Noguchi to Asawa

Designing Postwar America

A constellation of the powerful Japanese American artists and designers who shaped American design in the postwar era

Beauty and craftsmanship are hallmarks of midcentury Japanese American art and design. From Isamu Noguchis iconic furniture to Ruth Asawas inventive wire sculptures, Japanese American artists transformed the aesthetic landscape of postwar America. Yet beneath this artistry lies a shared history marked by forced relocation and incarceration during World War II. Confronting this difficult past, Noguchi to Asawa: Designing Postwar America offers a recontextualization of the work of influential twentieth-century artists and designers through the lens of 1940s Japanese American incarceration.

The six artists highlighted in this publication span two generations: those who established their practice before incarcerationsculptor and designer Isamu Noguchi, architect and furniture