celebrating 40 years, the noguchi museum revisits the vision of artist isamu noguchi

Drawing from isamu Noguchi’s Own Words In celebration of The Noguchi Museum’s 40th anniversary, the exhibition Against Time: The Noguchi Museum 40th »

kat barandy September 13, 2024 5 min

Drawing from isamu Noguchi’s Own Words

In celebration of The Noguchi Museum’s 40th anniversary, the exhibition Against Time: The Noguchi Museum 40th Anniversary Reinstallation offers a fresh look at the original works that defined the museum’s collection. On view from August 28th, 2024, to September 14th, 2025, this reinstallation brings back sculptures that have not been exhibited in their original galleries since 2009. The exhibition is curated by Matthew Kirsch, the museum’s Curator and Director of Research, and focuses on the significant pieces that shaped Noguchi’s career.

At the core of Against Time is the 1987 catalogue The Isamu Noguchi Garden Museum, written by Isamu Noguchi himself. This catalogue, in the absence of traditional wall labels, served as a guide to the museum’s collection, laying out Noguchi’s thoughts on the works. After Noguchi’s death in 1988, the catalogue became the framework for the museum’s permanent collection. The exhibition showcases sculptures created both before and after Noguchi moved to his Long Island City studio in 1961, featuring works that marked turning points in his six-decade-long artistic journey.

celebrating 40 years, the noguchi museum revisits the vision of artist isamu noguchi - 1 Isamu Noguchi, Uncle Takagi (Portrait of My Uncle), 1931. terra-cotta. photo by Kevin Noble © INFGM / ARS

A Journey Through the artist’s Materials and Techniques

The Noguchi Museum’s curator Matthew Kirsch notes that while it is impossible to replicate the artist’s original vision for the museum due to renovations in the early 2000s, Against Time captures the essence of his creative process. The reinstallation draws on archival photographs that document Noguchi’s meticulous approach to arranging and rearranging his works in various configurations during the museum’s early years. Although the space has changed, the exhibition presents a distilled version of the 1985–88 installation, offering new insight into Noguchi’s evolving practice.

The exhibition spotlights over sixty works, including some of Noguchi’s earliest abstract sculptures from the late 1920s, created shortly after his time in Constantin Brancusi’s Paris studio. These brass and wood pieces are shown alongside portrait busts from the 1930s, which Noguchi produced intermittently for financial reasons. The reinstallation also includes sculptures from Noguchi’s 1940s studio period, such as his interlocking marble and slate works, experiments with illuminated magnesite sculptures known as Lunars, and onyx and alabaster carvings.

noguchi museum against time
installation view, ‘Against Time: The Noguchi Museum 40th Anniversary Reinstallation,’ August 28th, 2024 — September 14th, 2025. image by Nicholas Knight © The Isamu Noguchi Foundation and Garden Museum, New York / Artists Rights Society

Exploring Models and Collaborations

A notable part of the exhibition is the display of Noguchi’s project models, many of which are rarely exhibited together. These models range from unrealized designs for monuments and memorials to early playground concepts, as well as completed environments. Visitors will also encounter set designs from Noguchi’s collaborations with choreographer Martha Graham, highlighting how his work extended beyond sculpture into the dynamic partitioning of space on stage.

Through its range of materials, styles, and disciplines, Against Time reflects Noguchi’s belief in the broad scope of sculpture. In Noguchi’s words: ‘I’m older than most artists, and I’ve probably gone through, at some point, the stages that all artists eventually go through. So in a sense, I am the history of art today, in my own person.’ This exhibition offers a unique opportunity to engage with the scope of his practice, celebrating both the museum’s history and the artist’s enduring legacy.

noguchi museum against time
installation view, ‘Against Time: The Noguchi Museum 40th Anniversary Reinstallation,’ image © designboom
installation view, ‘Against Time: The Noguchi Museum 40th Anniversary Reinstallation,’ image © designboom