Museum of Arts and Design

Don’t miss Enoch Cheng’s (@mr_enochcheng ) live performance of “Handle with Care” this Thursday, June 9, at 7 pm. The program is a part of a series of live events included in the exhibition Garmenting: Costume as Contemporary Art. The series features artists who engage critically with fashion and costume through live and video-based performances. The family of the Hong Kong-based artist was involved in the textile industry, and garments are integral to his art, symbolizing how individuals interact with the cultures in which they live. In a lecture-performance commissioned for the exhibition and taking place in the gallery, Cheng will address the history of how garments have been made, how the various textures of garments contribute to the senses of the wearer, and how the functionality of garments allows or restricts movement. These subjects will be “performed” through the construction and deconstruction of multiple custom-made garments. Garmenting: Costume as Contemporary Art is the first global survey to examine the use of clothing as a medium of visual art. By either making or altering clothing for expressive purposes, the 35 international artists in the exhibition create garments, sculpture, installation, and performance art that transforms dress into a critical tool for exploring issues of subjectivity, identity, and difference. Tap the link in the bio to reserve your ticket while they last! ______ #EnochCheng Handle with Care, 2022. Courtesy the artist #GarmetningMAD

Over the last decade, Chris Schanck (@chrisschanck ) has emerged as a leading figure in the design world. Schanck established his independent Detroit studio in 2011, preferring to work outside of the conventional coastal markets of the furniture industry. His studio crafts labor intensive, bespoke furniture and furnishings—from chairs and tables to case goods and lamps. Skirting the line between refinement and camp, the strange, unfamiliar forms of Schanck's chairs, sofas, lighting, mirrors, and more suggest coral reefs, extraterrestrial worlds, and artifacts from ancient civilizations, to name just a few of the designer's inspirations. Each piece is meticulously handcrafted in Schanck's Detroit-based studio, a community of artists, students, and Bangladeshi craftspeople who all contribute to the studio's collective practice. Come explore Chris Schanck: Off-World to see how the artist has brought his otherworldly fusion of sculpture and furniture to life. Tap the link in the bio to reserve timed tickets. Video by @studio.oiseau #ChrisSchanck #ChrisSchanckMAD

#BurkePrize2021 artist Ilana Harris-Babou (@ilanahbhb ) uses humor to critique aspirations associated with the American dream. She puts a satirical spin on popular media, from online beauty tutorials to home renovation shows, to uncover uncomfortable truths about society and its values. Through video, sculpture, and installation, her work forces viewers to reflect on contemporary life from new angles and confront questions about history, race, and privilege. Harris-Babou's 2018 project, Reparation Hardware, a play on the name of a high-end furniture company, takes on the popular home improvement show format by envisioning a collection of home furnishings for recently freed Black American slaves. While humorous, this faux advertisement reflects on the lack of reparations for the Black community after liberation and criticizes the blasé attitude many people have around this subject. Visit our online exhibition Story Makers: Burke Prize 2021 to learn more from Harris-Babou about her practice and inspiration. #blackhistorymonth _______ #IlanaHarrisBabou Reparation Hardware, 2018 HD video, 4:05 min. Courtesy Ilana Harris-Babou

MAD Museum mourns the passing of André Leon Talley, whose courage, determination, and brilliance was an inspiration to all. A year ago today, MAD welcomed Talley and Ford Foundation president Darren Walker (@darrenwalker ) for a discussion of Talley’s memoir, The Chiffon Trenches, in which the long-time friends spoke forthrightly on issues of race, representation, and power in the fashion world, a creative sector deeply shaped by hierarchies and boundaries designed to exclude. Talley elevated fashion as an art form and championed style as a material expression of identity and agency, desire, and power. Walker, whose leadership on race, equity, and inclusion both within and outside of the art world is unparalleled, was the ideal interlocutor for the evening’s honest conversation and joyful celebration of Talley’s extraordinary life. A video of the evening’s conversation is available online. Link in bio. #andreleontally #yvessaintlaurent

Can’t make it to experience Homosilica: Glass is Gay with @graciewhiteside in person tonight?! Tune in to @jessic11_ on Instagram Live at 6 pm ET and watch the program in full! Homosilica is Grace Whiteside’s experimental theatre piece that investigates the fluidity of glass through the lens of queer identity. Using footage of a hot-glass performance that references the popular TV series How It’s Made alongside an on-stage narration in the style of BBC broadcaster David Attenborough, Homosilica will showcase the nonbinary properties of glass and its capacity to represent the gender spectrum. Homosilica is an ongoing project and the culminating event of the Museum’s Glass in Flux series exploring the interdisciplinary practices in contemporary glass. #madmuseum

