コンテンツにスキップ
Art/Photographyart

An exhibition of two people who love traditional Japanese culture and live in the avant-garde

日本の伝統文化を愛し、アヴァンギャルドに生きた二人展

Visit, see and feel the world of art
File.9 Yokohama Museum of Art “Isamu Noguchi and Saburo Hasegawa – Things that change and things that remain the same” exhibition
Miyuki Inoue (Magcal Editorial Department)

Isamu Noguchi's ``Akari'' series is widely known as it is still manufactured and sold as lighting equipment. But who is “Saburo Hasegawa”?
The exhibition's subtitle is ``Japan Rediscovered in the 1950s.'' In the United States, where Noguchi was based, it was the heyday of the ``mid-century.'' I'm sure Saburo Hasegawa has left behind some stylish works. I feel like I'm about to find a wonderful world...
I went to a preview for the press that was held just before the opening. Gallery talks by curators will be held during the exhibition period, but this is the only day you can take pictures of the exhibition rooms, so I decided to attend on behalf of the readers with my digital camera in hand.
This is Isamu Noguchi's Elements of the Garden, which has been on display at the Grand Gallery since November 16th (Friday) last year prior to the opening. It was created using Mannariishi stone from Okayama, and it is a masterpiece that has not been shown to the public for a long time since it was first exhibited at a solo exhibition in New York in 1959.
There is no admission fee to enter up to this point, so first of all, I would like to take a closer look at the works in the bright and spacious space. If you think “Wow,” go to the ticket counter!
Isamu Noguchi (1904-1988) was a sculptor who was born to a Japanese father and an American mother and was active mainly in the United States. Saburo Hasegawa (1906-1957) was a painter and critic who studied in Paris in the early 1930s, and after meeting Noguchi, he also worked in the United States.
The two met in Japan in 1950, not long after the war, but rather during the occupation of the United States, and they sympathized with each other's ideas. Hasegawa becomes Noguchi's guide as he plans to travel to Kansai to visit old cultural heritage sites. Gardens, architecture, ink paintings, calligraphy, tea ceremony, clay figures, bronze bells, pottery, haiku, Zen, Taoism, etc. How did the idea of ``integration of the old East and the new West'' that the two men shared from that experience come to fruition in their work? I stepped into the exhibition room feeling like I was exploring a bit of the academic world.
The exhibition consists of six chapters, and is structured so that works by Hasegawa and Noguchi can be viewed alternately, and sometimes in parallel.
Chapter 1. The first time I saw Hasegawa's work, I was surprised because it was so avant-garde! Oil paintings, photographs, collages, prints, rubbings, anything goes. It's a shame that the photo doesn't convey that ``flying feeling''.
Before the war, Hasegawa was involved in the establishment of the Free Artists Association, and after the war in 1947, he formed the Japan Avant Garde Artists Club and resumed his activities as a painter. As you can feel from his career, there was an ultra-avant-garde world that doesn't feel outdated even today.
I thought to myself, ``I'm sorry for being uneducated, there was such a cool person.'' Hasegawa moved to the United States after meeting Noguchi. He moved his base of activities to the United States and died at a young age, so he seems to have been almost forgotten in Japan.
Meanwhile, in the United States, he held solo exhibitions and lectures in New York, and after moving to the West Coast, he influenced the artists of the Beat Generation, attracting attention as a darling of the times. However, it seems that almost no one talks about him after his death because he was ``not American.''
It's such a waste to hear so many ``apparent'' statements.
As I reflect on the relationship between these two people, who travel back and forth between the West and the East to pursue their creative activities and influence each other from their respective positions, I come across the word "globalization," which has been gaining popularity in recent years. Long before those words were uttered, were they struggling to understand the world? The meaning of the title ``Things that change and things that remain the same'' may lie much deeper.
This is Chapter 6, a collection of works created after 1954 that Noguchi drew inspiration from Eastern and Japanese culture. The familiar ``Akari'' and ``Garden Elements'' exhibited in the Grand Gallery also belong to this category.
This exhibition room has a calming feel to it, perhaps because Noguchi's works are often encountered even in Japan today. I may have been nervous without realizing it because I was experiencing values for the first time.

In this exhibition, you will not only be moved by the charm of the works themselves, but also by social themes such as ``cross-cultural exchange'' and ``globalization.'' During the exhibition period, events will be held with a variety of lecturers, so please use your five senses to experience ``things that change and things that remain the same.''

This event has ended.
《Isamu Noguchi and Saburo Hasegawa - What changes and what remains unchanged》
Exhibition period: Until Sunday, March 24, 2019
Venue: Yokohama Museum of Art
Opening hours: 10:00-18:00 *Until 20:30 on Saturday, March 2nd
(Admission is allowed until 30 minutes before closing)
Closed: Thursdays, March 22nd (Friday) *Open on March 21st (Thursday, public holiday)

Related articles