The Noguchi Museum

Noguchi Museum is how every museum should be – big, beautiful and… not crowded.
I came recently and saw the Tom Sachs exhibit and Noguchi’s work. I really liked Sachs’s work. It’s peculiar, funny, and draws inspiration from Japanese culture, NASA, and household appliances. Each piece is a conversation starter. You could spend hours looking at Sachs’s creations. My favorite was the mechanical lobster (see picture).
The pieces of work are nicely spread apart in a big two story building with a small garden. There is even a small pond inside with koi fish. It’s a relaxing way to spend an afternoon. Highly recommended!
Note: They don’t have places to lock your bike. Find a pole or you could lock up at the nearby park.

«The premise of Noguchi’s life and work was the idea that the truest form of respect you can show another culture, traditional or otherwise, is participation: deep engagement, followed by creative adaptation.»
I visited during the grand opening of the Tom Sachs exhibit. The concept of Tom Sachs being exhibited alongside Noguchi’s work was fascinating, thought I still didn’t quite understand the intersection.
The best explanation came from the laminated placard:
Why Tom Sachs at the Noguchi Museum?
1. I believe in the true development of old traditions.
2. To be hybrid anticipates the future.
3. The future does not belong only to the futurists.
4. Nothing is new, but everything’s new.
5. I like the Japan that I know and want to know, not the Japan that is imposed upon me… I am not about today or yesterday, but only that which is useful to me. Many people live in Japan historically; I don.t.
6. I expect Japan to be the first country to take off as a whole into outer space!
7. Ultimately, I like to think, when you get to the furthest point of technology, when you get to outer space, what do you find to bring back? Rocks!
8. I don’t look at art as something separate and sacrosanct. It’s part of usefulness.
9. Consult NASA.
10. So that art might have the kind of authority that religions have had in getting people to respect and value their part of the earth.
Now you’ll have to visit to know what we are talking about :)
I enjoyed Noguchi’s sculptures but felt that the warehouse-​like building detracted from the deeper sense of the artist’s work. I did enjoy all of the natural light.
My friend and I both felt that the garden was the best area. Tranquil, sunlit, and blooming. This was the space that Noguchi was meant to occupy.
Loved the book/​gift shop and café. I read an excerpt in one of the Noguchi books about his collaboration (s) with Martha Graham (!!!) amazing.
$ 10 for admission. There are tea ceremonies.

Not everyone will recognize the name Isamu Noguchi. If you see some of his sculptures, you will certainly recognize those however. Noguchi’s abstract sculptures can be found in many outdoor public spaces all around the world. His furniture designs are also still sold to this day. This museum collects many of his works in a simple and relaxing setting. I especially the dug the outdoor garden area.

Beautiful place. The wide space adds to the intimate study of the sculptures. The open garden features an array of rock sculptures that forces you to stop and enjoy the beauty of nature. The trickling water sculpture melts away tension.
Inside the museum, the floor exhibits peaks your interest. One of the rock exhibits create an illusion of walking on the beach. Some drawings feature various tones and strokes mimicking the subtlety of nature. I loved looking at how some rock sculptures have been manipulated into another organic forms. I thought they looked amazing.
Visit the small gift shop and a café.
Take a guided tour of this museum. This helps you to appreciate how Noguchi saw the world around him.
This museum contains a very zen atmosphere. Walking around and observing the rock sculptures help to relieve your tension. It restores your mind and soul. Come and relax.

If you’re jonesing for a zen fix, this is the place. And it’s a great destination for New Yorkers looking for something new and different to do. Yes, it’s a bit harder to get to, but take that as part of the fun. Make the visit an adventure and work in some other sites in the area like Astor Bake Shop for lunch and the Socrates Sculpture Park. There’s lots of incredible graffiti art around the area as well. Noguchi’s art is really awe inspiring if you like the whole modern, minimalist thing. We’ve all seen countless marble statues of people, so it can’t hurt to just see a big round, rock thing sometimes. There’s also a tranquil rock garden to sit in and contemplate where the universe came from.

4 stars for the nice serene museum. The outdoor area is beautiful and calming.
–4 stars for the dead tabby cat draped over a sculpture. What the fuck, no one wants to see that.

Per their site, the garden sure seems kinda open to me, even though the entire place was absolutely dead for the free first Friday of the month. Can’t really see myself stopping back in even if at Costco, but glad we dropped by.

East and West meet here, a home, a studio and a museum, a garden with art work and bamboo, without the crowded, I always enjoy each time when i visit.

The bottom line with this place is: it’s a welcome spot of high culture out by the water in Astoria /​LIC. Come here to appreciate the beauty of Noguchi’s sculptures and also the rich history of his life. Did you know that he is hapa? Did you know that he volunteered to be relocated to an internment camp during World War 2? We learned a lot from our visit to the Noguchi museum and then had a fun run home in the rain afterwards. I highly recommend this as a spot for dates, a learning adventure, or personal introspection.

An amazing secluded place in NYC. An architectural treasure with history and great art. A quiet serene Japanese garden. If you are at the Noguchi house you loose a feeling that it’s all still in New York.
Unilocal is probably not the right place to write a lot about Noguchi himself — Unilocal is more about a place review rather than an art essay. So talking about this place, it’s an absolutely must-​see! Worth going to Astoria.

Wonderfully serene space and garden. An oasis in the rough and tumble industrial western edge of Astoria. I loved the starkness of the cinderblock and concrete clad building with various open cutouts and skylights. It was a perfect way to view the many examples of Noguchi’s (not as well known) sculptural body of work.
I’m ashamed to say that while it was always on my list to check out, I’d never made it in the 17+ years of being in NYC (and a lot of it as a resident of Astoria).

