calendario eventi  :: 

X

22/9/2014

Two exhibitions

Museum of Arts & Design - MAD, New York

What Would Mrs. Webb Do?
A Founder's Vision
September 23, 2014 to February 8, 2015

The Museum of Arts and Design celebrates the enduring legacy of its founder Aileen Osborn Webb with What Would Mrs. Webb Do? A Founder’s Vision, an exhibition highlighting Webb's advocacy and dedication to skilled makers across America, and featuring objects drawn largely from the Museum's permanent collection.

As a patron and philanthropist, Webb pioneered an understanding of craftsmanship and the handmade as a creative driving force behind art and design. The first half of the exhibition features work by American makers from the 1950s to the late 1960s whose practice directly benefitted from the support of Webb and others who shared her vision, while highlighting the many crafts-related institutions that Webb launched, such as the American Craft Council, the School of American Craftsmen, and the World Crafts Council that still form a vital support structure for today’s world of makers. What Would Mrs. Webb Do? also surveys the museum’s achievements under her direction with a focus on the landmark exhibition Objects: USA, which opened in 1969 and traveled to thirty museums in the USA and abroad.

The second half of the exhibition features the stakeholders and supporters who carry Mrs. Webb’s vision forward to the present day, like advocate and philanthropist Nanette L. Laitman who has promoted the Museum’s mission in countless ways while also providing support for the recording of 235 oral histories of American craftsmen by the Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, excerpts of which are highlighted in the exhibition alongside key examples of these craftsmen’s works of art. Some of the Museum’s most recent and celebrated acquisitions on view also underscore the role played by the Windgate Foundation in shaping the current discourse on contemporary craft through its support of makers and non-profit institutions –the Museum of Arts and Design among them.

The strength of the Museum’s permanent collection is on display for this exhibition due to its foundational role in showcasing the work of makers in all media since opening its doors in 1956. From groundbreaking works by early masters Wharton Esherick, Anni Albers, and Harvey Littleton to new creations by Judith Schaechter , Hiroshi Suzuki, and Joris Laarman, visitors are able to grasp the sweep of the field and breadth of achievements over the last sixty years that were first set in motion by Mrs. Webb.

The Museum of Arts and Design continues to uphold Webb’s commitment to creative, skilled entrepreneurs with projects like NYC Makers: The MAD Biennial (on view through October 12).

What Would Mrs. Webb Do? A Founder’s Vision is organized by adjunct curator Jeannine Falino and curatorial assistant Barbara Gifford.

Support for What Would Mrs. Webb Do? A Founder's Vision is provided by Barbara Nitchie Fuldner, Barbara G. Fleischman, and Martha J. Fleischman. Additional support is made possible in part through the Collectors Circle, one of the Museum's upper level support groups.

---

Maryland to Murano
Neckpieces and Sculptures by Joyce J. Scott
September 30, 2014 to March 15, 2015

Bringing together Scott’s neckpieces and blown glass sculptures for the first time, Maryland to Murano: Neckpieces and Sculptures by Joyce J. Scott examines Scott's prolific career, defined by her ever-evolving techniques, continued exploration of provocative narratives, and commitment to her craft. Maryland to Murano will be the first exhibition to examine the relationship between Scott’s beaded and constructed neckpieces created in her Baltimore, Maryland studio and her more recent blown glass sculptures crafted in the Berengo Studio on Murano Island in Venice, Italy. On view from September 30, 2014 to March 15, 2015, this exhibition demonstrates the interplay between these two bodies of work and reveals the range of Scott’s technique and skill, as well as the complex relationship she has shaped among adornment, content and methodology.

Organized by MAD's Chief Curator Lowery Stokes Sims and curatorial assistant Sophia Merkin, the exhibition features 34 of Scott’s neckpieces, including a collaboration with noted jeweler Art Smith, 3 beaded wall hangings, and 13 glass sculptures, most of which were created since 2009. Born in Baltimore in 1948, Scott has lived, studied, and worked in Maryland all her life. Challenging perceived dichotomies between art and craft, sophistication and naïveté, and politics and adornment, Scott has succeeded in incorporating these elements within a vast and varied body of work including installation, printmaking, apparel, sculpture, and jewelry, the last of which has garnered her the widest audience and recognition. In Scott’s hands, human adornment becomes a vehicle for social commentary and a means for confronting contentious issues affecting contemporary society. Navigating controversial themes including hunger, rape, and racial stereotypes, Scott’s jewelry transcends the typical function of adornment and embellishment.

Maryland to Murano: Neckpieces and Sculptures by Joyce J. Scott is made possible through the generous support of The Robert W. Deutsch Foundation; Christopher K. Ho; the Rotasa Foundation; Constance R. Caplan, Mark Caplan, Cathy Caplan, and Jonathan Caplan; and Marcia and Alan Docter.

Image: Larsen Design; Studio Jack Lenor Larsen. Bas Relief, 1968 Cotton velvet; resist dyed, Indigo dyed, printed, hand blocked 36 x 50 in. (91.4 x 127 cm) Museum of Arts and Design, Gift of Jack Lenor Larsen, 2001, 2001.84 Photo credit: Eva Heyd

Contact
Claire Laporte
Director of Public Affairs

Allison Underwood
Public Relations Associate

Tel: 212.299.7737
Email: press@madmuseum.org

The Museum of Arts and Design (MAD)
2 Columbus Circle - New York, NY 10019
Tuesday to Sunday from 10:00 am to 6:00 pm
Thursday and Friday from 10:00 am to 9:00 pm
closed Mondays and major holidays
Admission
General: $16
Seniors: $14
Students:$12
Members: FREE
18 and under: FREE. This does not include groups
Group Rate (8 or more): $12
All groups must make reservations, including during Pay-What-You-Wish hours.
Thursdays from 6:00 pm to 9:00 pm: Pay-What-You-Wish
KLM Fridays from 6:00 pm to 9:00 pm: Pay-What-You-Wish

stampa

permanent link