Continuing its engagement with contemporary artists of all disciplines, The Noguchi Museum presents ‘Solid Doubts: Robert Stadler at The Noguchi Museum.’ Comprising four distinct installations that display work by the two men in tandem, the exhibition will explore the ways in which both Robert Stadler and Isamu Noguchi probe—and sometimes undermine—the nature of and distinctions between “art” and “design,” “functional” and “aesthetic,” and “material” and “space,” among other object-based concepts. Organized by The Noguchi Museum and curated by Noguchi Museum Senior Curator Dakin Hart in collaboration with Stadler, the exhibition opens on April 26, 2017, and remainson view through September 3.

Noguchi Museum Director Jenny Dixon notes, “This exhibition, the Museum’s first to feature a contemporary designer’s work in dialogue with Noguchi’s sculptures and designs, is a powerful demonstration of Noguchi’s lasting relevance. Beyond that, in pairing his work with that of the exceptional Robert Stadler, ‘Solid Doubts’ opens new ways of looking at the practice of both, which is exactly what an exhibition should do. We are additionally pleased that the exhibition is part of Oui Design, a program initiated by the Cultural Services of the French Embassy.”

Mr. Hart adds, “Robert Stadler works the fertile land where conceptual, aesthetic, functional, and material considerations meet. This is the same zone that Noguchi explored and labored so hard to expand during his six decades as a category-defier. It is hoped that each installation, and the exhibition overall, will make a case for the reification of ambivalence and assert every object’s right and responsibility to self-doubt.”

As implied by its title, Solid Doubts is intended to make us think anew rather than to make pronouncements. Indeed, ambiguity is central to each of the four installations, three in the galleries and one in the Museum’s sculpture garden. Together, they will create a critique of traditional notions of the relationship between furniture and sculpture, among other ideas.

Vienna-born Robert Stadler studied design at the Istituto Europeo di Design, in Milan, and the École nationale supérieure de création industrielle, in Paris, where he continues to work. In 1992, he co-founded RADI Designers collective, whose varied practice revolved around the marriage of the everyday and the unusual. In 2001, he began working on solo projects while continuing to collaborate with RADI until its dissolution in 2008. Stadler’s work ranges from furniture, product, and interior design to art-based installations, exhibitions, and curating.

His designs may be found in international collections, including Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden; Les Arts Décoratifs, Paris, France; MAK, Museum for Applied Arts—Contemporary Art, Vienna; FNAC—Fond National d’art contemporain, Paris; and Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain, Paris. During the course of the Noguchi Museum exhibition, his work will also be on view in New York City in a solo show at Carpenters Workshop Gallery (Weight Class) from April 27 through June 17, and at Collective Design Fair, in an additional collaborative installation with The Noguchi Museum (Waiting Room: Noguchi/Stadler) from May 3 through 7. The Noguchi Museum exhibition also coincides with Stadler’s first retrospective at the Kunsthalle im Lipsiusbau, Dresden, Germany (You May Also Like: Robert Stadler) from March 18 through June 25.