Summer Opening Reception and Artist Talk: Susumu Shingu: Elated!

Japan Society Gallery relaunches its summer exhibition season with Susumu Shingu: Elated!

The artist’s first solo museum exhibition in New York City, Susumu Shingu: Elated!, presents the dynamic sculptures of acclaimed artist Susumu Shingu. The joyful exhibition features mesmerizing sculptures that make visible the invisible forces of wind, heat, and gravity, while encouraging a heightened awareness of the natural environment.

Join us for the exclusive exhibition reception and artist talk.

Since the 1960s, Susumu Shingu (b. 1937) has designed and engineered kinetic artworks that enliven parks, plazas, and public spaces around the globe. His traveling outdoor exhibition Windcircus completed a U.S. tour in 1988, visiting sites in New York; Fall River, Massachusetts; Chicago; Boston; and Los Angeles. Since 1989, his collaborations with Italian architect Renzo Piano (b. 1937), including Boundless Sky (1994) suspended in Kansai International Airport terminal building, have become world renowned. Shingu has also created several site-specific, monumental sculptures permanently installed in New York City: Dialog with the Sun (1995), Distant Sky (2012) and Rainbow Leaves (2021).

Susumu Shingu will give a rare artist talk reflecting on a long and impactful career that has taken him from postwar Japan to the contemporary world stage. He will discuss his artistic background, explain his process of creating kinetic sculptures, and explore his inspirations.

Following the artist talk, we invite you to view the vibrant works while enjoying summer drinks and light refreshments.

The artist talk and opening reception are FREE for Corporate Members and Japan Society members, but capacity is limited and RSVP is required. Non-members may attend the opening reception with the purchase of an artist talk ticket.

Susumu Shingu: Elated! will open to the public June 20–August 10, 2025.

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Image: Blue Sky Traveling Butterfly © Susumu Shingu

We are grateful for the generous product donations from Brooklyn Brewery, Moshi, and Nobunaga’s Blue Ribbon.

Japan Society’s 120th anniversary initiatives and related programs are generously supported by Champion Sponsor, MUFG Bank, Ltd.; Advocate Sponsor, Mizuho Americas; and Friend Sponsor, Mitsubishi Corporation (Americas).

Japan Society programs are supported by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.

Exhibitions and Arts & Culture Lecture Programs at Japan Society are made possible, in part, by Sompo Holdings, Inc.; public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council; the Lila Wallace-Reader’s Digest Endowment Fund; the Mary Griggs Burke Endowment Fund established by the Mary Livingston Griggs and Mary Griggs Burke Foundation; The Masako Mera and Koichi Mera, PhD Fund for Education and the Arts; Yasko Tashiro and Thierry Porté; Peggy and Dick Danziger; The Globus Family; Jun Makihara and Megumi Oka; Barbara Bertozzi Castelli; Members; Japan Society Gallery Council; and other Gallery supporters. Support for Arts & Culture Lecture Programs is provided, in part, by the Sandy Heck Lecture Fund.

Transportation assistance is provided by Japan Airlines, the official Japanese airline sponsor for Japan Society gallery exhibitions.