Barnes Exhibition Traces How Wartime Incarceration Shaped Postwar American Design
The Barnes Foundation is showing “Noguchi to Asawa: Designing Postwar America,” the first exhibition of its kind to trace how Japanese American incarceration during World War II shaped modern art and design in the United States. It runs through Jan. 10, 2027, in the Roberts Gallery.
The show unites six artists and designers: sculptor and designer Isamu Noguchi, architect and furniture maker George Nakashima, sculptor Leo Amino, graphic designer S. Neil Fujita, fiber artist Kay Sekimachi and sculptor Ruth Asawa.
Noguchi’s “My Arizona” from 1943 reflects his seven months at the Poston incarceration camp, a sculpture built on a stark white base with a suspended square of magenta plexiglass evoking the desert sun, according to the exhibition coverage.
Nakashima’s path gives the show a local anchor. After his release from the Minidoka camp, he settled in New Hope, Pennsylvania, and built the studio that made him a legend of American furniture design. His “Milk House Coffee Table” from 1944 was among the first pieces he made after leaving the camp.
Asawa’s wire sculptures hang beside Fujita’s album covers, including the famous “Time Out” sleeve, Sekimachi’s gauzy fiber hangings and Amino’s intimate sculptures. Together they show how deeply Japanese American artistry entered everyday American life.
The exhibition’s argument is that these familiar forms, the paper lantern, the walnut table, the wire form suspended in light, carry a history of forced relocation and incarceration alongside their beauty. The designs that defined a generation’s idea of modern America were shaped by that rupture.
“We are proud to present ‘Noguchi to Asawa: Designing Postwar America,’ an exhibition celebrating the work of six renowned Japanese American artists and designers and their lasting impact on US culture,” said Barnes executive director Thom Collins, according to art press coverage.
The show was curated by the Barnes’ Cindy Kang. General admission is $30 for adults, with tickets good for two days, and the Barnes is open Thursday through Monday.