Kelly Akashi's 'Undergrowth (Headlands)' Featured in Headlands Art Center Benefit Auction
Kelly Akashi's sculpture 'Undergrowth (Headlands),' 2026, is included in the Headlands Art Center Benefit Auction 2026, announced on June 4, 2026. The bronze work, measuring 24 × 14 × 14.5 inches, was created using lost-wax and direct burn-out casting techniques. Akashi, a 2019 Headlands Artist in Residence, is known for works that explore impermanence through materials such as glassblown flowers, polished travertine, and casts of extinct shells. Her practice is informed by the Japanese concept of mono no aware, a wistful awareness of transience. Akashi was recently commissioned for a monumental sculpture at John F. Kennedy International Airport's New Terminal One and selected for the Hyundai Terrace Commission at the Whitney Biennial 2026. Her 10-year survey 'Formations' traveled from the San José Museum of Art to the Frye Art Museum and the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego.
The Signal
The inclusion of Akashi's work in the Headlands Art Center Benefit Auction signals the continued institutional and market momentum for the Los Angeles-based artist, who has recently completed a major airport commission and a Whitney Biennial terrace project. For collectors, the auction offers access to a work from an artist whose market is ascending, with recent solo exhibitions at Lisson Gallery and a 10-year survey that traveled to three museums. The piece's bronze medium and direct reference to the Headlands residency site may appeal to those tracking Akashi's evolving material vocabulary and her engagement with ecological themes.
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- Artists: Kelly Akashi
- Galleries: Lisson Gallery
- Museums: Headlands Art Center, San José Museum of Art, Frye Art Museum, Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego, Brooklyn Museum of Art, Cantor Arts Center at Stanford University, Hammer Museum, Sifang Museum, Walker Art Center, X Museum, Fondazione Furla Galleria d’Arte Moderna, Henry Art Gallery
- Locations: Los Angeles, Milan, Seattle, San José, San Diego, New York, Nanjing, Minneapolis, Beijing
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