Retrospective exhibition of experimental artist comes to Cranbrook

A traveling exhibition of an experimental abstract artist considered one of the 20th century's greatest is coming to Cranbrook Art Museum.

The big picture: Toshiko Takaezu, who was born in Hawai'i and later attended Cranbrook Academy of Art, is the subject of a new traveling retrospective, "Worlds Within," which will feature 115 pieces from public and private collections, according to a news release.

Between the lines: Takaezu's imaginative work uses wheel-throwing and glazing pottery techniques, combining cultural with contemporary art influences, according to the Toshiko Takaezu Foundation .

• The closed-form ceramic works are sculptures and detailed, shaped paintings.
• Takaezu, also known for making her mark as a teacher and mentor, was born in 1922 and died in 2011.

What they're saying: "Imagine what it must of been like for a young woman in the early 1950s coming from a plantation life in Hawai'i to study far away at Cranbrook Academy of Art in Michigan," Laura Mott, chief curator at Cranbrook, said in the release.

• "There were few pathways for women to be artists and leaders in education, and once Toshiko discovered it here at Cranbrook, she made it her life story."

If you go: The exhibition runs Oct. 9-Jan. 12 at 39221 Woodward Ave. in Bloomfield Hills. General admission is $10.

Of note: Takaezu's work will be exhibited alongside two Detroit-based artist showcases this fall: "How We Make the Planet Move: The Detroit Collection Part I" and "Subtleism: Neha Vedpathak with Agnes Martin." Both open on Oct. 26.