Something drastic is happening at Noguchi Museum in Queens. Gallery attendants, curators, project managers, handlers, educators and registrars took over to organize an on-site exhibition of staff works. Plus, they get paid to do it.

To say the more than two dozen works exhibited at “A living mechanismranging from paintings to experimental installations to intricate sculptures, are good seems like a disservice, as if to ignore the well-known reality that American museums are staffed full of hopeful artists (indeed, almost everyone here has a master’s degree in arts). But yes, the works are strong and as diverse in scope and subject matter as the individuals who rock the Noguchi.

It is certainly a spectacle that the workers of the artistic institution deserve. In the middle of the The George Floyd protests of 2020 with many museums enduring closures, institutions put socially conscious statements on their websites and aired Zoom seminars on issues of inclusivity and equity. Change was coming. The Guardians, it seemed, might loosen their grip.

Not that “A Living Mechanism” is a goodwill gesture from above. It was negotiated and fought by the museum’s anti-oppression committee, a co-curator of the process, Orlando Lacro, said it proved a shocking success. “I’ve never heard of a museum paying attendees to do a staff exhibit,” Lacro told Artnet News. “It’s not a performative gesture of the museum; it was a gallery owner’s project, defended by gallery owners. We were given an unconditional budget, with full creative and logistical control. It’s an example of how the staff make the museum what it is.

The name of the show evokes not only the collaborative way in which it was conceived and executed, but also the spirit in which Isamu Noguchi worked. From Greenwich Village to the hamlet of Mure in Shikoku, Japan, Noguchi has always been looking for collaborators– indeed, the museum held a focused exhibition on the subject in 2010. Shamysia Waterman, co-curator of the exhibition, said Noguchi’s ability to connect with a wide range of people explains the diversity of the art and its appeal.

“‘A Living Mechanism’ taps into Noguchi’s philosophy of leveraging every part of space to create a harmonious environment,” Waterman said. “His essence lives on.”

Here are five artists exhibited at the Noguchi Museum.

Harumi Ori, I’m Here @ Green St & Spring St, New York, NY (2021)

Harumi Ori, I’m here at Green St and Spring St New York NY (2021). Photo courtesy of Noguchi Museum.

In New York, orange is the color of steamer cones, part of the city’s flag, a slice of questionable pizza. But in Japan, color is sacred and for two decades, Ori has been playing with this contrast. In sparse yet detailed works, she reuses orange industrial mesh to capture unique moments on the streets of New York. “The connections between individuals and groups, and the landscapes they traverse and share are revealed,” Ori said. “It is the beauty of these relationships that I wish to express.”

Shinsuke Aso, Get out of a rut (2023)

Shinsuke Aso, Get out of a rut (2023). Photo courtesy of Noguchi Museum.

aso has an eye for photographing the humorous side of everyday objects. His collage works are equally playful and bring together discarded objects into pieces that ask viewers “open questions.” Get out of a rut places a watch, an oversized playing card and a plastic coat hanger on sections of acrylic paper – items all found on-site at the museum, where the Japanese-born artist works as a store associate.

Jared Friedman, Withdrawal (ATM 1) (2023)

Jared Friedman, ATM I (2023). Photo courtesy of Noguchi Museum.

Forget the postcard architectures of the city; Friedman focuses on the curious forms of the small, the neglected, the boring familiar. On canvas, carpet and artificial turf, he paints ubiquitous toilet cubicles, white cardboard take-out boxes, four leaves tile vents. The hope, he says, is to challenge our sentimentality. It’s easy to imagine the street corner of the bodega with its shabby ATM affixed, its bright blue screen, its unreadable stickers.

Johnathan Glass, Jim Ridl Trio at Deer Head Inn (2022)

Jonathan Glass, Jim Ridl Trio at Deer Head Inn (2022). Photo courtesy of Noguchi Museum.

Glass is a special type of jazz lover. He knows the club circuit well (Village Vanguard is his favourite) and has a tasteful record collection, but what he loves most are the frantic pen-and-ink drawings he sketch in real time during trade fairs. For Glass, capturing sound means imitating the movements of the musicians themselves. It’s all there, the scattering of hair, the concerted expressions, the eye contact, the flickering strings. Here he shows two works: Robert Glasper’s Dinner and Jim Ridl Trio at Deer Head Inn.

Yali Romagoza, Cuban pain, Body I am (2022)

Yali Romagoza, Pain from Cuba Body I am (2022). Photo courtesy of Noguchi Museum.

Cuban-born interdisciplinary artist Yali Romagoza has an alter ego and at the Noguchi Museum, he is lying on a bed of sand staring at the ceiling. Above, the sounds of lapping water and poetry accompany a video projection of a flooded restless body on a dark shore. It is Romagoza’s response to the disorientation she has experienced since moving to the United States in 2011 and the lingering desire she feels to return home.

“A Living Mechanism: The Noguchi Museum Staff Exhibitionis on display at the Noguchi Museum, 9-01 33rd Road, Queens, New York, through June 15.

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