Temitayo Ogunbiyi, You will follow the Rhein and compose play (playground), 2024. Steel, rubber, concrete, manila rope. Commissioned by the Museum Tinguely and the Bundeskunsthalle. Photo: Courtesy of Temitayo Ogunbiyi

First U.S. Solo Exhibition by Lagos-Based Artist Temitayo Ogunbiyi Opens June 18, 2025

New York (February, 2025) — The Isamu Noguchi Foundation and Garden Museum is pleased to announce Temitayo Ogunbiyi: You will wonder if we would have been friends, the first solo museum exhibition in the United States by Nigeria-based artist Temitayo Ogunbiyi (b. 1984). On view from June 18 to November 2, 2025, the exhibition will feature sculptures, paintings, and drawings installed throughout the Museum’s first-floor galleries and garden.

This exhibition takes place in a milestone year for The Noguchi Museum, as the institution celebrates its 40th anniversary. For four decades, the Museum has been a space of exploration, reflection, and dialogue through Isamu Noguchi’s (1904–1988) legacy and its ongoing programming. In this spirit, Ogunbiyi’s work—focused on the intersection of play, community, and global histories— provides a poignant continuation of Noguchi’s belief in art as a tool for physical engagement and shared experience.

Ogunbiyi’s work responds to global events, anthropological histories, design, and botanical cultures, forging dialogues between these themes. Increasingly focused on the role of play in society, Ogunbiyi has drawn inspiration from Isamu Noguchi’s exploration of open-ended, non-directive play to expand sculpture’s civic potential. For this exhibition, Ogunbiyi will create site-specific interactive installations for play, sculptures for music making, and an outdoor installation incorporating input from the Museum’s greater community.

Curated by Matthew Kirsch, Curator and Director of Research at The Noguchi Museum, the exhibition spans four of the Museum’s galleries and features a diverse selection of works, including sculptures, drawings, and maquettes.

The work and interests of Ogunbiyi align with various facets of Noguchi’s own practice, from an interest in the world of discovery through play, to the reinvigoration of time-tested materials and methods, and a broader exploration of the artist’s place within both their community and nature. Ogunbiyi has created two distinct series of works that will engage in a direct conversation with Noguchi’s permanent display. One of these includes a cluster of seven bronze musical sculptures, which will occupy the indoor/outdoor galleries (Area 1), as well as a series of copper alloy grinding stones that will be installed within Noguchi’s tranquil garden (Area 2). Each grinding stone was cast from a well-worn example used by, and passed down within, the families of friends of Ogunbiyi’s. For Ogunbiyi this once ubiquitous tool holds both familial specificity and universal value. They represent shared investments of dreams, labor, and intentions for future generations. For the first time, Ogunbiyi has invited members of an exhibiting institution’s community to contribute written messages that will be engraved upon the stones. This installation highlights the multi-lingual borough of Queens.

“How can we exist with deeper presence while striving for more?” says artist Temitayo Ogunbiyi. “My practice explores the tension between similarity and difference—how those before us and those we encounter shape our sense of self and aspirations. I often begin with botanical observations, hair textures, disrupted patterns, and omitted personal archives that challenge dominant narratives. Studying Japanese from an early age shaped how I engage with materials, and living in Lagos has led me to reflect on the intersections of Yoruba, Edo, and Japanese cultures. Returning to New York, a city I once called home but now feel distant from, reminds me that our unique experiences can help us navigate shared human connections. Isamu Noguchi, deeply engaged in play and interactivity, seemed caught between cultures, seeking ways to connect across geographies. I, too, see the U.S. as a platform for broader conversations—ones that go beyond ancestry and borders. It’s an honor to share my work here and now, and I hope it sparks dialogue that resonates.”

LOCATION: The Noguchi Museum 9-01 33rd Road (at Vernon Boulevard) Long Island City, NY 11106 Tel: 718.204.7088 noguchi.org/events

To read the entire press release: https://www.noguchi.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Temitayo-Ogunbiyi-You-will-wonder-if-we-would-have-been-friends-2025-press-release.pdf