[Title] noguchi: The Bollingen Journey 1949-1956
[Artist] Isamu Noguchi
[Date] September 7 – October 17, 2004
THE BOLLINGEN JOURNEY 1949–1956
After World War II, Noguchi had lost faith in the meaning of art and questioned its relevance in a post-nuclear world. He was determined to seek another definition for an art that had lost its connection to fundamental social issues and values. In 1949, Noguchi applied to the Bollingen Foundation for a fellowship to study the “environment of leisure, its meaning, its use, and its relationship to society.” The project was to focus on communally enjoyed leisure spaces with special attention given to the “contemplative uses of leisure (for re-creation of the mind) and to the play world of childhood.” His interest in this subject centered on questions of what leisure time and space might be in different cultures. Noguchi understood that leisure could be contemplative as well as participatory. He thought it might have a relation to religion, but that its ultimate character was one of play and it was intimately bound to art. Leisure space could be a pilgrimage place, a home, a temple, a cave, or even an airplane, but it always shared a sense of proportion and scale, whether it was Greek, Indian, or Japanese.
This exhibition loosely follows Noguchi’s itinerary through a period of explosive creativity. By means of the Bollingen fellowship, Noguchi documented his around-the-world journeys with hundreds of photographs and drawings. The richness and variety of the material Noguchi collected from his travels evinces his discerning eye and intense curiosity in and appreciation of other cultures. The Bollingen Journey attempts to present the broad aspects of Noguchi’s project and the impact his Bollingen travels had on his subsequent artworks, public gardens, parks, plazas, and playgrounds.