Ambassador Kanji Yamanouchi,
Ambassador and Consul General of Japan in New York
2019 Spring Benefit and Isamu Noguchi Award
May 2, 2019
On May 2, 2019, The Noguchi Museum honored designer Rei Kawakubo with the sixth annual Isamu Noguchi Award. The silent auction included two works by Isamu Noguchi: Kaki-Persimmons, AP from an edition of 12 with 2 APs, and Squirrel, number 5 from an edition of 12 with 3 APs, that were auctioned individually.
2019 Honoree
Photo: Paolo Roversi / ©Comme des Garçons
Rei Kawakubo
Hailed as one of the most brilliant and innovative designers of our time, Rei Kawakubo has consistently defied notions not only of beauty, but also of what fashion can be, at once confounding our expectations for clothing and—like Isamu Noguchi—challenging the idea that design and art are inherently different endeavors. Also like Noguchi, Kawakubo celebrates not only forms, but also the spaces between them.
Kawakubo is founder of COMME des GARÇONS and co-founder of Dover Street Market, and her design practice extends beyond clothing to the graphic design, advertising, and interiors for her businesses, which she considers to be inextricable components of her aesthetic vision. Her work has appeared in several exhibitions, including a critically acclaimed solo exhibition at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in 2017, which was only the second monographic show awarded to a living designer by The Met. 2019 marks the 50th anniversary of COMME des GARÇONS.
Kawakubo received the Fashion Group International Award in 1986 and the Excellence in Design Award from Harvard University Graduate School of Design in 2000. In 1993 she was named a Chevalier in the Order of Arts and Letters by the French government. She divides her time between Tokyo and Paris.
HONORARY BENEFIT CHAIR
BENEFIT CO-CHAIRS
Spencer Bailey
Phyllis Lally Seevers
Eric Shiner
Phyllis Lally Seevers
Eric Shiner
BENEFIT COMMITTEE
Naomi S. Antonakos
Sarah Arison
Andy Augenblick and Alex Ross
Spencer Bailey
Susanna Baird
Frances Beatty and Alexander Adler
Desiree and Olivier Berggruen
Noreen and Ken Buckfire
John Cahill
Carpenters Workshop Gallery
Katherin and Charles Crow
Danese/Corey
Peggy and Dick Danziger
Sharon Davis
Susan Dunne
The Durst Organization
Donald H. Elliott
Anne-Marie and Peter Embiricos
Katherine and Luke Fichthorn
Christiane Fischer
Eileen and Andrew Fisher
Sara Friedlander
Galerie Lelong & Co.
George Nakashima Woodworkers
Lisa Goldberg
Elizabeth F. Harris
Marine Hartogs and Maximilian Coreth
Gail Hashimoto
Steven Henry and Philip Shneidman
Hermès of Paris
Andrea and David Holbrook
ITO EN (North America) INC.
J.C.C. Fund, Japanese Chamber of Commerce and Industry of New York
Eileen and Peter Jachym
Kasmin Gallery
Susan and Peter Kessler
Emily-Jane Kirwan
Valerie and Patrick Lally
Lucy W. Lamphere
Anki Leeds
Jennifer and Steven Lorch
Nancy Lorenz
Marian Goodman Gallery
Jonathan J. Marvel
Karen McDonald
Kathy Mele
MGM Resorts
LeConte Moore, DeWitt Stern
Toshiko Mori
Hiroko and Satoru Murase
Helen Nitkin and Joel Rosenkranz
Jennifer and Malcolm Nolen
Pace Gallery
Russel and Julie Patterson
Monique Péan and Stephen Glass
Doralynn Pines
Nancy and Fred Poses
Jane Richards
Mr. and Mrs. Samuel Sachs
Nicholas Sands
Phyllis and Leonard Seevers
SEIZAN Gallery
Cindy Sherman
Mr. and Mrs. Stephen C. Sherrill
Eric C. Shiner
Victoria Siddall
Silberstein-Boesky Family Foundation
Elizabeth Strong-Cuevas
Sundaram Tagore
Tiffany & Co.
Alice Tisch
Tishman Speyer
Ian Wardropper
Carol Warner
Anthony Williams
Richard Wright
Peter Wunsch
Kazumi Yanai
Kulapat Yantrasast, wHY
Sarah Arison
Andy Augenblick and Alex Ross
Spencer Bailey
Susanna Baird
Frances Beatty and Alexander Adler
Desiree and Olivier Berggruen
Noreen and Ken Buckfire
John Cahill
Carpenters Workshop Gallery
Katherin and Charles Crow
Danese/Corey
Peggy and Dick Danziger
Sharon Davis
Susan Dunne
The Durst Organization
Donald H. Elliott
Anne-Marie and Peter Embiricos
Katherine and Luke Fichthorn
Christiane Fischer
Eileen and Andrew Fisher
Sara Friedlander
Galerie Lelong & Co.
George Nakashima Woodworkers
Lisa Goldberg
Elizabeth F. Harris
Marine Hartogs and Maximilian Coreth
Gail Hashimoto
Steven Henry and Philip Shneidman
Hermès of Paris
Andrea and David Holbrook
ITO EN (North America) INC.
J.C.C. Fund, Japanese Chamber of Commerce and Industry of New York
Eileen and Peter Jachym
Kasmin Gallery
Susan and Peter Kessler
Emily-Jane Kirwan
Valerie and Patrick Lally
Lucy W. Lamphere
Anki Leeds
Jennifer and Steven Lorch
Nancy Lorenz
Marian Goodman Gallery
Jonathan J. Marvel
Karen McDonald
Kathy Mele
MGM Resorts
LeConte Moore, DeWitt Stern
Toshiko Mori
Hiroko and Satoru Murase
Helen Nitkin and Joel Rosenkranz
Jennifer and Malcolm Nolen
Pace Gallery
Russel and Julie Patterson
Monique Péan and Stephen Glass
Doralynn Pines
Nancy and Fred Poses
Jane Richards
Mr. and Mrs. Samuel Sachs
Nicholas Sands
Phyllis and Leonard Seevers
SEIZAN Gallery
Cindy Sherman
Mr. and Mrs. Stephen C. Sherrill
Eric C. Shiner
Victoria Siddall
Silberstein-Boesky Family Foundation
Elizabeth Strong-Cuevas
Sundaram Tagore
Tiffany & Co.
Alice Tisch
Tishman Speyer
Ian Wardropper
Carol Warner
Anthony Williams
Richard Wright
Peter Wunsch
Kazumi Yanai
Kulapat Yantrasast, wHY
The Spring Benefit
Each May The Noguchi Museum hosts its annual benefit and Isamu Noguchi Award presentation. The evening begins with cocktails and the award ceremony in the Museum’s celebrated sculpture garden, followed by a seated dinner and a silent auction in the galleries. Proceeds from the evening support the Museum, its collection, exhibitions, and programs.
The Isamu Noguchi Award
Launched at The Noguchi Museum’s 2014 Spring Benefit, the Isamu Noguchi Award was established to honor the tenets that Noguchi expressed in his life’s work and to acknowledge other like-minded, highly accomplished individuals who reflect similar ideals in their own times. The Award thus celebrates innovation, global awareness, and Eastern and Western exchange.