Noguchi’s New York at the Noguchi Garden and Museum

In 1922, Isamu Noguchi first moved to New York—a city that would remain his on-again, off-again home for the remainder of his life. Though he was an avid traveler who built meaningful connections and temporary homes around the world, Noguchi always returned to New York. It was here that he created some of his most iconic artworks and imagined countless others. Above: Isamu Noguchi working at his MacDougal Alley Studio, Isamu Noguchi, Time Lock, 1944–45. Languedoc marble. 26 1/4 x 20 September 25, 1946, New York. Photo: Eliot Elisofon 

“Like a lot of New Yorkers, I was one of those bitten by some kind of an idealism...What made me do things [for New York]?...It’s not just a job. Cause I really don’t do it for money... It's simply a kind of gesture towards a faithfulness to one's idealism...New Yorkers after all felt a special relationship to the world. They were on this island looking out on the whole damn world, which they had to do something about. And so my way was not the way of words, but the way of doing things, making something which might sort of approach that which one felt the world could be. Little spots here and there, so that instead of going to the moon, you bring the moon to you.” 

Organized on the 40th anniversary of The Isamu Noguchi Foundation and Garden Museum, this exhibition celebrates the Museum itself as one of Noguchi’s most profound gifts to this city he called home as it explores Noguchi’s deep and dynamic relationship with New York City he called home. It also highlights Noguchi’s unflagging attempts to give back by sculpting communal spaces for exploration and play—efforts often thwarted, most notably by the influential NYC Parks Commissioner Robert Moses. Above: Isamu Noguchi, Red Cube, 1968. Photo: Miguel de Guzman and Photo: Nicholas Knight. ©INFGM / ARS Rocio Romero

Highlights include Noguchi’s unrealized proposals for playgrounds, gardens, and public plazas as seen through models and blueprints that underscore his ongoing attempts to sculpt spaces that encouraged non-directed play. For this exhibition, Noguchi’s visions for playground equipment and unrealized playgrounds are brought to life in the Museum’s galleries through a series of short animated films by Jack Cunningham and Nicolas Menard of Eastend Western. The exhibition also traces the history behind Noguchi’s realized public works in the city, including News (Associated Press Building Plaque) (1938–40), Red Cube (1968), and the Sunken Garden at Chase Manhattan Bank Plaza (1961–64). 

An additional section of archival materials offers glimpses into newly discovered project proposals and commissions that Noguchi considered, including a contoured sculpture garden for the Museum of Modern Art (1941), play equipment for the apes at the Bronx Zoo (1946), and an entire redesign of Washington Square Park (1961). 

Continuing through September 13 at the Noguchi Garden and Museum, 9-01 33rd Road (at Vernon Boulevard) , Long Island City, NY Info

 Modern Women / Modern Vision: Photographs from the Bank of America Collection at Hudson River Museum

Since photography’s inception in 1839, women have stood among its artistic and technological pioneers, at the forefront of every photographic movement and style. Iconic works by Diane Arbus, Graciela Iturbide, Barbara Kruger, Dorothea Lange, Cindy Sherman, and Carrie Mae Weems, alongside many others, tell the dynamic story of photography’s evolution across six thematic sections: Modernist Innovators, Documentary Photography and the New Deal, the Photo League, Modern Masters, Exploring the Environment, and the Global Contemporary Lens. Left: Gertrude Käsebier (American, 1852–1934). Portrait–Miss Minnie Ashley, 1905

Women played an integral role in framing the modern experience through the lens of the camera. From 1900 onward, women negotiated waves of social, political, and economic change, increasingly leveraging photography as a means of creativity, financial independence, and personal freedom. Disrupting longstanding constraints placed on women’s social behavior and spheres, early trailblazers helped establish photography not only as a vital form of creative expression but also provided a unique window on society by pursuing subjects not deemed important to male photographers. They overcame discrimination and served as role models for subsequent generations of artists across the spectrum. Diverse in style, tone, and subject, these photographs reveal the bold and dynamic ways women have contributed to the development and evolution of the art of photography.

Through  May 10at the Hudson River Museum, 511 Warburton Avenue, Yonkers, NY Info

Friday, February 6, 6-8 pm: Breathe | NY Artists Circle at Westbeth

In a world that often feels overstimulated and demanding, Breathe offers a space to slow down. Featuring work by members of the New York Artists Circle, the exhibition considers breath not only as a basic human function, but as a moment of pause, reflection, and grounding.

Artists approach the theme from a range of perspectives—some through the physical act of breathing and its vulnerability, others through breath as a metaphor for stillness, resilience, and claiming space. Together, the works invite viewers to step away from the noise and reconnect with a sense of presence and balance. The show can also be viewed online starting February 6

Save the date: February 12, Curators talk; February 22, 3-5pm: Closing party and curators talk

Through February 22 at Westbeth Gallery, 55 Bethune Street, New York, NY Info

Saturday, February 7, noon: Lunar New Years Afternoon at Abrons Art Center

Abrons Arts Center, Lucky Risograph and The W.O.W. Project hosts an afternoon of all-ages arts activities, karaoke, and a lion dance performance to celebrate the year of the fire horse. 

Lucky Risograph is a POC-owned print, design studio, and publisher based in DUMBO, NY. Primarily working through the medium of risograph printing, they create a wide variety of printed matter ranging from postcards to art books. They incorporate risograph’s eco-conscious and affordable nature into everyday art practice, working with diverse artist communities. In addition, we also offer in-person and virtual workshops, DIY lessons, and open studio hours.

The W.O.W. Project is a women, non-binary, queer, trans-led, community-based initiative that works to grow, protect and preserve Chinatown’s creative culture through arts and activism. W.O.W. Project programs include artist residencies, youth programs and internships, public artworks and events, and mutual aid.

This event is free and open to the public.

Abrons Art Center, 466 Grand Street, at Pitt Street, New York, NY Info

And this just in from Hyperallergic:

Ocean Vuong | Song and Nona Faustine | What My Mother Gave Me at CPW

This season, the Center for Photography in Woodstock presents several poignant photography shows at once, including works by writer Ocean Vuong and visionary images by the late Nona Faustine — the first retrospective of her powerful self-portraiture. Both Vuong and Faustine explore and interrogate notions of representation, history, and place, among other thundering themes. Vuong’s images reveal his dynamic creative sensibilities as a poet, novelist, and photographer; “American Brothers” (2024), for instance, depicts two young Asian men holding an American flag, capturing a moment of seriousness that feels like the opening line of a story. Faustine is utterly fearless in her presentation of her exposed body in locations around New York, highlighting historical atrocities through works such as “From Her Body Came Their Greatest Wealth, Wall Street, NYC” (2013), a candid title that aptly discloses her truth-to-power illumination of the past. Above: Ocean Vuong, “Memorial” (2023),

Through May 10 at Center for Photography at Woodstock, 25 Dedrick Street, Kingston, NY Info