\nPublic opening on Thursday, September 10th from 6:30pm to 9pm<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n
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Shigeo Anzai, Venice Biennale photo album, June 29\u2013September 28, 1986. Noguchi <\/p>\n From the 10th to 26th of September, OGATA Paris will present Nature\u2019s Way, an installation of Isamu Noguchi\u2019s Akari light sculptures in collaboration with The Isamu Noguchi Foundation and Garden Museum, New York, in honor of the 75th anniversary of Akari. <\/span><\/p>\n Created by Isamu Noguchi from 1951 onward, the Akari light sculptures reinterpret the traditional craftsmanship of lantern-making in Gifu, Japan. Handcrafted by Ozeki & Co. using washi paper and bamboo, they embody the meeting of Japanese craftsmanship and modern design. Noguchi described them as objects that were “poetic, ephemeral, and tentative.” <\/span><\/p>\n The installation at OGATA Paris previews two special models of Akari, the VB1 and VB3, that Noguchi produced for his installation in the U.S. Pavilion at the 1986 Venice Biennale. Based on the triangle\u2014a shape that Noguchi wrote \u201cseems to be nature\u2019s way\u201d\u2014the VB1 and VB3 are hanging pyramids that include an entirely unique feature among Noguchi\u2019s series: stones. Though the lamps are suspended, they are constructed with cotton cords on each bottom corner, which tie to stones wrapped in Akari\u2019s signature mulberry bark washi paper. The stones connect the hanging Akari to the floor, creating a singular style of hybrid lamp.<\/span><\/p>\n These Akari will be previewed at OGATA Paris, along with installation photos and other materials from The Noguchi Museum\u2019s Archives, that tell more of the story of Noguchi\u2019s participation in the Venice Biennale. The two models, produced by Ozeki & Co., Ltd, in Gifu, Japan, will then be made exclusively available in North America through The Noguchi Museum in November.<\/span><\/p>\n The 1986 exhibition in which they first appeared, titled What is Sculpture?<\/i>, was a fitting space for Noguchi to introduce some of his most radically genre-defying Akari\u2013neither floor nor hanging lamps, but spatial installations in and of themselves\u2013to the public. He wrote of the exhibition: \u201cI decided to take the opportunity to present my point of view: sculpture is more than the creation of objects of art. Sculpture is an experience that is wide and involves the total environment.\u201d Forty years later, his groundbreaking perspective continues to resonate.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n About Isamu Noguchi<\/b><\/p>\n Shigeo Anzai, Venice Biennale photo album, June 29\u2013September 28, 1986. The Noguchi Museum Archives, 158775. \u00a9 Isamu Noguchi Foundation and Garden Museum\/ARS\/Estate of Shigeo Anza\u00ef, Courtesy of Zeit-Foto<\/span><\/p>\n
\nMuseum Archives, 158800. \u00a9 Isamu Noguchi Foundation and Garden Museum\/ARS\/Estate
\nof Shigeo Anza\u00ef, Courtesy of Zeit-Foto<\/span><\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/ogata.com\/paris\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/08\/PH_ANZAI_001_023.jpg\")
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\nIsamu Noguchi (1904\u20131988) was one of the twentieth century\u2019s most important and critically acclaimed sculptors. Through a lifetime of artistic experimentation, he created sculptures, gardens, furniture and lighting designs, ceramics, architecture, landscapes, and set designs. His work, at once subtle and bold, traditional and modern, set a new standard for the reintegration of the arts.
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