From an early age, I’ve always enjoyed all types of museums. But for some reason, this one seems to be my exception. Perhaps because there weren’t enough exhibits for me, perhaps because the cafeteria didn’t have much of a selection, perhaps because it didn’t have workshops for the kids, perhaps because the harsh winter took away from their outdoor space.
I’d perhaps try it again another day but for today, I’d rather be at hellish Costco.

I visited this museum one summer while on a walking tour from Roosevelt Island and we walked over the bridge into Long Island City. It was hot and I was looking forward to some cool air conditioning. Boy was I wrong, the museum lacked sufficient AC but it was still a reprieve from the sun and long walking we did for the day. The staff were friendly and helpful with visitor questions. We had to pay $ 10 I believe which was a lot more than I really wanted to pay.
I was able to check out both floors and their beautiful garden area. The museum was simple, clean and pristine. After about 20 minutes in the museum everything started looking the same and I had satisfied my interest. However, it’s definitely a place to check out if you’re in the area.

With Jon Stewart announcing his departure from The Daily Show today, we viewers will have to prepare by returning to more traditional forms of zen.
This museum houses works of Isamu Noguchi, one of the giants of 20^th century sculpture. Inside this grey cinder block complex is a serene urban rock garden of bold abstract forms that celebrate texture and form.
On my visit, a number of families were visiting with their children and I was reminded how young people really embrace Noguchi’s pieces: the simple forms inspire the imagination.
In NYC, especially, it can be difficult to find peaceful spaces and, when you do, you cherish them. Here’s your moment of zen.

Great museum.
1) I would recommend coming here when they gives tours. Usually it is at 2pm Wednesday-​Sunday. But call before you come. The art is complex, so it helps if there is someone who can explain it.
2) The student price is reasonable, the full price is not.
3) On the first Friday of every month year-​round, Museum admission is free.

Very interesting, beautiful pieces… what talent and skill… and the garden is so peaceful; I could honestly sit there all day.

We visited here in the Saturday afternoon.
The whole museum was full of his stone arts and also enjoyed video
about his life and work.
As a Japanese this place was definitely worth a visit.

I did not know what to expect from Noguchi museum. His legacy, people he worked with, the recognition of his work — that’s all well known, of course. But the museum in Astoria is something else… It is very different from any museum you visited, and in a sense, it reflects his style and personality.
There are 3 distinct spaces here — semi-​open industrial space for large stone pieces; indoor exhibit for fine stone and drawings; and garden.
I came here in a middle of the winter — seeing sculptures in open areas covered by pristine white powdery snow, evergreens spreading their brunches over quiet garden, and bamboo, still green, whispering in a wind was very serene…
His sculptures carry simplicity of Japanese art, fine lines of Chinese brush strokes and infusion of surrealism movement, and names reflect that as well.
His drawing exhibition is impressive. The lines, brushstrokes, the movement, feeling of the person pictured and the artist’s soul — all put on paper… Simply beautiful.
The fountain basin, set in separate room, has a bench in front of it. Very quiet, just murmur of water — you and his art… Enjoy.

The Noguchi Museum is a quiet, small museum in Long Island City. If I lived in Queens, I would become a member so I could go every once in awhile and sit in those rooms. However anyone who lives in New York should overcome the hyper-​localization tendency and visit the Noguchi Museum, because it is so unique and perfect. It’s just a collection of sculptures, and of one artist. It’s like the opposite of the Met.
I took the subway + bus there, but saw a bike path along at least part of the route (the end). Another time I went to Queens I biked and it was fine. It takes the same amount of time.

Going to museums have been my thang (yes, I’m very slangy – get over it) lately, y’know?
2012 may have been the year of love for some, but 2012 has been the year of museums for me and new discoveries. .
I went to quite a few in just 5 days in Chicago, now this.
It’s a shame. I went to high school right there, made occasional stops at the Costco cafeteria to cater my poor high school ass, made history and cleaned the Socrates Sculpture Park when it was just plain ol’ dirt (yes folks, that neat cut grass you see there was plowed by me).but I NEVER knew a museum existed there. Was I missing something? HELL YEAH. I FEEL INACTIVE NOW. Then again, I wouldn’t have been as interested as a kid.
The museum is not your typical oil on canvas or chalk on canvas-​kind of museum. It’s all rocks and figures. I never knew rocks could be such a form of art. Some of the pieces are nice, especially that outdoor fountain. Although the outside is peaceful and nice, the whole museum looks like a storage warehouse bought from Costco (except upstairs). I can’t interpret art very well, so I have no idea what most of these shapes are supposed to represent but it’s intriguing how much you can do with a rock.
I came here on free museum day but I don’t think I’ll have much interest in coming back. The guides are actually on the bins on the side but I can understand why the names aren’t shown.

Il s’agit d’un musée consacré à Isamo Noguchi, sculpteur et créateur des célèbres lampes hakari en papier.
lors de la visite de ce lieu vous pourrez voir ses sculptures en pierre mais aussi en acier. Mais surtout né manquez pas l’étage réservé à ses lampes en papier. Elles sont vraiment superbes.
L’endroit est un peu difficile à trouver, car il se situe dans le Queens. Le musée est dans une rue très calme et sûre.
Nous avons vraiment aimer visiter ce lieu car le contraste est énorme avec Manhattan. vous pourrez vous promener dans un petit jardin, écouter les fontaines couler sans aucun bruit de voiture.
Même si vous n’êtes pas passionnés ça vaut le coup d’aller faire un tour.
De plus la boutique du musée regorge de super ouvrages sur le design contemporain.