As #NewYorkTextileMonth continues, our Chief Curator Elissa Auther poses the question, “What Can You Do with a Thread?” Artists like Claire Zeisler, Magdalena Abakanowicz, and Sheila Hicks first began exploring thread as a medium for art in the 1960s and 70s. These innovators worked with diverse forms of thread—from hand-spun wool and floss to sisal and nylon— to create an entirely new abstract language of expression. The Museum of Contemporary Crafts (now MAD) was at the forefront of showcasing this bold, new fiber-based work. Today, artists draw upon the powerful histories of thread, fiber, and textile-based techniques to create connections across time and place. See the work of some of the most influential fiber artists of yesterday and today now on view in our current exhibition, Craft Front & Center. Video created by Elissa Auther, Deputy Director of Curatorial Affairs, and the William and Mildred Lasdon Chief Curator for the Craft Front & Center (on view May 22, 2021–February 13, 2022). Producer: Liam Harrison _______ #CraftFontCenter #MADMuseum #MADCollection #NYTM #Textileart #Fiberart

Our current exhibition, “Craft Front & Center,” celebrates craft and recognizes its cultural significance that was overlooked in the past. Throughout the exhibition, we examine what one can do with the materials often used in the field. This month we explore the question “What Can You Do with Glass.” Glass is an amorphous material. It can be hot or cold. Liquid or solid. Active or static. It comes alive under fire and can be shaped by human breath. In the video above, our collections curator, Samantha De Tillio(@samanthadetillio )demonstrates the wide range of creative projects that can be created with glass. ______ Video created by collections curator Samantha De Tillio for the exhibition Craft Front & Center (on view May 22, 2021–February 13, 2022). Producer: Liam Harrison #CraftFrontCenter #MarvinLipofsky #glassart #studiocraft

Beth Lipman's ongoing project, "House Album," is a highlight of " Beth Lipman: Collective Elegy," the Museum's survey of the artist's last decade of work. House Album comprises many flat glass panels covering an entire wall. Between the glass panels are photographs of furniture and objects that memorialize significant events or important figures from American history. Inspired by the Victorian scrapbook, the installation represents our collective home—a stunning yet polarized house struggling to make sense of its own history and identity. Watch above as Beth provides insight into her process and shares her thoughts on the strong beliefs and ideas that inspire her work. Tap the link in the bio for the full video. _______ Filmmaker Atesh Aticui, with funding provided by the Alturas Foundation. #BethLipman #CollectiveElegy

In 1967, the Berkeley Art Museum (@BAMPFA ) staged its groundbreaking exhibition “Funk,”documenting a new attitude in the Bay Area art scene. Humorous and sometimes quite ugly, the movement was especially significant for ceramics, as artists eagerly sought new directions. While many of the artists included in the “Funk” exhibition resisted the label, ceramicist Robert Arneson fully embraced it. Through his own humorous, sometimes vulgar, work and his teaching at the University of California, Davis, he took a leading role in popularizing down-and-dirty figuration among a generation of younger makers, among them David Gilhooly, Clayton Bailey, and Richard Shaw. Other Bay Area contemporaries, such as Viola Frey incorporated elements into their own unique styles. The Funk movement spread beyond California to other parts of the country, influencing the work of other artists including Howard Kottler and Patti Warashina. And contemporary ceramicists of today are reviving Funk aesthetics through fresh narratives and contexts. See works from some of the most influential artists from the Funk movement in “Craft Front &. Center,”now on view through February 13. ______ Video created by assistant curator Angelik Vizcarrondo-Laboy (@angelik.wiki ) Producer: Liam Harrison #craftfrontcenter #madmuseum #ceramics #funkceramics

The landmark exhibition "Objects: USA" debuted at the Smithsonian National Collection of Fine Arts in Washington, DC, in 1969 and traveled to MAD in 1972. It was considered the most influential craft exhibition ever staged. It featured over three hundred artists and traveled to an astounding twenty venues in America and ten in Europe. When the epic tour finished, many of the works in the exhibition came to MAD, forming the core of the Museum’s permanent collection. Several works from “Objects: USA” are currently on view in "Craft Front & Center," including pieces from leaders in the field like Kay Sekimachi, James Tanner, and Peter Voulkos. The featured objects demonstrate how craftspeople of that time reimagined everyday things with the power of their imagination, in some instances creating new languages of abstraction. Watch above to learn more about this groundbreaking exhibition. And tap the link in the bio for the full video. _________ Video created by associate curator Barbara Paris Gifford (@barbaraparisgifford ) for the exhibition “Craft Front & Center” (on view May 22, 2021–February 13, 2022). Producer: Liam Harrison #craftfrontcenter #objectsusa #madmuseum

MAD Artist Studios resident Alex Dolores Salerno and Textile Arts Center artist in residence Francisco (Echo) Eraso discuss their collaborative practice and other collaborations and collectives that inspire their work.