Press Room

New York, NY (July 1, 2009)

Beginning in July, the Museum of Arts and Design in collaboration with Museum of The Moving Image, offers French New Wave Essentials, a film series to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the French New Wave movie era. The best and most influential films will be presented in MAD's theater. Films shown this month include: Bob Le Flambeur by Jean-Pierre Melville and Breathless by Jean-Luc Godard shown on July 11 & 12; The 400 Blows by Francois Truffaut and And God Created Woman by Roger Vadim shown on July 18 & 19; and La Collectionneuse and My Night at Maud's, both by Éric Rohmer on July 25 & 26.

Other public programs include MAD's Open Studio demonstrations presenting Bruce Dehnert on July 2, and Beth Ireland on July 23; an artist talk with glass artist Ted Sawyer on July 16; and a gallery tour through MAD's new exhibition, GlassWear, on July 30.

Other events include the Museum's Studio Sundays, inspiring craft workshops for visitors of all ages: Urban Organics on July 5, Over, Under, and Back Around Again on July 12, Vessels, Goblets and Bowls on July 19, and Unnatural Beauty on July 26.

For more information on MAD's public programs in July, see schedule below. The Museum of Arts and Design is located at 2 Columbus Circle. For information, contact 212.299.7790 or log on to www.madmuseum.org. All programs are subject to change.

July 2009 Public Programs Schedule

Open Studios: Peters Valley presents Bruce Dehnert
Thursday, July 2, 2009, 6:30 PM
Free with Thursday evening pay-what-you-wish admission

Over the course of the summer, the Museum of Arts and Design hosts visiting faculty from Peters Valley Craft Center. Peter Valley's guest instructors, who are among the most acclaimed craft artists in the US, give demonstrations and share their experiences and processes in MAD's Open Studios.

The second artist presented in this series is ceramicist Bruce Dehnert, head of the Ceramic studio department at Peters Valley Craft Center. Dehnert received his M.F.A in Ceramics from Alfred University, taught at Hunter College and Parsons School of Design, and worked to establish a Ceramics department at a new university in Malaysia. Through the years, Dehnert was featured in solo exhibitions in both New York and New Zealand, and participated in group shows across the United States and internationally. He was also featured in numerous books and magazines, and received awards for his work in ceramics. Denhert is currently working on a documentary film about the practice of ceramics in New Zealand.

Studio Sundays: Urban Organics
Sunday, July 5, 2009, 2:00 PM - 4:00 PM
$10 including admission

MAD takes an in-depth look at the organic shapes and materials produced by our natural environment; a theme that often runs through the Museum's collections and exhibitions. In this workshop, participants explore how artists manage to bring the outdoors in, and create their own nature-based work during the hands-on portion of this workshop.

French New Wave Essentials: BOB LE FLAMBEUR
Saturday, July 11, & Sunday, July 12, 2009, 2:00 PM
$11 general admission, $7 for MAD and Museum of The Moving Image members, students, seniors; $20.00 general admission movie and museum; $18.00 The Moving Image members, students, seniors. No reservations, seating is first come, first served.

1956, 98 mins. Directed by Jean-Pierre Melville. With Roger Duchesne. French director Jean-Pierre Melville, who adopted the surname of his favorite author, Herman Melville, as his own, drew on the distinctly American genres of pulp fiction and film noir for his influential movie about a gambler's planned heist. Set between dusk and dawn, the film's lustrous black-and-white photography captures a lost Paris with a sense of street poetry that strongly influenced the directors of the French New Wave.

French New Wave Essentials: BREATHLESS
Saturday, July 11, & Sunday, July 12, 2009, 4 PM
$11 general admission, $7 for MAD and Museum of The Moving Image members, students, seniors; $20.00 general admission movie and museum; $18.00 The Moving Image members, students, seniors. No reservations, seating is first come, first served.

1959, 90 mins. Directed by Jean-Luc Godard. With Jean-Paul Belmondo, Jean Seberg. With his jazz-like variation on a gangster movie, Godard ignored the rules of 'good' filmmaking and changed the course of cinema. "Breathless was the sort of film where anything goes," he wrote. "I also wanted to give the feeling that the techniques of filmmaking had just been discovered for the first time." Bogart-like Jean-Paul Belmondo stars with pixieish Jean Seberg, and Jean-Pierre Melville has a cameo in one of the film's homages to Bob le Flambeur.

Studio Sundays: Over, Under, and Back Around Again
Sunday, July 12, 2009, 2:00 PM - 4:00 PM
$10 including admission

Observing both 3-D and 2-D woven structures from MAD's permanent collection, during this workshop participants take a look at the exciting and various ways artists have used innovative materials and techniques to create woven works of art. Through experimentation with weaving techniques and diverse materials, participants have the opportunity to create weavings and unique patterns to call their own.

Bullseye Glass: A History with Ted Sawyer
Thursday, July 16, 2009, 6:30 PM
Free with Thursday evening pay-what-you-wish admission

In association with MAD's exhibition Klaus Moje: Painting with Glass, Ted Sawyer, Director of Research and Education at Bullseye Glass, discusses Moje's collaboration with the company to develop new glass for his work, and the technical innovations that provide the palette for Moje's most colorful and intricate pieces.

Sawyer received his BA in art with a focus in ceramics from Lewis and Clark College and from 1992-1993 he was the artist in residence at Contemporary Crafts Museum and Gallery in Portland, Oregon. In 1997 he joined Bullseye, where he teaches and lectures, as well as exhibits his work. His work was recently featured in Corning's New Glass Review 28.

