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DTSTART;TZID=UTC:20260410T080000
DTEND;TZID=UTC:20260802T170000
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SUMMARY:Isamu Noguchi: ‘I am not a designer’
DESCRIPTION:Overview\nThe High Museum of Art in Atlanta presents “Isamu Noguchi: I am not a designer\,” the artist’s first design retrospective in nearly twenty-five years\, running April 10 through August 2\, 2026. Featuring nearly two hundred objects\, many never or rarely exhibited\, the exhibition spans all facets of Noguchi’s creative output across architecture\, industrial design\, ceramics\, furniture\, lighting\, stage sets\, and landscape design. \nThe exhibition is organized by the High Museum of Art and will travel following its Atlanta run to the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem\, Massachusetts (September 19\, 2026 through January 3\, 2027) and the Memorial Art Gallery at the University of Rochester in Rochester\, New York (February 13 through June 6\, 2027). The Atlanta presentation also coincides with the fiftieth anniversary of “Playscapes\,” a bicentennial gift for the city of Atlanta that Noguchi created in 1976\, commissioned by the High in collaboration with the City of Atlanta Parks Department and the only one of Noguchi’s playgrounds built in the United States during his lifetime. \nFocus\nThe exhibition takes its title from Noguchi’s own declaration in 1949 and uses it as a productive paradox: despite his insistence that he was not a designer\, Noguchi spent his career regularly engaging with the space-shaping possibilities of design. The retrospective reframes this tension as evidence of his resistance to disciplinary categorisation rather than contradiction\, presenting him as a multinational\, interdisciplinary artist who moved between sculpture\, architecture\, furniture\, landscape\, and performance design as a single continuous practice. \nThe presentation emphasises works that embrace function\, explicitly positioning functional objects not as secondary to Noguchi’s sculptural practice but as integral to it. His Akari paper lanterns\, his furniture for Herman Miller and Knoll\, his stage sets for Martha Graham\, his unrealised public space proposals\, and his built playgrounds and gardens are treated as equally significant expressions of a unified sensibility that consistently sought to bring sculpture into everyday life and public space. \nAlthough Isamu Noguchi declared in 1949\, “I am not a designer\,” the internationally acclaimed artist regularly engaged with the space-shaping possibilities of design\, imagining and producing work in architecture\, industrial design\, ceramics\, furniture\, lighting\, stage sets\, and landscape design.\nHigh Museum of Art\, Exhibition Description\, 2026 \nExhibition Highlights\n\nPlay Mountain plaster model (1933)Recently rediscovered sculptural model for an unrealised public playground proposal.\nAkari (model 1A)\, ca. 1954Natural mulberry paper with bamboo and metal frame. From the High’s permanent collection.\nSeraphic Dialogue stage set (1955)Large-scale installation recreating Noguchi’s set design for Martha Graham’s choreography.\nTables and stools for Herman Miller and KnollIndustrial design objects produced in collaboration with major American manufacturers.\nHouse model with Kazumi AdachiArchitectural collaboration with Japanese architect Kazumi Adachi.\nPlayscapes play equipmentOne of Noguchi’s innovative playground installations\, coinciding with the 50th anniversary of the Atlanta Playscapes.\nCommissioned filmNew film documenting some of Noguchi’s site-specific plazas and gardens around the world.\nUnrealised project modelsSculptural models for unbuilt proposals\, including recently rediscovered plasters.\n\nPlayscapes at 50\nA significant local context for the Atlanta exhibition is the fiftieth anniversary of Playscapes in Piedmont Park\, which Noguchi created in 1976 as a bicentennial gift to the city of Atlanta. Commissioned by the High in collaboration with the City of Atlanta Parks Department\, it remains the only one of Noguchi’s playgrounds built in the United States during his lifetime\, making it one of the most significant pieces of landscape architecture in the city and a direct local complement to the exhibition’s themes of public space\, play\, and the integration of art into everyday urban life. \nRelated Events\nAn opening weekend party takes place on April 11\, 2026 from 6 to 10pm\, with after-hours access to the exhibition and a VIP YP member lounge. “Illuminating Noguchi @ the High” on April 23\, 2026 (6 to 9pm) is an evening event centred on Noguchi’s Akari paper lanterns\, expanding their spirit from the museum into the city. A member exhibition tour takes place May 21\, 2026 from 2 to 3pm. \nAudience\nThe exhibition is open to the general public at the High Museum of Art. Its combination of sculpture\, furniture\, stage design\, playground equipment\, and architectural models makes it relevant to audiences spanning fine art\, design history\, architecture\, urban landscape\, and material culture. The nearly two hundred objects and the inclusion of large-scale installations\, a commissioned film\, and interactive elements signal a presentation designed for extended engagement rather than a rapid survey. \nEvent Details\n\n\n\nDates (Atlanta)\nApril 10 – August 2\, 2026\n\n\nVenue\nHigh Museum of Art\, 1280 Peachtree St NE\, Atlanta\, GA 30309\n\n\nHours\nVerify current hours at high.org\n\n\nAdmission / Fees\nTimed tickets required — purchase via high.org. High members free. General admission applies.\n\n\nObjects\nNearly 200\, many never or rarely exhibited\n\n\nOrganized by\nHigh Museum of Art\, Atlanta\n\n\nTour Venues\nPeabody Essex Museum\, Salem MA (Sep 19\, 2026 – Jan 3\, 2027); Memorial Art Gallery\, University of Rochester\, NY (Feb 13 – Jun 6\, 2027)\n\n\nPresenting Sponsor\nBank of America\n\n\nMajor Funders\nTerra Foundation for American Art; Henry Luce Foundation; Forward Arts Foundation; Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts\n\n\nPublication Support\nWyeth Foundation for American Art\n\n\nContact\n+1 404-733-4400\n\n\n\n\n✦ ArchUp Editorial Insight\nNoguchi’s declaration “I am not a designer” is one of the more productively unstable statements in twentieth-century art history\, and the High’s decision to use it as the exhibition title rather than resolve it is the right curatorial call. What the retrospective implicitly argues is that the distinction between art and design\, between sculpture and furniture\, between monument and playground\, was not a hierarchy Noguchi accepted. His Akari lamps are sculptures that light rooms; his stage sets for Martha Graham are spatial compositions that happen to serve choreography; his playgrounds are public sculptures that accept use as a condition rather than a compromise. The fifty-year anniversary of Playscapes in Atlanta makes this the most site-appropriate version of the exhibition it could receive: visitors can see the unrealised plaster for Play Mountain in the gallery\, then walk to Piedmont Park and stand in one of the few places where Noguchi’s vision of democratic public space was actually built. That pairing is more instructive than any interpretive text. \n\n\nClosing Note\nNearly two hundred objects across architecture\, furniture\, ceramics\, stage design\, lighting\, and landscape make this the most comprehensive examination of Noguchi’s cross-disciplinary practice since the 1990s. Its touring itinerary\, across Atlanta\, Salem\, and Rochester\, will give it reach beyond the major coastal museum circuit and place it in front of audiences with specific interests in American art\, design history\, and the regional landscape of public works that Noguchi’s practice helped shape.
URL:https://archup.net/event/isamu-noguchi-i-am-not-a-designer/
LOCATION:High Museum of Art\, High Museum of Art 1280 Peachtree St NE Atlanta\, GA 30309\, Atlanta\, Atlanta\, -\, Georgia
CATEGORIES:Exhibitions
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ORGANIZER;CN="High Museum of Art":MAILTO:access@high.org
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