimachi (b. 1926), and artist Ruth Asawa (1926–2013).

While works by these artists are widely celebrated for their beauty and craftsmanship, this exhibition acknowledges the difficult history behind their creation. From the Akari light sculptures of Noguchi to the suspended wire lobes of Asawa, the designs of mid-20th-century Japanese American artists helped define the look and feel of modern America.