New York City.- The Museum of Arts and Design (MAD) is proud to host the internationally-acclaimed exhibition “Korean Eye: Energy and Matter”. Sponsored by Standard Chartered, the exhibition shines a spotlight on new work by contemporary Korean artists, bringing together 21 emerging and established Korean artists working in photography, painting, video, and mixed media. “Korean Eye” will be on view at MAD from November 1st through February 19th 2012. The Museum of Arts and Design, working in collaboration with Parallel Contemporary Art (founded by David and Serenella Ciclitira), is pleased to be the inaugural venue for the exhibition, which will tour internationally after its premiere. A previous iteration of “Korean Eye: Energy and Matter”, presented by Standard Chartered, was shown at the Saatchi Gallery, London and in Seoul and Singapore.
“Korean Eye: Energy and Matter” reflects a new era of diversity in Korean life, politics, and culture, and offers a unique opportunity for education and appreciation of Korea’s rapidly developing art scene, which until recently has seen little global exposure. Korean Eye: Energy and Matter extends MAD’s focus on materials and process in contemporary art and design by showcasing works of art in an astonishing range of materials, reflecting the ways in which Korean artists today are exploring techniques both traditional and innovative. Korean Eye: Energy and Matter offers an illuminating commentary on the philosophical and aesthetic conditions of modern Korean culture, from virtual reality and the pervasive influence of fantasy and pop culture to the dehumanization inherent in a post-industrial society. By turns ironic, satirical, and metaphorical, the exhibition includes photo-sculptures by Seung Hyo Jang; embroidery and acrylic paintings by Young In Hong; a large, imposing shark fabricated from reclaimed and repurposed automobile tires by Yong Ho Ji; and Meekyoung Shin’s astonishing “antique” porcelain vases, rendered in soap.
The Museum of Arts and Design (“MAD”) explores the blur zone between art, design, and craft today. Accredited by the American Association of Museums since 1991, MAD focuses on contemporary creativity and the ways in which artists and designers from around the world transform materials through processes ranging from the artisanal to the digital. For nearly half a century, MAD has served as the country’s premier institution dedicated to the collection and exhibition of contemporary objects created in media such as clay, glass, wood, metal, and fiber. The seed for MAD, however, was planted almost 70 years ago, when Aileen Osborn Webb—the nation’s premier craft patron and benefactor—established the American Craftsmen’s Council in 1942. In the decades that followed, MAD broadened its vision and expanded the scope of its exhibitions and programs. In 1979, MAD was renamed the American Craft Museum, reflecting its position, and in 1986, moved to a new location in four floors of a new building at 40 West 53rd Street. The new Museum’s space—designed by Roche-Dinkeloo, with an interior created by Fox & Fowle Architects—doubled the space of the original quarters. The opening exhibition was Craft Today: Poetry of the Physical, which articulated the direction of MAD’s new era. Some of the objects were purely functional, while others placed a higher value on visual expression and conceptual content. Today, MAD celebrates materials and processes that are embraced by practitioners in the fields of craft, art and design, as well as architecture, fashion, interior design, technology, performing arts, and art and design-driven industries.
The institution’s new name, adopted in 2002, reflects this wider spectrum of interest, as well as the increasingly interdisciplinary nature of MAD’s permanent collection and exhibition programming. In September, 2008, MAD opened the doors to its new home at 2 Columbus Circle to the public. With triple the exhibition space, and new amenities including a greatly expanded store, a 144-seat theater, and a restaurant, MAD is finally able to satisfy the growing public demand for its programs. 2 Columbus Circle’s design, accomplished in collaboration with architect Brad Cloepfil of Allied Works Architecture, weaves MAD into the social and cultural fabric of the newly revived Columbus Circle and its surrounding neighborhoods. The design includes a new façade that features textured terracotta panels and transparent fritted glass, materials that express MAD’s history of honoring the relationship between materials and maker. Visit the museum’s website at … http://www.madmuseum.org