Orlando art lovers are in for a rare and radiant treat: nine spectacular sculptures by Isamu Noguchi, one of the most influential sculptors of the 20th century, are glowing inside the Mennello Museum of American Art right now. The exhibition, “Isamu Noguchi: Metal the Mirror,” is on view through February 28, 2027, and it is the kind of once-in-a-generation visit that makes a city proud.
Created between 1982 and 1983, these works were cut from single sheets of steel, folded like Japanese origami, and dipped in boiling zinc. The result is pure magic: silvery, mirror-like surfaces that catch the light and will keep changing as the metal develops a patina over time, like rocks in a stream or layers of skin. Through them, Noguchi explored the beautiful duality of his own Japanese American identity, blending an unmistakably American material with traditional Japanese techniques.
The Mennello is the first and only museum in the entire Southeast to present these galvanized steel sculptures, and it marks the first Noguchi exhibition in Orlando in more than 20 years. Organized by the Art Bridges Foundation, whose collection loans these treasures, the show also includes a cozy Noguchi Education and Resource Room with his iconic coffee table, Akari light sculptures, and a small library for curious minds of all ages.
Find the museum at 900 E. Princeton Street in Loch Haven Cultural Park. It is open Tuesday through Saturday from 10:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and Sundays from noon to 4:30 p.m. Admission is $8, free for members, and free for active-duty military families through the Blue Star Museums program.
Photo: Charles White / JWPictures, courtesy of Art Bridges and the Mennello Museum of American Art.
