Exhibitions

Takaezu at the opening of ''Toshiko Takaezu Ceramics, Weaving, and Painting'', at the Honolulu Academy of Art, 1973. Photographer unknown. Toshiko Takaezu Archives

Exhibition History

Exhibition history is researched and compiled by Kate Wiener, Curator at The Isamu Noguchi Foundation and Garden Museum.

Current Exhibitions

Toshiko Takaezu: WORLDS WITHIN

Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
March 2 - May 18, 2025

The Toshiko Takaezu Foundation is proud to collaborate with the Isamu Noguchi Foundation and Garden Museum on Toshiko Takaezu: Worlds Within—the first nationally touring retrospective of Takaezu’s work in over two decades. Opening at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston in Spring 2025, this landmark exhibition brings together more than 100 works from public and private collections to offer a sweeping view of Takaezu’s seven-decade career.

Takaezu, a groundbreaking 20th-century American artist of Okinawan heritage, revolutionized ceramic practice with her iconic “closed form” sculptures—merging the traditions of vessel-making with the expressive possibilities of painting, sound, and abstraction. Worlds Within traces the evolution of her hybrid practice from early functional wares to immersive installations, including selections from her celestial Star Series and rarely seen paintings and weavings.

The exhibition also explores the multisensory nature of her work, with sound installations by composer and co-curator Leilehua Lanzilotti that amplify the subtle rattles hidden inside many of Takaezu’s forms. A newly commissioned video work by Lanzilotti—filmed at volcanic landscapes across Hawai‘i—further immerses visitors in the elemental inspiration behind Takaezu’s artistry.

A fully illustrated scholarly monograph published by Yale University Press accompanies the exhibition. Following its debut in Houston, the show will travel to additional museums nationwide.

Wild Earth: jb blunk and toshiko takaezu

Columbus Museum of Art, Columbus, OH
March 7–August 3, 2025

On March 7, 2025, the Columbus Museum of Art will open Wild Earth: JB Blunk and Toshiko Takaezu, the first museum exhibition to pair these artists. The exhibition explores their parallel creation of handmade worlds, showcasing around 100 works from ceramics to woodcarvings, including twenty ceramic pieces gifted by Takaezu in 2007, displayed together for the first time.

SOft/cover

The Fabric Workshop and Museum, Philadelphia, PA
October 9, 2024 - August 17, 2025

Soft/Cover surveys the innovative ways artists use fabric and screenprinting to create objects and how they connect to the human form. This exhibition features new and rarely-shown works from The Fabric Workshop and Museum’s collection, created by Artists-in-Residence in collaboration with FWM’s Studio team. Drawing inspiration from early residencies in the late 1970s and early 1980s, it includes pieces by artists such as Richard Tuttle, Lynda Benglis, Roy Lichtenstein, Louise Nevelson, among others. Highlights include Toshiko Takaezu’s Moon Balls (1992), made of pigment on Belgian linen and polyester stuffing.

Photo courtesy of the Okinawa Prefectural Museum & Art Museum

Sculptures of Okinawa: Post-War Modern Sculptures

Okinawa Prefectural Museum & Art Museum, Naha, Okinawa, Japan
July 13, 2024 - July 1, 2025

After World War II, figure sculpture became the mainstream modern sculpture in Okinawa. In 1951, the sculpture division was established at the 3rd Oki-ten Exhibition, and later, the sculpture research group "Enju-kai" was formed, revitalizing the sculpture scene in Okinawa. The foundation of Okinawa Prefectural University of Arts in 1986 further boosted this revival as scholars from outside the prefecture visited the university, creating a wide variety of three-dimensional artworks, ranging from figures to abstract forms.

Today, the artistic landscape of Okinawa includes diverse works from artists born in Okinawa and those who, after being born and raised abroad, returned to their roots. In Collection Gallery 2, we proudly present "Sculptures of Okinawa," showcasing a selection of three-dimensional works from the museum's collection. This exhibition focuses on modern sculptures from postwar Okinawa, providing a unique insight into the region's rich artistic heritage. Toshiko Takaezu is of Okinawan descent and is featured in this exhibition.

