A New Exhibit at The Noguchi Museum Invites Childlike Wonder

Play is the universal language of creativity, sparking connections across generations and cultures. In You will wonder if we would have been friends, on view at The Noguchi Museum, Lagos-based artist Temitayo Ogunbiyi transforms the timeless concept of play into a captivating, evocative showcase. The work is featured as part of the Queens, NY-based museum’s 40th anniversary. In what is Ogunbiyi’s first U.S. exhibition, she weaves her innovative sculptures, music, and interactive installations with Noguchi’s visionary works, inviting you to explore and, quite literally, play.

“Throughout my life, I have found it constructive to be in continual dialogue with other creatives,” Ogunbiyi says. Her work is a creative response to Noguchi’s belief that sculpture should be interactive and engaging.

Temitayo Ogunbiyi Captures the Concept of Wonder in Her Showcase

Noguchi curator Matthew Kirsch explains: “Noguchi always talked about taking sculpture away from the false horizon of the museum pedestal and inserting it into everyday life.”

In her installation Area 1, Ogunbiyi’s You will revisit paths to friendship, a cluster of copper alloy musical sculptures are arranged among Noguchi’s basalt and granite works. The sinuous forms of each sculpture are representations of a hypothetical pathway Noguchi might have walked between his Upper East Side apartment and Long Island City studio. These musical sculptures are activated during public tours by museum educators, who use mallets crafted from knife handles and wooden forms. The sculptures invite “musical play” and allow the viewer to become part of the process. 

Viewers Are Invited To Play at This Noguchi Museum Exhibition

The bases of the sculptures are representations of Noguchi’s Akari lamps, Aji granite stones, and other personal items. Ogunbiyi’s engagement with Noguchi’s archive has connected their intertwining ideas and itinerant lives through expression. “It’s almost like I’m speaking to him over time,” Ogunbiyi says, noting the exhibition’s title is a Nigerian phrase of goodwill, addressing Noguchi as if in conversation.

In Area 6, You will pave paths of life with play stainless steel sculptures bound with Manila rope to create an inviting space for climbing and playing. Drawing inspiration from Noguchi’s Play Sculpture, Ogynbiyi explains, “I’m always looking for ways that the viewer can feel closer in proximity to the work.”

Her use of available domestic materials fosters unscripted play and promotes imagination. People are encouraged to come and experience an environment where artistry converges with play, immersing themselves in the legacy of creativity at The Noguchi Museum in Queens.

Explore These Playful Pieces by Temitayo Ogunbiyi