The Maui Arts & Cultural Center will present "Satoru Abe: Reaching for the Sun," a retrospective exhibition showcasing over seven decades of work by the late Hawaiʻi-based artist Satoru Abe (1926–2025). Running from September 16 to November 22, 2025, at the Schaefer International Gallery, the show features more than 70 paintings, sculptures, and works on paper drawn from the Honolulu Museum of Art’s permanent collection and private lenders. Co-curated by HoMA curators Katherine Love and Alejandra Rojas Silva, the exhibition traces Abe’s evolution from figurative works in the 1950s through abstract explorations of natural forms, marking his first solo exhibition on Maui.
This exhibition matters because it honors the legacy of one of Hawai‘i’s most prominent artists, whose seven-decade career bridged Western modernism and local Asian American artistic identity. Abe co-founded the influential Metcalf Chateau group, exhibited at the Museum of Modern Art, and was named a “Living Treasure” in Hawai‘i. By bringing his work to Maui for the first time, the show expands access to his contributions and underscores the importance of regional art histories within the broader American art narrative.