Past exhibitions

2024-2025

Toshiko Takaezu, David Zwirner Gallery, LA, 2024-2025
Lenore Tawney & Toshiko Takaezu: A Remarkable Friendship, Alison Jacques Gallery, London, England, November 15, 2024 - January 11, 2025
18 Women: 50 Years, Michael Rosenfeld Gallery, November 19, 2024 - January 25, 2025

2024

Toshiko Takaezu: Shaping Abstraction, Museum of Fine Arts Boston, Boston, MA, September 30, 2023–September 29, 2024
Full Circle: Toshiko Takaezu and Friends, LongHouse Reserve, East Hampton, New York, March 30, 2024 – August 4, 2024
Toshiko Takaezu: Worlds Within, The Isamu Noguchi Foundation and Garden Museum, Queens, NY
Toshiko Takaezu: Beyond Form, David Zwirner Gallery, New York, NY

2023- 2024

Counter/Balance, Asheville Art Museum, Asheville, NC
Contours: The Essential Form, Arizona State University Art Museum, Tempe, AZ
Toshiko Takaezu // Lenore Tawney, Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, AR
Beauty and the Unexpected, Nationalmuseum, Stockholm, Sweden

2022 - 2023

East of the Pacific: Making Histories of Asian American Art, Cantor Arts Center at Stanford University, Asian American Art Initiative (AAAI), Stanford, CA
This Present Moment: Crafting a Better World, Smithsonian American Art Museum’s Renwick Gallery, Washington, DC
Craft Front & Center, Museum of Arts and Design, New York, NY

2022

The Milk of Dreams, 59th International Art Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia, Venice, Italy

2021-2022

Intuition & Reflection: The Ceramics of Toshiko Takaezu, Allentown Art Museum, Allentown, PA
No Monument: In the Wake of the Japanese American Incarceration, Isamu Noguchi Foundation and Garden Museum, Long Island City, NY

2021

Crafting America, Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, AR
Shapes from Out of Nowhere: Ceramics from the Robert A. Ellison Jr. Collection, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
OBJECTS: USA 2020, R and Company, New York, NY
Hard/Cover, The Fabric Workshop and Museum (FWM), Philadelphia, PA
With Eyes Opened: Cranbrook Academy of Art Since 1932, Cranbrook Art Museum, Bloomfield Hills, MI
A Chronicle of Modern Crafts: Works from the National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto Collection, The National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto, Japan
Women Take the Floor, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Boston, MA
20/20: Twenty Women Artists of the Twentieth Century, David Owsley Museum of Art, Ball State University, Muncie, IA

2020 - 2021

Look to Nature: Toshiko Takaezu, Arizona State University Art Museum, Ceramics Research Center, Tempe, AZ
Shapeshifters: Transformation in Contemporary Art, Cranbrook Art Museum, Bloomfield Hills, MI

2019-2020

In The Vanguard: Haystack Mountain School of Crafts, 1950-1969, Portland Museum of Art, Portland, Maine & Cranbrook Art Museum, Bloomfield Hills, Michigan
It’s Like Poetry: Building a Toshiko Takaezu Archive at RAM, Racine Art Museum, Racine, Wisconsin
Global Perspectives: Highlights from the Contemporary Collection, Harn Museum of Art, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida

2019

Collective identity: The Legacy of Apprenticeship under Toshiko Takaezu, Noyes Museum of Art, Noyes Arts Garage, Atlantic City, New Jersey
Connections: Contemporary Craft at the Renwick Gallery, Renwick Gallery, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, D.C.
Toshiko Takaezu: The Closed Form, Eli and Edythe Broad Art Museum at Michigan State University, Ledge Gallery, East Lansing, Michigan
Food for Thought, Canton Museum of Art, Canton, Ohio
Clayblazers: Women Artists from the 50’s, 60’s, and 70’s, Arizona State University Art Museum, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona
Spiritual by Nature, Michael Rosenfeld Gallery, New York, New York

