At Long Island City's Noguchi Museum, NYC Marks 75 Years of Akari Light Sculptures

The Noguchi Museum in Long Island City presents No Ordinary Light: Akari at 75 from November 4, 2026 through September 5, 2027. The exhibition marks the 75th anniversary of Isamu Noguchi's Akari light sculptures and considers why they still matter.

Noguchi made his first paper-and-bamboo lights during a 1951 visit to Gifu, where he set out to rethink the traditional Japanese chochin lantern. He kept the handmade, collapsible structure but added inventively shaped shades, electric bulbs and modern wire bases. Over the next three decades he produced more than 200 distinct models. He called them Akari, the Japanese word for "light," which for him suggested both illumination and weightlessness. "Akari is no ordinary light," he insisted, and he regarded each model as a "luminous sculpture."

The show traces the many settings in which Noguchi presented the works, placing them in dialogue with his sculptures in stone, metal and clay. The contexts range from intimate domestic interiors to monumental installations. Several displays draw on landmark presentations, including Akari's debut at a tea ceremony at the Eames House in 1951 and Noguchi's solo presentation at the 1986 Venice Biennale. The curatorial argument is that Akari are dynamic sculptures, activated by use, encounter and environment, and renewed by each space they light.

The exhibition is curated by Kate Wiener, Curator, and Matthew Kirsch, Curator and Director of Research. It is supported in part by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs and the New York State Council on the Arts.

A members-only opening reception takes place on November 13. In November the museum also holds an Akari Holiday Sale, with 10% off select pieces and an additional 10% for members. The museum's website lists visiting hours of 11 am to 6 pm.