French New Wave Essentials: THE 400 BLOWS
Saturday, July 18, & Sunday, July 19, 2009, 2:00 PM
$11 general admission, $7 for MAD and Museum of The Moving Image members, students, seniors; $20.00 general admission movie and museum; $18.00 The Moving Image members, students, seniors. No reservations, seating is first come, first served.1959, 99 mins. Directed by Francois Truffaut. With Jean-Pierre Leaud.

Truffaut's most personal and influential film is a memoir of his troubled childhood, with teenager Jean-Pierre Leaud as his alter-ego Antoine Doinel. Vividly photographed in widescreen black-and-white, the film captures feelings of anxiety and escape, as Antoine rebels against oppressive parents and teachers, leading to an often-copied freeze-frame ending.

French New Wave Essentials: AND GOD CREATED WOMAN
Saturday, July 18, and Sunday, July 19, 2009, 4:00 PM
$ 11 general admission, $7 for MAD and Museum of The Moving Image members, students, seniors; $20.00 general admission movie and museum; $18.00 The Moving Image members, students, seniors. No reservations, seating is first come, first served.

1956, 94 mins. Directed by Roger Vadim. With Brigitte Bardot, Jean-Louis Trintignant. Roger Vadim created Brigitte Bardot ... or at least he crafted her screen image as an earthy, barefoot love goddess in the film that some consider to be the first work of the French New Wave. Widescreen, brightly colored pastels of St. Tropez capture Bardot's free-spirited performance. Truffaut wrote admiringly "From now on, films no longer need to tell stories, it is enough to describe one's first love affair, to take one's camera to the beach."

Studio Sundays: Vessels, Goblets and Bowls
Sunday, July 19, 2009, 2:00 PM - 4:00 PM
$10 including admission

MAD takes a closer look at functional works of art throughout the Museum, such as vessels, goblets and bowls that have a variety of shapes and materials. A tour through the galleries should inspire participants to make a vessel with an assortment of fibers and using techniques that are centuries old.

Open Studios: Peters Valley Presents Beth Ireland
Thursday, July 23, 2009, 6:30 PM
Free with Thursday evening pay-what-you-wish admission

The third artist in this series is woodturning specialist Beth Ireland. Ireland received her B.F.A in Art Education from SUNY Buffalo, and runs her own company 'Beth Ireland Wood Working' since 1982.

She lectured, taught and demonstrated all over the country and fulfilled a two-year position as Director of the Wood Program at Worcester Center for Crafts. Ireland is specialized in architectural woodturning, furniture and fine cabinetry and her work can be seen in galleries throughout the United States. She was featured in publications such as Bead and Button and Design Book Seven by Taunton Press.

French New Wave Essentials: LA COLLECTIONNEUSE
Saturday, July 25, & Sunday, July 26, 2009, 2:00 PM
$11 general admission, $7 for MAD and Museum of The Moving Image members, students, seniors; $20.00 general admission movie and museum; $18.00 The Moving Image members, students, seniors. No reservations, seating is first come, first served.

1967, 89 mins. Directed by Eric Rohmer. With Haydee Politoff, Patrick Bauchau, Daniel Pommeureule. In his first color film, featuring cinematographer Nestor Almendros's crisp, lucid images, Eric Rohmer explores the ethical and erotic dilemmas of two male friends from the avant-garde art world who are summering in St. Tropez and trying to resist the charms of a bikini-clad young 'collector' of men. The most spontaneous of the Six Moral Tales series, La Collectionneuse was written in collaboration with the actors.

French New Wave Essentials: MY NIGHT AT MAUD'S
Saturday, July 25, & Sunday, July 26, 2009, 4:00 PM
$11 general admission, $7 for MAD and Museum of The Moving Image members, students, seniors; $20.00 general admission movie and museum; $18.00 The Moving Image members, students, seniors. No reservations, seating is first come, first served.

1969, 110 mins. Directed by Eric Rohmer. With Jean-Louis Trintignant, Francoise Fabian. A pious Catholic who lives by Pascal's wager that there is everything to win and nothing to lose by living as though God exists, finds his beliefs challenged when a beautiful divorcee invites him to spend a platonic night in her apartment. The snowy winter backdrop and intimate conversations are exquisitely filmed in velvety black-and-white by Nestor Almendros.

Studio Sundays: Unnatural Beauty
Sunday, July 26, 2009, 2:00 PM . 4:00 PM
$10 including admission

As plastics and other synthetic materials are the main cause of pollution in our present day natural environment, MAD takes a critical look at design objects and artworks that are made of synthetic materials. Various pieces, including jewelry, are analyzed to address the strengths and weaknesses of using synthetic materials in artwork. During the workshop, small sculptures or wearable art using these unnatural materials are created.

GlassWear: Gallery Night with the Curator
Thursday, July 30, 2009, 6:30 PM
Free with Thursday evening pay-what-you-wish admission

MAD offers a guided tour through GlassWear, an exhibition of over 120 imaginative and visually exciting glass jewelry by 60 of the world's leading jewelry artists. This tour is a unique opportunity to see the exhibition through the eyes of its curator, Ursula Ilse-Neuman, while also gaining insight from a select group of jewelry artists from the exhibition, who will join the tour and present details about their work.

GlassWear conveys the potential of glass in jewelry through provocative concepts and masterful techniques featuring an eclectic mix of renowned artists and young, up-and-coming jewelers from around the world. The masterful creations convey the richness of glass as a medium for jewelry and confirm the vitality of art jewelry-making worldwide.