Joseph Goto (1916–1994) Born in Hilo, Hawai’i. Steel was his medium and welding was his means. Goto's sculptures range from table-top size to large scale outdoor public works.

A postwar sculptor whose welded steel works bridge the expressive immediacy of mid-century abstraction with a disciplined spatial logic - anticipating later developments in American sculpture.

He learned to weld while working as a civilian for Army Engineers and translated the skill into a life long - sculptural practice. In 1952 while still enrolled as a student at The Art Institute of Chicago : “Organic Form’ was acquired by MoMa launching a career which spanned 50 years.

Long recognized by major institutions yet under examined in scholarship, Goto’s practice emerges as essential to a fuller understanding of postwar sculptural innovation in the United States.

Upcoming and recent exhibitions :

Spring 2027 : The Museum of Contemporary Art , Los Angeles, CA - Afterlives: Japanese American Artists and the Postwar Era

JULY 9 - OCTOBER 2, 2022 : The Walker Art Gallery , HARLEM, NY - Dead Lecturer / distant relative: Notes from the Woodshed, 1950-1980

March 16, 2022 – May 15, 2022 : The Noguchi Museum , LIC, NY - No Monument : In the Wake of the Japanese American Incarceration

Permanent Collections :

The Art Institute of Chicago, The Smart Museum (Chicago), Carnegie Museum of Art (Pittsburgh, PN) The Honolulu Museum of Art, , The Museum of Modern Art (NY, NY),, The RISD Museum (Providence, RI), Falling Waters by Frank Lloyd Wright (Mill Run, PA) and Hartwood Acres Sculpture Garden (Pittsburgh, PA)

Historical exhibitions at notable museums—including :

Selected Solo Exhibitions :Ken Studios, Chicago, IL 1953, Allan Frumkin Gallery, Chicago, IL and New York, NY 1956, 1959, 1960, 1962, 1963, Stephen Radich, New York, NY 1964, 1965, 1966, Museum of the Arts, Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, RI Joseph Goto, 1971 Honolulu Academy of the Arts, Honolulu, HI Sculpture & Drawing Exhibition, 1973, Art Center of Hawaii, Honolulu, HI Painting Exhibition, 1973, Zabriskie Gallery, New York, NY, Sculpture & Drawing Exhibition, 1973, Selected Group Shows, Sindin Gallery, New York, NY Byron & Joseph Goto: Drawings & Sculptures, 1981, Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY Circulating Exhibition, Nine Artists from Chicago, 1961, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY, 1954 Annual Exhibition of Contemporary American Sculpture, Watercolors and Drawings, 1954 , 1955 Annual Exhibition of Contemporary American Paintings, Sculpture, Watercolors and Drawings, 1955, Annual Exhibition 1960: Contemporary Sculpture and Drawings, 1960, The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago IL, Annual Chicago and Vicinity Exhibition, 1951, 52, 54, 55, 56, 57, 59, Chicago Artists, 1957, Two Centuries of American Art, 1750-1790, 1959, American Artists, 1959-60, Directions in Contemporary Painting and Sculpture, 1963, Visions: Painting and Sculpture: Distinguished Alumni, 1945 to Present, 1976, 100 Artists/ 100 Years/ Alumni of the School of the Art Institute Chicago, 1979-80, Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh, PA, Landscape, 1968, Pittsburgh International Exhibition of Contemporary Arts, 1970, The Bertrand Russell Peace Foundation, Centenary Year Exhibition, London, EN, 1972, Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit, MI, Annual Exhibition of Michigan Artists, 1963, Smithsonian Institute, Washington, DC, The Koffler Foundation Collection, 1977, American Drawing III, 1980, Canton Art Institute, Canton, OH, Sculpture Exhibition, 1975,  Honolulu Japanese Chamber of Commerce, Honolulu, HI, Japanese Artist in Hawaii, 1978, Virginia Lynch Gallery, Tiverton, RI, Drawings, 1992, Sculpture Center, New York, NY, Twelve Japanese Sculptors, 1976, Japanese Sculptor Exhibition, 1979, Azuma Gallery, New York, NY, Half Century of Japanese Artists in N.Y. 1910-1950, 1977, Anyart Gallery, Providence, RI, Drawing Exhibition, 1981, American Academy of Arts and Letters, Paintings and Sculptures by Candidates for Art Awards, 1985, Temporary Sculpture Placement , Brooklyn Museum, New York, NY; Neuberger Museum, Purchase, NY; Denver Museum, Denver, CO ; St. Bartholomew Church, New York, NY, 1981; Virginia Museum, Richmond, VA; Portland Art Museum, Portland, OR; Scottsdale Art Center, Scottsdale, AZ, Contemporary Art Museum, Houston TX ; Portsmouth Community Center, Portsmouth, VA, Paramus Outdoor Exhibit, Paramus, NJ; Storm King Art Center, Storm King, NY; Lincoln Center, New York, NY; Fujii Bank & Trust, New York, NY; John Herron Museum of Art (Jury), Indianapolis, IN; Hartford Museum, Hartford, CT; Mayor’s City Celebration Exhibition,Providence, RI; Udine Project, Udine, Italy; Royal Palm Gallery, Palm Springs, Florida, 1981; To Welcome T.M. The Emperor and Empress of Japan, Honolulu, Hawaii, 1975; Battersea Park, London, EN, Ford Program for Visual Arts, Finals Exhibition, 1959; Grey Art Gallery, New York University, NY, 1976

Professional Experience :

Richmond Professional Institute, College of William & Mary, Richmond, VA - Assistant Professor of Art, 1958-59

University of Michigan, College of Architecture and Design, Ann Arbor, MI - Assistant Professor of Art, 1959-1963

Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, RI - Assistant Professor of Art, 1963-65

University of Illinois, Chicago Campus, Chicago, IL - Visiting Professor, 1965

Tower Iron Works, Inc., Seekonk, MA - Resident Artist & Welder 1966-1969

Andrew Mellon Professor of Sculpture, Carnegie-Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA - Visiting Professor, 1968

Bernice and Maurice Saltzman, Brandeis University, Waltham, MA = Visiting Professor, 1970