March 17, 2026
ArtCenter College of Design Faculty Ei Arakawa-Nash and Kelly Akashi Selected for the Venice Biennale and Whitney Biennial
Pasadena, CA – ArtCenter College of Design Graduate Art faculty members Ei Arakawa-Nash and Kelly Akashi are presenting new work at two of the world’s leading contemporary art exhibitions, the Venice Biennale and the Whitney Biennial.
Japanese-American performance artist Ei Arakawa-Nash will represent Japan at the 61st International Art Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia, on view May 9 through November 22, 2026. Organized by the Japan Foundation, the exhibition at the Biennale’s Japan Pavilion will present a new installation by Arakawa-Nash that fills the pavilion with 200 baby dolls placed throughout the indoor and outdoor spaces. The exhibition also includes a sound installation based on recordings of the artist’s infant children.
Titled Grass Babies, Moon Babies, Arakawa-Nash’s solo exhibition, co-curated by Horikawa Lisa and Takahashi Mizuki, marks the first time the Japan Pavilion has focused on the subject of the Japanese diaspora. Arakawa-Nash’s use of babies as the central subject reflects their experience as an LGBTQ individual and a new parent. Their work also creates a narrative that explores queer perspectives on parenting and family. Visitors to the exhibition may select baby dolls and engage in caregiving activities that activate a QR code, generating a poem connected to an assigned birthday. These dates connect the artist’s personal history with broader historical forces affecting Japanese and diasporic communities.
Los Angeles artist Kelly Akashi has been selected to participate in the Whitney Biennial 2026, on view March 8 through August 23, 2026 at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York. Hyundai Terrace Commission: Kelly Akashi is a site-specific presentation featuring a new glass sculptural installation, a steel relief sculpture, works on paper and an outdoor screen animation, across the museum’s terrace and adjacent spaces. The large-scale installation, Monument (Altadena) (2026), centers on a 13-foot glass brick reconstruction of the chimney and path from Akashi’s Altadena home that was lost in the 2025 Eaton fire. The chimney and brick path were the only structures that remained after the fire, and Akashi’s work transforms them into a contemplative sculpture that is both a reconstruction and memorial.
Also on the Hyundai Terrace, Inheritance (Distressed) (2026) is installed on the bulkhead south of Monument (Altadena). The work, cut into Cor-Ten steel, is rooted in the artist’s personal archive, referencing doilies that once belonged to Akashi’s grandmother. She recovered them from a family garage sale, only for them to be lost in the same fire.
Hyundai Terrace Commission: Kelly Akashi is organized by Marcela Guerrero, DeMartini Family Curator, and Drew Sawyer, Sondra Gilman Curator of Photography, with Beatriz Cifuentes, Biennial Curatorial Assistant, and Carina Martinez, Rubio Butterfield Family Fellow.
Together, these artist selections highlight the expertise of ArtCenter’s faculty, who maintain active practices while teaching and mentoring emerging artists in the College’s Graduate Art program. Arakawa-Nash and Akashi’s participation in the Venice Biennale and Whitney Biennial provides ArtCenter students a unique opportunity to learn from artists actively engaged at the highest levels of the art world.
Related Event
Grad Art Seminar: Ei Arakawa-Nash
Tuesday, March 17 at 7:00 p.m. (Free)
LA Times Media Center
ArtCenter College of Design
Hillside Campus 1700 Lida Street. Pasadena, CA 91103
This event is free and open to the public. RSVPs are not required.
The Spring 2026 Graduate Art guest lecture series is organized by Jack Bankowsky and Jason Smith.
About ArtCenter College of Design
Founded in 1930 and located in Pasadena, California, ArtCenter College of Design is a global leader in art and design education. With a mission to educate, inspire and empower creative and design leadership, the College is renowned for its undergraduate and graduate degree programs spanning industrial design, media and technology, as well as visual and applied arts. With deep industry relationships, state-of-the-art facilities and a strong faculty roster, ArtCenter provides real-world experience aligned with industry needs. Through rigorous, hands-on, practitioner-led instruction, the College prepares students for meaningful creative careers. For nearly 100 years, ArtCenter alumni and faculty have shaped many of the world’s most iconic products, vehicles, campaigns and creative works, leaving a lasting impact across art, design and culture.
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