Toshiko Takaezu: Worlds Within

Book Synopsis: An expansive look at the multifaceted American artist Toshiko Takaezu within the history of postwar artmaking. Toshiko Takaezu (1922–2011) was an American artist whose multidisciplinary work in ceramics, painting, sculpture, weaving, and installation combined expressionist energies with influence from East Asia. The ceramic closed forms for which she is best known are effectively abstract paintings in the round. Her reputation as a ceramic artist, however, has obscured the breadth of her output in other mediums and her role within the larger art movements of the twentieth century. This book provides the first retrospective assessment of Takaezu’s life and work, showcasing a diverse oeuvre that spans six decades. Her work embodies a hybrid artistic landscape that reflects her complex identity as an Asian American woman, artist, and teacher. This ambitious volume features essays exploring Takaezu’s biography, her background as a Hawai‘i-born artist of Okinawan heritage, the relationship between her work and that of her contemporaries, the role of cultural exchange in her art, her impact as an educator, and more. Beautifully illustrated with nearly three hundred images of artworks and archival photographs, and including an updated chronology and exhibition history, the book offers a compelling and comprehensive account of this singular artist’s career. Published in association with The Isamu Noguchi Foundation and Garden Museum. Exhibition Schedule: The Isamu Noguchi Foundation and Garden Museum, New York (March 20–July 28, 2024). Cranbrook Art Museum, Bloomfield Hills, MI (September 7, 2024–January 12, 2025). Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (February 23–May 18, 2025). Chazen Museum of Art, University of Wisconsin–Madison (September 8–December 23, 2025). Honolulu Museum of Art (April–June 2026).