Kelly Akashi
Summer Series Speaker
Kelly Akashi, based in Los Angeles, is recognized for her innovative work in sculpture. She has received notable accolades, including the MOCA Los Angeles Twelfth Distinguished Women in the Arts Award (2024), the LACMA Art + Technology Grant (2022), and the Carolyn Glasoe Bailey Foundation Art Prize (2019).
Akashi’s recent solo exhibitions include a major showcase that traveled to the San Jose Museum of Art, Frye Museum of Art, and Museum of Contemporary Art in San Diego (2022-2024). Currently, her work is on view at The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum in Ridgefield, The Warehouse Dallas Art Foundation in Dallas, and The Olivia Foundation in Mexico City. Akashi recently concluded solo exhibitions at Lisson Gallery in Los Angeles (2025), Galleria d’Arte Moderna in Milan (2024), and Henry Art Gallery in Seattle (2023-2024). Other recent institutional group exhibitions include Moody Center for the Arts, Houston (2024), Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles (2024), and Hammer Museum, Los Angeles (2023).
Kelly Akashi’s work can be found in prestigious permanent collections, including the Los Angeles County Museum of Art; Hammer Museum, Los Angeles; Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles; Brooklyn Museum, New York; Walker Art Center, Minneapolis; CC Foundation, Shanghai; The Perimeter, London; David Roberts Art Foundation, London; Sifang Museum, Nanjing, among others.
