No Ordinary Light: Akari at 75

Marking the 75th anniversary of Akari, this exhibition explores the enduring significance of Isamu Noguchi’s pioneering light sculptures.

Isamu Noguchi created his first paper and bamboo light sculptures during a 1951 visit to Gifu that inspired him to reimagine the possibilities of traditional Japanese chochin lanterns. While Noguchi maintained their handmade collapsible structure, he equipped his new lights with innovatively shaped shades, electric light bulbs, and modern wire bases.

Over the following three decades, he produced more than 200 distinct models of these radiant forms. He named them Akari—the Japanese word for “light,” which to Noguchi evoked both illumination and weightlessness. Yet, as he insisted, “Akari is no ordinary light.” He understood each model as a “luminous sculpture” that “comes to life in how it is shown, in how it is in relation to people’s lives and in relation to the environment in which it is placed.”

No Ordinary Light: Akari at 75 traces the many contexts in which Noguchi presented Akari throughout his career, placing them in dialogue with sculptures in stone, metal, and clay, and within settings ranging from intimate domestic interiors to monumental installations. Displays throughout the exhibition draw inspiration from key historical presentations, including Akari’s extraordinary debut at a tea ceremony at the Eames House in 1951, and their provocative presence in Noguchi’s solo presentation at the Venice Biennale in 1986.

Across these presentations, Akari emerge as dynamic sculptures activated through use, encounter, and environment—their meaning renewed with each space they illuminate.

No Ordinary Light: Akari at 75 is curated by Kate Wiener, Curator, and Matthew Kirsch, Curator and Director of Research.