You may already know Black Sun — Isamu Noguchi's monumental basalt sculpture overlooking Puget Sound and the Olympic Mountains in Volunteer Park. Beloved by generations of Seattle visitors, the work invites you to look through it as much as at it, framing landscape, light, and atmosphere in constantly changing ways. It is a powerful local entry point into the world of one of the 20th century's most far-reaching artists.
Art historian Rebecca Albiani explores the life and legacy of Noguchi — an artist who worked fluidly across sculpture, landscape design, furniture, lighting, theater, and public spaces, creating work that consistently blurred the boundaries between art and everyday life. Born to a Japanese father and American mother, Noguchi navigated questions of identity, belonging, and cultural heritage throughout his career, and those tensions animate his art in ways that feel as relevant today as ever.
From his celebrated Akari light sculptures to his collaboration with choreographer Martha Graham, Noguchi approached art as something to be experienced physically, emotionally, and communally. His enduring fascination with form and void, nature and humanity, stillness and movement produced a body of work that continues to shape modern ideas about how art can inhabit both public space and daily human experience.
Starting with a sculpture you already know — and love — Rebecca opens a window onto an artist whose influence stretched across continents, disciplines, and decades.