»I am not a designer«

He was an interdisciplinary artist and designer who advocated for a more open perspective on the world and against pigeonholing: Isamu Noguchi (1904-1988), whose work combined European, Japanese, and Chinese design traditions, created sculptures, ceramics, furniture, lamps, stage designs, gardens, swimming pools, and houses, among other things. He refused to be called a designer, but he devoted himself to this field with dedication, took advantage of every opportunity for serial production, and sought the artistic in design. The High Museum of Art in Atlanta is honoring Noguchi with its first retrospective in almost 25 years: Isamu Noguchi: »I am not a designer« runs from April 10 to August 2. The exhibition features around 200 objects, most of which have rarely or never been shown in an exhibition before. The museum also presents designs for unrealized projects such as the innovative Play Mountain playground (1933), which was only recently rediscovered.

Born in Los Angeles, Isamu Noguchi is considered one of the most innovative and renowned sculptors of the 20th century. After studying in New York, he went to Paris on a scholarship and worked in Constantin Brâncuși's studio in 1927, whose work had a major influence on Noguchi: he turned to abstraction and modernism. In the following years, he undertook artistic educational trips to China and Japan. Later, the combination of traditional Asian art techniques with European modernism became a cornerstone of Noguchi's oeuvre. From the 1950s onwards, the artist lived alternately in Kamakura and New York. In 1985, he opened the Isamu Noguchi Garden Museum there, which resembles a Gesamtkunstwerk and brings together the most diverse facets of his work.