2018

A Personal Process: The Art and Life of Toshiko Takaezu, Morris Hall Art Gallery, Columbus Academy, Gahanna, Ohio

2015-2016

The Ceramic Presence in Modern Art, Yale University Art Gallery, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut

2015

Pathmakers: Women in Art, Craft and Design, Mid-Century and Today, Museum of Art and Design, New York, New York
O Pioneers! Women Ceramic Artists 1925-1960, Alfred Ceramic Art Museum, Alfred University, Alfred, New York
Museum of Stones – Ancient and Contemporary Art, The Noguchi Museum, New York, New York

2014

Beyond Craft: Decorative Arts from the Leatrice S. and Melvin B. Eagle Collection, Houston Museum of Fine Art, Houston, Texas

2011-2012

Toshiko Takaezu: The Paintings, Honolulu Museum of Art, Honolulu, Hawaii

2011

Toshiko Takaezu From Private Collections: The Memorial Exhibition, Long House Reserve, East Hampton, New York
Toshiko Takaezu Tribute, Schacht Art Gallery, Saratoga Clay Arts Center, Schuylerville, New York

2010

In Memory of My Parents: An Exhibition by Takaezu Toshiko, Okinawa Prefectural Museum & Art Museum, Naha City, Okinawa

2009

Toshiko Takaezu’s Ceramics: Gifts from the Artist in Honor of The Contemporary Museum’s 20th Anniversary and Promised Gifts from Hawaii Collections, The Contemporary Museum, Honolulu, Hawaii
Toshiko Takaezu, Museum of Contemporary Craft, Portland, Oregon
Toshiko Takaezu, Ceramic Artist, Newark Museum, Newark, New Jersey
Toshiko Takaezu, New Jersey State Museum, Trenton, New Jersey

2008

Toshiko Takaezu, Japanese American Master, Artworks Spanning Five Decades, Kean University, Union, New Jersey
Toshiko Takaezu: Ceramics, Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois
Toshiko Takaezu: A Gift to Cranbrook, Cranbrook Museum of Art, Bloomfield Hills, Michigan
Toshiko Takaezu: Recent Gifts to the Trout Gallery and dedication of Autumn II, The Trout Gallery, Dickinson College, Carlisle, Pennsylvania
Masters in Clay: Toshiko Takaezu and Peter Voulkos, Grounds for Sculpture, Hamilton, New Jersey
Generations: Works by Jun Kaneko and Toshiko Takaezu, Mayer Art Center, Phillips Exeter Academy, Exeter, New Hampshire

2007–08

The Ceramics of Toshiko Takaezu: Function, Form and Surface, Harn Museum of Art, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida
Toshiko Takaezu: Master Ceramist, High Museum of Art, Atlanta, Georgia

2007

Echoes of the Earth: Ceramics by Toshiko Takaezu, Crocker Art Museum, Sacramento, California
Toshiko Takaezu: The Art of Clay, Green Hill Center for North Carolina Art, Greensboro, North Carolina

2006

Everson Museum of Art, Syracuse, New York
Toshiko Takaezu, Charles Cowles Gallery, New York, New York
Works by Toshiko Takaezu, Hunterdon Museum of Art, Clinton, New Jersey

2005

Toshiko Takaezu: Heaven and Earth, Racine Art Museum, Racine, Wisconsin
Bronze Bells by Toshiko Takaezu, LongHouse Reserve, East Hampton, New York
Toshiko Takaezu: The Art of Clay, Japanese American National Museum, UCLA International Institute, Los Angeles, California
Toshiko Takaezu: Selected Work, Perimeter Gallery, Chicago, Illinois

2004

The Poetry of Clay: The Art of Toshiko Takaezu, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

