View of the gallery. Photo
by Kevin Noble, courtesy of the Noguchi Museum.
Noguchi:
QUEENS, N.Y. - An exhibition of more than 200 photographs and
drawings created by abstract sculptor Isamu Noguchi (1904-1988)
during worldwide travels funded by a grant from the Bollingen
Foundation is currently on view at the temporary quarters of The
Isamu Noguchi Garden Museum. "Noguchi: , Photographs and Drawings
1949-1956" documents the artist's extended visits to places
ranging from Italy to Egypt to India to Nepal to Japan. On view
through October 13, it is the final exhibition in the museum's
temporary space in Sunnyside before it moves to its renovated
permanent home on Vernon Boulevard.
Noguchi is internationally recognized as a prolific and gifted
sculptor and designer of furniture, state sets and public spaces,
but he was also an enthusiastic photographer and draftsman and an
indefatigable traveler. At a time when much of the avant-garde in
New York turned inward, devoting its attention and energy to the
solitary work of the artist in the studio, Noguchi turned
outward, focusing his attention on examining the creative
achievements of other cultures. With the support of the Bollingen
Foundation, established by Paul and Mary Conover Mellon, he
compiled images and ideas for a never-completed book about
"environments of leisure" and documented sources of spiritual
inspiration and formal invention that would inform his work for
years to come. The current exhibition is installed to echo the
artist's itineraries.
The first of Noguchi's two extended odysseys began at the
prehistoric caves of France and continued through Italy, Spain,
Greece, Egypt, India, Sri Lanka (Ceylon), Bali, Thailand (Siam),
Cambodia and Japan. At each destination, he studied monumental,
classical, communal and spiritual spaces and structures. On later
trips he revisited many sites and traveled to new ones in
countries including England, Hong Kong, Malaysia and Nepal.
Although Noguchi was ostensibly investigating "environments of
leisure" during his travels, he made a significant amount of work
that actively engaged him with the countries he visited. In
India, for example, he sculpted a portrait head of Nehru and
designed a memorial to Gandhi. In postwar Japan he designed and
realized his first garden and his first complete interior space,
contributed a bridge design to the ravaged city of Hiroshima, and
helped revitalize the traditional craft of lampmaking with his
own Akari designs, which are still in production today.
"Noguchi: , Photographs and Drawings 1949-1956" was organized by
the museum and is curated by Bonnie Rychlak, curator, The Isamu
Noguchi Museum and Foundation.
Noguchi founded the Noguchi Museum in 1985, creating an open-air
sculpture garden surrounded by 13 galleries that present his
work. The design of the museum meets Noguchi's vision for an
intimate, reflective space in which to experience sculpture.
Today, the Isamu Noguchi Foundation maintains the museum, and
manages the world's largest and most extensive collection of his
organic sculptures, architectural models, stage designs,
drawings, furniture and lamps, in addition to his complete
archives.
The museum's temporary quarters are at 36-01 43rd Avenue,
Sunnyside, Queens, while its permanent facility at 32-37 Vernon
Boulevard, Long Island City, is undergoing renovation. Following
the closing of "Noguchi: ," the museum will continue to present
public and educational programming, but will not hold any
exhibitions until the renovated facility opens. Museum offices
will return to the permanent building in the fall, and the museum
is scheduled to open to the public on April 1, 2004.
For information, 718-545-8842 or www.noguchi.org.
