cover image Isamu Noguchi: Essays and Conversations

Isamu Noguchi: Essays and Conversations

Isamu Noguchi. ABRAMS, $34.95 (175pp) ISBN 978-0-8109-3667-6

Japanese American sculptor Isamu Noguchi (1904-1988) sought a socially constructive role for sculpture as well as gardens, parks, plazas and other public spaces embodying spiritual and community values. These short, pithy essays, manifestos and occasional pieces, plus two interviews, convey Noguchi's philosophic vision. Born in Los Angeles to an American mother and a Japanese poet father, Noguchi lived in Japan, Europe and the United States; he traveled widely from Spain to Indonesia, absorbing such influences as primitive art, Zen gardens, and abstraction of his mentor, Constantin Brancusi, and the utopianism of his friend R. Buckminster Fuller. His exploration of the connections among theater, dance and sculpture, his collaboration with Martha Graham and his search for a Japanese identity are recorded in these vigorous writings, evocatively illustrated with 100 photographs of the artist and his works. Apostolos-Cappadona is a professor of art and religion at Georgetown University; Altshuler is the director of the Isamu Noguchi Museum in New York City. (Nov.)