2003

Toshiko Takaezu: Recent Work, Ohr-O’Keeffe Museum, Biloxi, Mississippi

2002

Recent Sculpture, Charles Cowles Gallery, New York, New York
Toshiko Takaezu, Frances Young Tang Teaching Museum and Art Gallery, Skidmore College, Saratoga Springs, New York

2001

Toshiko Takaezu, Neuberger Museum of Art, Purchase College, State University of New York, Purchase, New York
An Essential Balance, Works by Toshiko Takaezu, The Contemporary Museum, Honolulu, Hawaii

2000

Toshiko Takaezu, An Essential Balance, Perimeter Gallery, Chicago, Illinois
Toshiko Takaezu: The Star Series, Racine Art Museum, Racine, Wisconsin (confirm with Racine that they had this show???? AR)

1999

Toshiko Takaezu, Westby Art Gallery, Rowan University, Glassboro, New Jersey
Toshiko Takaezu: Stoneware and Porcelain, Hartnell College Gallery, Salinas, California

1998

Toshiko Takaezu: At Home, Hunterdon Museum of Art, Clinton, New Jersey

1997

Toshiko Takaezu: New Work, Featuring the Makaha Blue Forest, Charles Cowles Gallery, New York, New York and Frank Lloyd Gallery, Santa Monica, California
The Art of Toshiko Takaezu, American Craft Museum, New York, New York and Arkansas Arts Center, Little Rock, Arkansas

1996

The Art of Toshiko Takaezu, Nathan H. Wilson Center for the Arts, Florida Community College at Jacksonville, Florida
The Art of Toshiko Takaezu, Goshen College, Goshen, Indiana and Philbrook Museum of Art, Tulsa, Oklahoma

1995

Ceramics by Toshiko Takaezu, The Suzanne H. Arnold Art Gallery, Lebanon Valley College of Pennsylvania, Annville, Pennsylvania
Toshiko Takaezu: Retrospective, National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto, Japan; The Gallery of the City of Naha, Okinawa, Japan; Takaoka Museum, Takaoka, Japan; Seto Ceramics Museum, Nagoya, Japan

1994

Outdoor Sculpture, LongHouse Reserve, East Hampton, New York
Toshiko Takaezu: New Works, Forum for Contemporary Art, Saint Louis, Missouri
Toshiko Takaezu: A Forty Year Survey 1954-1994, Perimeter Gallery, Chicago, Illinois
Grounds for Sculpture, Hamilton, New Jersey
The Cranbrook Years, Habatat/Shaw Gallery, Farmington Hills, Michigan

1993

Toshiko Takaezu: Four Decades of Work 1950–1992, Hui No’eau Visual Arts Center, Makawao, Hawaii
Toshiko Takaezu: 1980-1992, The Contemporary Museum, Honolulu, Hawaii
Toshiko Takaezu: 1950-1980, Honolulu Academy of Arts, Honolulu, Hawaii
Toshiko Takaezu, The Gallery, Interlochen Center for the Arts, Interlochen, Michigan
Charles Cowles Gallery, New York, New York

1992

Toshiko Takaezu Recent Work, Morris Gallery, Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Toshiko Takaezu, Charles Cowles Gallery, New York, New York

1990-92

Four Decades, The Montclair Art Museum, Montclair, New Jersey; traveled to Allentown Art Museum, Allentown, Pennsylvania; Cranbrook Academy of Art, Bloomfield Hills, Michigan; National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto, Japan

1990

Toshiko Takaezu, Sculpture, Perimeter Gallery, Chicago, Illinois

1989

Toshiko Takaezu: 1989-1990, The Gallery at Bristol Myers Squibb, Princeton, New Jersey
Toshiko Takaezu, Volcano Art Center and Hawaii Community College, Hawaii
Toshiko Takaezu, The Kamehameha Schools, Midkiff Learning Center, The Kamehameha Schools Campus, Honolulu, Hawaii
Pewabic Pottery, Detroit, Michigan

