Isamu Noguchi: beyond art

date and location: 30 September 2021 - 9 January 2022, Barbican, London

Over 150 works, including an extraordinary range of sculptures made of different materials, from stone to ceramic, from wood to aluminum, alongside theatrical sets and playgrounds models, are the protagonists of the "Noguchi" exhibition at the Barbican Center in London, a major retrospective celebrating the life and works of the Japanese-American artist Isamu Noguchi (Los Angeles, 1904 - New York, 1988).

The exhibition will also display Noguchi's pieces of furniture, including the iconic Noguchi coffee table (1944) produced by Herman Miller and Vitra, as well as the rice paper lamps that made the designer famous in the world of interiors, and known for his conception of sculpture as «a vital force in our daily life» and art as « something that teaches human beings how to become more human».

Over the course of his sixty-years career, Isamu Noguchi has chosen sculpture to explore the world, approaching different cultural and artistic contexts with the aim of expanding the universe of his sculpted work to bring them closer to everyday life. The variety of his pieces, together with his refusal to join any style or movement that was too characteristic, made him a unique and multifaceted artist, author of timeless works and furnishings, which are, for these characteristics, particularly appreciated by the contemporary design and vintage collecting scene.