Press Room

Information is subject to change. Please contact the MAD press office at 212.299.7713 for more information.

New York, NY (March 3, 2009)

The Museum of Arts and Design explores how art, craft and design intersect in the visual arts today. The Museum focuses on contemporary creativity and the ways in which artists and designers from around the world transform materials through processes ranging from the handmade to cutting‐edge technologies.

Upcoming Exhibitions

Klaus Moje: Painting with Glass

April 29 – September 20, 2009

Klaus Moje has pushed the expressive and technical possibilities of glass for decades. In this comprehensive, 30‐year survey, the Museum of Arts and Design traces the progression of Moje’s work from his early carved crystal glass pieces, to his intricately patterned vessels of layered glass, to his recent multi‐panel fused works.

Klaus Moje has been a major force in the international studio glass movement, first as an artist in his native Germany, and for the past 25 years in Australia as Founder and Head of the Glass Workshop at the Canberra School of Art. His highly sought‐after works are elaborate arrangements and patterns made from individual strips of glass, which have been fused together in complex, abstract compositions. This exhibition covers Moje’s career, as well as highlighting some of the students whom he has influenced, and presents many works from private collections not previously exhibited in museums.

Klaus Moje: Painting with Glass is made possible, in part, through the generous support of the Art Alliance for Contemporary Glass, Evanston, Illinois; Bullseye Glass Company, Portland, Oregon; Susan Steinhauser and Daniel Greenberg; and private donors.

Object Factory: The Art of Industrial Ceramics

May 6 – September 13, 2009

Object Factory: The Art of Industrial Ceramics is the first major U.S. museum exhibition to survey contemporary innovation in industrial ceramic production and the renaissance of ceramics in art and design today.

The exhibition explores how artists and designers are reviving interest in ceramics through collaborations with industry that enhance and sometimes subvert the industrial process. Object Factory presents works created for leading manufacturers as well as artworks by independent artists and designers. Both non‐functional and functional works are highlighted, as are important technological advances in ceramic material that allow for its use in electronic appliances, cutting implements, and other surprising products.
Object Factory features more than 200 pieces by fifty artists, designers, and industrial manufacturers, including works by Swedish artist Kjell Rylander, American jeweler and designer Ted Muehling, Dutch designers Hella Jongerius and Jurgen Bey, and Russian‐American designer Constantin Boym, among others. Manufacturers represented in the exhibition include Bernardaud, Nymphenburg, Rosenthal, and Royal Tichelaar Makkum.

The exhibition is curated by acclaimed ceramic artist and designer Marek Cecula and is accompanied by a 100‐page, fully illustrated catalogue published and distributed by the Museum of Arts and Design.

Object Factory: The Art of Industrial Ceramics is organized by the Museum of Arts and Design, based on an exhibition originally organized by the Gardiner Museum, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. This exhibition is made possible, in part, through the generous support of the Mondriaan Foundation, Amsterdam and the Murray and Helen Gruber Fund.

Gord Peteran: Furniture Meets Its Maker

27 May – 26 July, 2009

One of the most innovative artists working in North America today, Gord Peteran has launched a boundary‐crossing career, opening up the category of furniture to an unprecedented range of psychological and conceptual content. Cataloging the first large exhibition of his work in the U.S., Gord Peteran: Furniture Meets its Maker explores issues key to Peteran’s work including the use of the found object, the role of narrative in furniture, and the relationship between serial and one‐off production.

Peteran’s work does not easily fit into the conventional categories of contemporary art, design, decorative art, or craft. He calls his pieces “furnitural,” a made‐up term that suggests his unique relationship with sculpture. His furniture incorporates both found objects and examples of his own technical mastery. His pieces are conceptual, frequently non‐functional, often witty, and meant to challenge pre‐conceived notions of the boundaries between furniture and sculpture. The exhibition includes approximately 20 works in a variety of media.

Gord Peteran: Furniture Meets Its Maker is the second installation at the Museum’s new Design and Innovation Gallery, dedicated to exploring trends in design as they emerge.

Gord Peteran: Furniture Meets Its Maker is organized by the Milwaukee Art Museum and the Chipstone Foundation, with generous support from the Windgate Charitable Foundation.

GlassWear

July 15 – September 20, 2009

GlassWear, a major international exhibition of contemporary glass jewelry, celebrates the marriage of two of the richest and most inventive areas in today’s decorative arts—glass and jewelry. The exhibition displays over 120 visually exciting and highly innovative creations by the world’s leading jewelry artists, featuring work by both established and emerging artists who explore the potential of glass in jewelry through provocative concepts and masterful techniques. From understated to theatrical, each work in the exhibition reveals the mysterious, sensual, vibrant and reflective properties of glass.

GlassWear includes work by artists and designers including Robert Ebendorf and Stanley Lechtzin (US); Giampaolo Babetto and Stefano Marchetti (Italy); Evert Nijlands (Netherlands); Monica Backström (Sweden); Marianne Schliwinski and Georg Dobler (Germany); Otto Künzli and Bernhard Schobinger (Switzerland); Simsa Cho and Kazuko Mitsushima (Japan); among many others. Organized jointly by the Museum of Arts and Design and the Pforzheim Jewelry Museum (Schmuckmuseum) in Germany, GlassWear opened at the Toledo Museum of Art in November 2007. The exhibition is accompanied by a 208‐page, color‐illustrated catalogue published in English and German.

GlassWear is made possible, in part, through generous support from Swarovski; the Mondriaan Foundation, Amsterdam; the Karma Foundation; and the Art Alliance for Contemporary Glass, Evanston, Illinois.

Slash: Paper Under the Knife

October 7, 2009 – January 10, 2010

Slash: Paper Under the Knife takes the pulse of the international art world’s renewed interest in paper as a creative medium and source of artistic inspiration, examining the remarkably diverse use of paper in a range of art forms. Slash is the third exhibition in MAD’s Materials and Process series, which examines the renaissance of traditional handcraft materials and techniques in contemporary art and design. The exhibition survey