Embracing the innovative designs of Isamu Noguchi

Every so often, I have one of those moments at work when I have to stop and think, this is a pretty great gig.

I was thinking that just the other day while meeting with Karina H. Corrigan, Deputy Chief Curator and H. A. Crosby Forbes Curator of Asian Export Art, and the wonderfully talented PEM intern Nina Bourne, who was translating for visiting artist Yao Desheng. Yao Desheng is currently in Salem painting details on Yin Yu Tang, and is one of few living Huizhou masons who still practice that art form. 

He was also excited to work with the PEM Shop to offer some of his works on paper, which we’ll feature closer to the reopening of the Yin Yu Tang interpretative gallery next spring, following preservation work on the house. It’s always especially great when the work happening behind the scenes can eventually find its way into the hands of visitors and collectors.

That’s one of the things I find fascinating about working with subjects like Noguchi. You can encounter the work without necessarily knowing the name behind it. And then, when you start looking more closely, you realize just how much of the visual world around us has been shaped by one remarkable imagination.

Now we’re at the point where all the research, planning, conversations and logistics of the past couple of years start to become something very tangible: the installation itself.

Now stuff gets real.

That’s one of the unexpected pleasures of putting an exhibition together: Sometimes the show sends you looking into your own collection with fresh eyes. Nearly 20 pieces from PEM’s collection of Japanese art will be on view as part of the exhibition.

Akari may actually be where the Noguchi influence is most familiar to people who don’t necessarily know his name. His paper lanterns and lighting designs have been so influential that many people may already be living with something Noguchi-inspired without realizing it. (Ahem, looking at you, Ikea.)

And there’s another fascinating story behind those seemingly simple paper lights. While there are now countless interpretations and reproductions of the form, Noguchi’s original Akari designs continue to be made by Ozeki & Co., the family-run workshop in Gifu, Japan, with whom Noguchi developed his designs.  So although the lamps are often replicated, they are never exactly like the original patterns, still fabricated today using the same wooden molds made in Noguchi's lifetime.  

What I love about this story is that Noguchi didn’t simply borrow from a traditional craft. He pushed it somewhere new. He took the familiar materials and techniques of Japanese paper lantern-making and challenged them with new forms, scale, geometry and light. And that experimentation didn’t exist in isolation. The language of form, light, balance and space that he explored through Akari would continue to resonate throughout his sculpture.

So something that can look incredibly simple — a paper lantern, a few ribs of bamboo or wire, a sheet of handmade paper, a light inside — turns out to be connected to a much larger story about craft, design, sculpture and the relationship between tradition and innovation.

Which, of course, is one of the reasons exhibitions like this are so much fun. You start with an object. Then you start pulling the thread. And before you know it, a fully formed exhibition opens, with an amazing gallery installation, interpretive and educational materials and yes, really cool items in the store.

And this is where our work with the Noguchi Museum gets particularly exciting for the PEM Shop.

And if you want to get a preview, many of these pieces will be featured in our upcoming digital holiday catalogs for the PEM Shop and Marine Hall Mercantile. Sign up online (enter your email in the "Stay up to date" field at the bottom of this page) to make sure you’re on the list when they arrive in November. 

This whole journey has revealed, for me, the power of art and the vision of one person, and how that vision can influence the world around us in ways that are easy to take for granted as we move through our daily lives.

Becoming more familiar with Noguchi’s work has been eye-opening. I have found myself looking at things through a new filter, noticing his influence on contemporary design in dozens of new items on the market. It’s amazing what you begin to see once you are tuned in to what to look for, and I know that applies to many other visionaries in the art world.
Once you’ve visited this exhibition, you too might start seeing signs of artists hidden in plain sight.

Isamu Noguchi: “I am not a designer”  is on view September 19, 2026–January 3, 2027. Join us on September 19 for a curator talk and keep an eye on our events page for Noguchi-inspired art workshops and other events throughout the run of the exhibition.