AV_CTE_020_1996_02

38m 47.0s

Interview conducted for 1997 documentary "Isamu Noguchi: Stones and Paper." Martha Graham - Herodiade. Western modernism and Eastern philosophy - asymmetrical balance - playing to an already established aesthetic. Constantin Brancusi - school of Paris - American rigor - elegance and brutality. Unique vocabulary of sculpture - Asian aesthetic coupled with American sensibility - unique as Henry Moore or David Smith or Louise Nevelson or Alexander Calder - sense of theater - interdisciplinary artist - Akari and their similarities to the later stone work. Process taken to the limit. Importance of considering the panorama of Noguchi’s work - both paper and stone equally important to his vision - Kouros - interlocking statues and pictorial sculpture - Pable Picasso. Humpty Dumpty - Isamu Noguchi Garden Museum - Pace Gallery - Noguchi liked to keep the best work for himself. Discussion of Arne Glimcher and Noguchi’s gallery relationship. Noguchi was great at installing exhibitions. Influence of New York on Noguchi’s work - the work is not precious, it is robust. Noguchi is essentially an American artist - just borrows from Japan. Noguchi let’s the stone exist but claims it with his mark - Glimcher doesn’t consider Noguchi a Japanese artist. Noguchi’s social status - party and social life. Friendship with Nevelson, William de Kooning. Noguchi affected a Japanese style - Noguchi in Japan at his home. Priscilla Morgan. Personal anecdotes - friendship with Saul Steinberg. Noguchi was a terrible driver. Noguchi’s post-war return to Japan - working in clay helped to solidify his since of Japanese identity - ceramics considered high art in Japan, viewed as a craft in America - led to stone later in his career. American critic reaction - Clement Greenberg - credibility of Greenberg in question - missed a lot of Modernism. Major American artists emerged from Surrealism - Noguchi, Mark Rothko, Jackson Pollock, Arshile Gorky, Gordon Matta-Clark. All owe debt to Pablo Picasso. Noguchi’s work is inextricable from the American experience. Brancusi’s influence on Noguchi - polish and pediment - different ideas - value of asymmetry. Noguchi’s individual and personal quality.

Multimedia Collection > Sound Recordings > Documentaries/Documentary Material (Sound Recordings)