Craft Front & Center

Conversation Pieces

Ongoing

Exploring craft's collaborative practices, Craft Front & Center: Conversation Pieces brings pioneering twentieth-century craft artists into dialogue with contemporary artists who are rethinking craft techniques and materials. The exhibition draws from MAD's permanent collection and includes more than sixty historic, recently acquired, and commissioned works in a range of artistic media; most prominently, the central craft materials of ceramic, glass, and fiber.

Three overlapping thematic sections illuminate craft’s collaborative approaches to learning and working. The “Teachers and Students” section presents works by artist educators alongside works by their pupils. “Collaborations” provides an expansive view of artistic partnerships. “Generational Dialogues” section examines how the creative resonances of the studio craft movement continue to influence artists and designers today.

Artists on View

Anni Albers
AYDO Studio (A young Yu and Nicholas Oh)
André Azevedo
Eve Biddle
Dale Chihuly
Katherine Choy
Rachelle Dang
Kira Dominguez Hultgren
Ruth Duckworth
Marguerite Friedländer-Wildenhain
Françoise Grossen
Maija Grotell
Trude Guermonprez
Marie Herwald Hermann
Sheila Hicks
Tony Jojola
Jun Kaneko
Liliana Ovalle & Colectivo 1050º
Harvey Littleton
Gertrud Natzler
Otto Natzler
Pedro Barrail & Aritsans of Pai Tavytera
Anders Herwald Ruhwald
Kay Sekimachi
Toshiko Takaezu
Peter Ting
Vadis Turner
Mary Ann Unger
Peter Voulkos
Claire Zeisler

Craft Front & Center: Conversation Pieces, part of the Craft Front & Center exhibition series, has been made possible by a major grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities and Museum of Arts and Design together: Democracy demands wisdom. The exhibition is also supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council and the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature. Research was supported by a Craft Research Fund grant from the Center for Craft. Additional support from The Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation.

Images: Claire Zeisler, Red Wednesday, 1967. Photo: Eva Hyed. Vadis Turner, Red Relic Vessel, 2022. Courtesy the artist and Sam Angel Photography.

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