Press Room

PRICKED: EXTREME EMBROIDERY
CHEERS! A MAD COLLECTION OF GOBLETS
MUSEUM OF ARTS & DESIGN EXHIBITIONS EXTENDED THROUGH APRIL 27, 2008

New York, NY (January 17, 2008)

The Museum of Arts & Design will extend the run of its popular, current exhibitions through April 27, 2008. Now on view are the acclaimed Pricked: Extreme Embroidery and Cheers! A MAD Collection of Goblets. Additional exhibition-related programs have been created—see details on next page.

Stone, digital prints, even human hair and cosmetic skin peel are some of the unexpected materials used by 48 artists from 17 countries to create the startling embroidered works featured in the exhibition Pricked: Extreme Embroidery.

Pricked, which showcases the diversity of new approaches to this time-honored needleworking technique, is the Museum of Arts & Design’s latest exploration into how centuries-old handcraft traditions are reinvented in the mainstream of contemporary art and design. The 60 featured works use embroidery to convey powerful, provocative, and often satirical commentary on contemporary society, politics, and personal history.

Pricked: Extreme Embroidery follows the success and international acclaim of Radical Lace & Subversive Knitting, which premiered at MAD earlier this year and is now on national tour. Like Radical Lace, this new exhibition challenges the way the public views the contemporary evolution of an ancient art.

The New York Times, in its daily electronic newsletter, Urban Eye (November 15, 2007) said: “Attention knitters, crocheters and other needlework fanatics; activists, artists and feminists; cheapskates and late-rising culture junkies (that should be everyone, right?): get yourselves to the Museum of Arts & Design’s new exhibit, “Pricked: Extreme Embroidery.” The work on display addresses the political (United States border disputes) and the personal (embroidered tattoos) in 60 pieces made of yarn, lace, found objects, hair and at least one $5 bill.”

ARTnews (February 2008) calls the exhibition “…an imaginative and broad-ranging sampling of the art of stitchery that, in most cases, defies conventional associations with pure hobby and women’s work. These many stitches in time secure memories, express passions, mark history, and punctuate ideas…These often prickly works jab at the conscience, the imagination and even the funny bone.”

American Craft (February-March 2008): “Amazing embroideries…A thread runs through all of this…of love, loss and the endurance of craft.”

In its winter issue, Array (New York Design Center), said Pricked has: “…mind-blowing needlework that infuses new life into the traditional handcraft, and elevates it to a contemporary art that probes the personal, the political and the provocative.”

Cheers! A MAD Collection of Goblets

The Museum of Arts & Design, to celebrate its half-century birthday and spectacular new home at Two Columbus Circle (opening in September 2008), is assembling a unique collection of celebratory goblets in all mediums—glass, metal, clay, fiber, wood and mixed media. These vessels will be displayed prominently in the Museum’s new building, beginning with the grand opening. Part of the goblet collection, however, is being given a “sneak preview” at the Museum’s present home on 53rd Street in a special exhibition, Cheers! A MAD Collection of Goblets, running through April 27, 2008.

A drinking glass with a foot and a stem—what could be simpler? Within this definition, however, exist myriad variations of form, color and decoration. The exhibition features an engaging and diverse selection of vessels made by more than 100 artists from around the world.

Exceptional works by such renowned artists as Lino Tagliapietra, Dale Chihuly and Ginny Ruffner are included, as well as cutting-edge works by emerging artists. Many pieces were created expressly for the exhibition, and are on public display for the first time. Cheers! A MAD Collection of Goblets is based on the generous promised gifts of artist-made goblets of Jack and Aviva Robinson, along with gifts from collectors and artists from around the world.

“Celebration and ceremony are intertwined with the history of goblets,” says David Revere McFadden, the Museum’s chief curator.

Support

Pricked: Extreme Embroidery is made possible in part by the Inner Circle and Director’s Council of the Museum, with additional support from Friends of Fiber Art International.

Cheers! A MAD Collection of Goblets is made possible by the Museum’s Collectors Circle.

Additional exhibition-related programs

Sundays, 2:00 – 4:00 p.m.

Well-Crafted Weekends: Inter-generational Workshops

All ages 6 and up are welcome. All materials provided. No reservations required, but space is limited. Program fee: $7 per individual or family unit. For more information, call 212.956.3535, x159, or visit our website at www.madmuseum.org.

March 9

Narrative Notions

Fiber-arts techniques are the emphasis for this workshop focusing on personal expression and the development of your own narrative work of art. Participants will take an in-depth look at fiber as an art medium and explore how to incorporate text and found objects, rhythm, emotion and spirit into your own fiber-based sculptural pieces. Each person will propose and create a fiber or mixed-media object that conveys personal narrative content and style.

March 16

Runneth Over

Explore the forms of the numerous drinking vessels in the MAD goblet collection, then experiment with the creation of personal designs. Participants will be instructed in making a variety of different forms using techniques for making cups, stems and bases with different materials and joining them together to create unique vessels.

March 23

Making Ends Meet

Loosen up in our studio! Come unwind, unravel, unknot and untangle as we celebrate the craftsmanship of the fiber arts. We’ll look at the relationships of contemporary artists with their work and engage you by experimenting with this beautiful, flexible medium as we deconstruct and then reconstruct various fiber-arts materials and techniques.

March 30

Get Your Fill

Goblets come in a limitless variety to suit anyone's particular taste. Their style and appearance can vary greatly. In this workshop, participants will learn the fundamental aspects of constructing a variety of hollow forms including vessels, goblets and more. Topics include shaping, aesthetics, consistency, solid connections, and the relationship between form and function and how it pertains to good design.

April 6

We’ve Got You in Stitches

Be inspired by examples of “extreme” embroidery in our galleries and join us for this workshop focusing on traditional embroidery techniques with a contemporary twist. We will incorporate traditional and non-traditional materials with contemporary themes in the creation of your own embroidered design with texture and depth. We’ll have you stitching right along in a snap.

April 13

Bases Loaded

Learn how to create your own stunning celebration cup consisting of a top shape to hold liquid and a stem and base to create an elegant form. We’ll look to the collection of goblets in our gallery for inspiration. Then we’ll explore proportion and shape along with symmetry and asymmetry as we learn subtractive and additive methods of sculpting to achieve our final designs.

April 20

Good Points

Merit badges aren’t just for the Scouts anymore. In this workshop we’ll focus on personal life events that deserve to be celebrated or commemorated. Each participant will have a chance to design and create one or more embroidered images or symbols representing significant events. You provide the inspiration, we’ll provide the materials.