artist isamu noguchi forges ‘a new nature’ at white cube bermondsey

materials of urbanization and technology

Artist Isamu Noguchi revered the nature of trees and grass as a singular entity, yet he believed in the existence of multiple degrees of nature. He cited concrete, interstellar spaces, and the human psyche as frames of nature, even extending nature’s depth to people who find themselves in cities have to have a new nature and create it for themselves should they fail to stumble upon one.

From this string of words, White Cube Bermondsey presents ‘A New Nature’, an exhibition of works and sculptures by Isamu Noguchi (1904–88) conceived in collaboration with the Isamu Noguchi Foundation and Garden Museum that runs from February 4th to April 3rd, 2022.

When Noguchi gave a talk to the students of San Francisco Art Institute in 1970, he encouraged them to forge a new nature from the materials of urbanization and technology that surrounded them. The encouragement infiltrates the exhibition as the artist’s bodies of work reflect his broader understanding of the functions of nature through his industrial methods and materials, all while appealing to the viewers’ awareness of the definition of organic.

images courtesy of white cube

ceiling and waterfall

Looking back in 1955, architect Robert Carson tapped Noguchi about repurposing an unrealized design for a bank lobby in texas for a new office building across the street from the museum of modern art in manhattan. Noguchi only agreed once Carson accept his condition of also conceiving a waterfall to accompany his ceiling sculpture.

The results can be viewed at the exhibition with ‘Waterfall, 666 Fifth Avenue, new york’ (1956–57) planted on one side of the room. Pillars of steel injected into the floor-to-ceiling cement structure form undulating waves from afar, deceiving the vision and creating the magic Noguchi had desired to instill into the viewers’ minds. Looks of mountain ridges formulate the bends and flows of the steel to manifest the gush of water from above.

The almost-similar steel design hangs over the head of the viewers as they wander around the room, the display of ‘Ceiling, 666 Fifth Avenue, New York’ (1956–57), white light filters through the gaps between the arrangement of the steel bars, giving off the impression of being underwater as the light bounces off the floor with its reflection. The imaginary landscape Noguchi had always envisioned enshrines the exhibition with a stark reminder of people’s ability to create nature for themselves.

waterfall, 666 fifth avenue, new york (1956–57)

the industrial process

Noguchi once said that the industrial process had its secret nature, its own entropy, its own cycle of birth and dissolution, and that we try hard to subject the industrial process to man’s supervision. As the artist pursued experimentation with his craft and style, he epitomized the concepts, potentials, and purposes of his works while encapsulating the reinvention of traditions through the integration of new technology and the consideration of heritage.

ceiling, 666 fifth avenue, new york (1956–57)