Artworks by Toshiko Takaezu and Isami Doi are featured in two exhibits currently open in New York.
“Toshiko Takaezu: Worlds Within” at the Noguchi Museum
“Toshiko Takaezu: Worlds Within” at the Noguchi Museum, March 20 – July 28, 2024.
“On the centennial anniversary of the birth of artist Toshiko Takaezu (1922–2011), The Isamu Noguchi Foundation and Garden Museum announced its major touring retrospective and monograph centered on her work and life. This is the first nationally touring retrospective of Takaezu’s work in over twenty years. To coincide with the exhibition, the Museum has published a new monograph in association with Yale University Press. Also titled Toshiko Takaezu: Worlds Within, it represents the most ambitious monograph on an American ceramic artist to date.
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. The show at The Noguchi Museum features approximately 200 works from private and public collections around the country. Following its presentation at The Noguchi Museum, the exhibition will travel to several additional venues across the United States. Planned venues include the Cranbrook Art Museum (September 11, 2024–January 12, 2025), the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (March 2–May 18, 2025), the Chazen Museum of Art, University of Wisconsin-Madison (September 8–December 23, 2025), and the Honolulu Museum of Art (February 13–July 26, 2026).” Read more on the Noguchi Museum website: noguchi.org/museum/exhibitions/view/toshiko-takaezu.
“Global Connections” at the Samuel Dorsky Museum of Art
“Global Connections: Works by Miguel Covarrubias, Isami Doi, Aaron Douglas, and Winold Reiss”, The Dorsky at SUNY New Paltz, February 4 – July 21, 2024.
“Global Connections shines a light on four artists who crossed paths in New York during the 1920s. The city was rapidly becoming a cultural hub that attracted artists from distant states and far-flung countries. Isami Doi moved to New York from Hawaii, Aaron Douglas from Kansas, Miguel Covarrubias from Mexico City, Mexico, and Winold Reiss from Karlsruhe, Germany.
All of these artists were influenced by traveling to other continents and being exposed to cultural differences. They also shared a keen interest in Modernist techniques that introduced new ways of seeing the world, yet their aesthetic styles differed considerably: Covarrubias was primarily a caricaturist of people observed in his travels; Doi made paintings and wood engravings about personal experiences and mythology; Douglas shaped the Harlem Renaissance through socially-conscious African-centric imagery; Reiss incorporated elements of graphic design into realistic portrayals of people whose ethnic identities fascinated him.
Through a selection of paintings, drawings, and prints, the exhibition examines the similar tendencies and unique characteristics of these four remarkable artists. In doing so, it seeks to trace the complicated channels of influence and inspiration within the often-overlooked multiculturalism of American art before the Second World War.” Read more about the exhibit on the Samuel Dorsky Museum website: newpaltz.edu/museum/exhibitions/global-connections.
Media Coverage
- New York Times, March 17, 2024: “Crafting a Universe in a Pot” www.nytimes.com/2024/03/17/arts/design/toshiko-takaezu-retrospective-noguchi-museum.html
- Honolulu Magazine, March 1, 2024: “Toshiko Takaezu Retrospective Exhibit Opens This Month” www.honolulumagazine.com/toshiko-takaezu-worlds-within
- Wall Street Journal, April 12, 2024: “ʻToshiko Takaezu: Worlds Withinʻ Review: Exploring the Universe of Earth” www.msn.com/en-us/travel/tripideas/toshiko-takaezu-worlds-within-review-exploring-the-universe-of-earth/ar-BB1lwpFW
- Mutual Art, February 4, 2024: “Global Connections: Miguel Covarrubias, Isami Doi, Aaron Douglas, & Winold Reiss” www.mutualart.com/Exhibition/Global-Connections–Miguel-Covarrubias–/72D8AA0E7DC4C9CB