Heirloom — Kelly Akashi

For her first exhibition with Lisson Gallery in New York, Kelly Akashi presents Heirloom, a new body of work that builds on her pivotal 2025 presentation in Los Angeles. Where that earlier exhibition examined inheritance through formal and material tension, Heirloom turns toward the conditions of loss and grief, asking how absence is held, transmitted, and given form. The exhibition coincides with Akashi’s participation in the 2026 Whitney Biennial and precedes the unveiling of her commission for John F. Kennedy International Airport’s New Terminal One, in partnership with Lead Curator, Culture Corps.