1988

Toshiko Takaezu: Tapestries and Recent Ceramics, University Center Gallery, Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville, Edwardsville, Illinois
Toshiko Takaezu, Tampa Museum of Art, Tampa, Florida
Montclair Art Museum, Montclair, New Jersey

1987

Toshiko Takaezu: New Work, Perimeter Gallery, Chicago, Illnois
Toshiko Takaezu: Ceramics and Bronze Exhibition, Hau-Pulamamau Kuakini Hospital, Honolulu, Hawaii

1985

Inaugural Exhibit: Recent Works of Toshiko Takaezu, South Gallery, Florida Junior College at Jacksonville, Florida

1984

Toshiko Takaezu Ceramics and Bronzes, James R. Gallagher Gallery/Community Gallery of Lancaster, Community College of Lancaster, Pennsylvania

1983

Ceramics, Textiles and Bronzes, Trout Gallery, Dickinson College, Carlisle, Pennsylvania
Arts in Media, Elaine Benson Gallery, Bridgehampton, New York

1981

Serenity in Fiber, Bronze and Ceramic Forms, Belks Art Gallery, Western Carolina University, Cullowhee, North Carolina
Hadler/Rodriguez Gallery, New York, New York
Pittsburgh Center for the Arts, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

1980

Toshiko Takaezu, Contemporary Crafts Gallery, Portland, Oregon
Garden Island Arts Center, Kaua’i, Hawaii
Toshiko Takaezu and Lenore Tawney, University of Wisconsin, Eau Claire, Wisconsin

1979

Toshiko Takaezu: Ceramics & Weaving, Haas Gallery, Bloomsburg State College, Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania
Toshiko Takaezu, New Jersey State Museum, Trenton, New Jersey

1977

Birmingham Museum of Art, Birmingham, Alabama

1976

Tyler School of Art, Temple University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
5th Annual Ceramics West/One Woman Honor Exhibition, Utah State University Galleries, Utah State University, Logan, Utah

1975

Toshiko Takaezu: A Special Exhibition of Ceramics, Paintings, Rugs concurrent with the unveiling of Moon Pots, Hawai’i State Foundation on Culture and the Arts, University of Hawaii, Hilo, Hawaii

1973

Toshiko Takaezu: One Man Exhibit of Ceramics, Weaving, and Painting, Main Gallery, Florida Junior College at Jacksonville, South Campus, Jacksonville, Florida
Toshiko Takaezu: Ceramics, Weaving and Painting, Honolulu Academy of Arts, Honolulu, Hawaii
Hunterdon Art Center, Clinton, New Jersey

1972

Elaine Benson Gallery, Bridgehampton, New York

1971

Takaezu and Larsen, Heckscher Museum of Art, Huntington, New York
Toshiko Takaezu: Potter, Weaver, Cedar Crest College, Allentown, Pennsylvania
Boise Art Association, Boise Gallery of Art, Boise, Idaho
Lewis & Clark College, Portland, Oregon

1968

Swarthmore College, Swarthmore, Pennsylvania

1966

Contemporary Arts Center of Hawaii, Honolulu, Hawaii

1965

Edinboro State College, Edinboro, Pennsylvania
Gallery 100, Princeton, New Jersey
Ceramics and Textiles, Society of Arts & Crafts, Boston, Massachusetts

1963

Art Institute of Zanesville, Zanesville, Ohio
University of New Hampshire, Durham, New Hampshire

1962

State University College of Education, Oneonta, New York
The Ohio State University School of Fine Arts, Columbus, Ohio
Joslyn Art Museum, Omaha, Nebraska

1961–1962

The Pottery of Toshiko Takaezu, Museum of Contemporary Crafts, New York, New York and Honolulu, Hawaii

1961

Peabody Museum, Peabody College for Teachers, Nashville, Tennessee
Cleveland Institute of Art, Cleveland, Ohio
Artist of the Month, Joslyn Art Museum, Omaha, Nebraska