Press Room

Craft Front & Center (Opens Feb. 4, 2023); Generation Paper: Fashion of the 1960s (March 18–Aug. 27, 2023); Funk You Too! Humor and Irreverence in Ceramic Sculpture (March 18– Aug. 27, 2023); and Shary Boyle: Outside the Palace of Me (Sept. 23, 2023–Feb. 25, 2024

New York, NY (December 14, 2022)

The Museum of Arts and Design (MAD) is pleased to announce its 2023 exhibition schedule. Presenting the New York debut of visual artist and performer Shary Boyle and the first major museum survey of humor and irreverence in modern and contemporary clay sculpture, MAD’s 2023 exhibitions foreground material innovation in contemporary art and contextualize these advancements with compelling explorations of historical achievements of craft’s pioneers.

“In 2023, we are particularly excited to open our multiyear installation of MAD’s permanent collection, which will be a rotating display of historic works and contemporary acquisitions,” said Nanette L. Laitman Director Tim Rodgers. “Fulfilling the Museum’s important goal of broadening public access to its rich and eclectic holdings, Craft Front & Center will showcase our growing collection of over 3,400 objects and speak to the core of our mission to advocate for the value of the handmade.”
 
“In true MAD fashion, our 2023 exhibition program will engage audiences in the mutable boundaries of art and design through dynamic encounters with creators who are challenging received wisdoms,” said Elissa Auther, Deputy Director of Curatorial Affairs and William and Mildred Lasdon Chief Curator. “With the opening of Craft Front & Center and Generation Paper: Fashion of the 1960s, we will examine how material innovation has advanced creative expression in both art and commerce. Funk You Too! Humor and Irreverence in Ceramic Sculpture will highlight a new generation of makers who are shaping the discourse surrounding ceramic sculpture and finally, our major exhibition for fall, Shary Boyle: Outside the Palace of Me, places the visitor at the center of an enthralling multisensory, immersive experience for reflections on contemporary constructions of the self.”

2023 EXHIBITIONS

Craft Front & Center
Opening February 4

A multiyear, rotating installation of historic works and new acquisitions from the Museum’s permanent collection, Craft Front & Center highlights the significance of craft from the golden age of the American Craft Movement to the present day. Global in scope and democratic in spirit, the exhibition brings together a broad and diverse sampling of objects addressing craft and design histories; medium-specific techniques and traditions; craft and design as vehicles for the exploration of racial, gender, and sexual identities; and ways in which craftsmanship, art, and design intersect in the visual arts today.

Generation Paper: Fashion of the 1960s
March 18–August 27, 2023

Generation Paper: Fashion of the 1960s explores the era’s short-lived phenomenon of paper fashion through more than 80 rare garments, accessories, and textiles crafted from disposable materials. Introduced in 1966 as a marketing scheme by the Scott Paper Company, these fashions combined bold, graphic design with space-age innovations in non-woven textiles. Surfacing a little-known chapter in the history of design, Generation Paper illuminates the creative partnership of craft and commerce in the development of semi-synthetic and synthetic materials.

Funk You Too! Humor and Irreverence in Ceramic Sculpture
March 18–August 27, 2023

Funk You Too! Humor and Irreverence in Ceramic Sculpture brings together over 65 sculptures from the 1960s to the present day in which clay is used as a tool of critique and satire. In the exhibition, works by the original Funk Art generation will be placed next to contemporary sculpture by artists who are drawing from Funk Art’s legacy of humor, subversion, and expressive figuration to address political, social, and aesthetic concerns.

Shary Boyle: Outside the Palace of Me
September 23, 2023–February 25, 2024

The New York debut for the Canadian visual artist and performer, Shary Boyle: Outside the Palace of Me reimagines the museum as a collective performance space—strange, subversive, and politically charged. Blurring the line between observer and observed, the multisensory, interactive installation encompasses recent paintings, animations, ceramic sculpture, life-sized automatons, two-way mirrors, and coin-operated sculpture, all set to an interactive score. Reversing the frame on her uncanny characters and their destabilized audience, Boyle urges viewers to think critically about how they create both themselves and the world they inhabit.

For more information about current and upcoming exhibitions, visit madmuseum.org.

CREDITS

Craft Front & Center 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.

Generation Paper: Fashion of the 1960s is organized by Phoenix Art Museum. The exhibition is made possible, 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.

Funk You Too! Humor and Irreverence Ceramic Sculpture is curated by guest curator Angelik Vizcarrondo-Laboy. The exhibition is made possible, 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 for the exhibition and publicationwas supported by a Craft Research Fund grant from the Center for Craft.

Shary Boyle: Outside the Palace of Me is organized by the Gardiner Museum, Toronto. The exhibition is made possible in part, by 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.

ABOUT THE MUSEUM OF ARTS AND DESIGN

The Museum of Arts and Design (MAD) champions contemporary makers across creative fields and presents the work of artists, designers, and artisans who apply the highest level of ingenuity and skill. Since the Museum’s founding in 1956 by philanthropist and visionary Aileen Osborn Webb, MAD has celebrated all facets of making and the creative processes by which materials are transformed, from traditional techniques to cutting-edge technologies. Today, the Museum’s curatorial program builds upon a rich history of exhibitions that emphasize a cross-disciplinary approach to art and design, and reveals the workmanship behind the objects and environments that shape our everyday lives. MAD provides an international platform for practitioners who are influencing the direction of cultural production and driving twenty-first-century innovation, and fosters a participatory setting for visitors to have direct encounters with skilled making and compelling works of art and design. For more information, visit madmuseum.org.

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