MAD as Jeweler

(purewow)

The Museum of Art and Design (MAD) is one of the most exciting additions to New York City's cultural landscape in years. Not only is the building a marvel of inspired repurposing, but the institution is a welcome counterbalance to the urban mall that is the Shops at Columbus Circle.

To its credit, the mall does sport Jazz at Lincoln Center and a handful of esteemed, upscale restos, but otherwise is largely a sybaritic outpost for tourists and suburbanites. Thankfully, MAD is not only next door, but housed in a gleaming building that is so distinctive, it can't help but make the bland, steel pyramids of Columbus Circle and the less-said-the-better kitsch monument that is the Trump Tower on Central Park West look outsized, garish, and banal.

Not only does MAD sport an inviting, well edited gift shop, it also features a cafe and resto with enviable views of Central Park. While the museum may lack the buzz cachet of MoMA or the Met, it seems to be finding an audience, and has a knack for mounting appealing shows. To that end, the just-closed "Picasso to Koons: Artist as Jeweler" was the sort of alluring exhibit that not only features famous names, but significant work that is not likely to be shown elsewhere in the city.

While the modest size of the show and the miniature nature of the work may at first underwhelm, the beauty is indeed in the details, and seldom have artists from Ernst to Braque displayed such a knack for dazzling attention to detail they lavish on their various creations, from pendants to rings to necklaces. The survey nature of the show may lack the inherent pizzazz of a more conventional monolithic exhibit, yet details are what MAD does best.

The works that caught my attention are too numerous to mention, but Yoko Ono's gold record ring was at once knowing and inspired. Likewise Louise Nevelson's signature spiders. Luckily, much of the work was not mean for guy-wear, affording the opp to admire without envy. As with many major museums, the bulk of the exhibit is available on the museum's website. Definitely worth a peruse.