Art: Elegant Armor: The Art of Jewelry @ MAD

Thursdays from 5-9 are pay-what-you-want at the *new* MAD- Museum of Arts & Design, which a-la-MoMA usually charges an outrageous $20/person (unless you've kept an old student ID, which if you are lucky, might get you a $12 entry). For any New Yorker or New York lover, this building is a must. 2 Columbus Circle, the Museum's address, was the site of a highly publicized and long-winded debate including the voices of Tom Wolfe, Chuck Close and Frank Stella who were advocating for "the Lollipop Building's" original modernist design by Edward Stone. Those supporting the new design and redevelopment initiative included our own fave Mayor Bloomberg and the always outspoken architecture critic, Ada Louise Huxtable, of the Wall Street Journal. Thankfully, renovation prevailed. Now, a cleaner, sleeker building rises up from the southern point of Columbus Circle giving the grand 'crystal palace' of Time Warner Center a partner in crime at the South Western tip of Central Park. Although the building needs to work on its humidity level (it felt like a greenhouse inside) and the museum needs to cultivate better front desk manners, it was a surprisingly pleasant experience!

My intentions were to see MAD's new exhibit on jewelry titled 'Elegant Armor: The Art of Jewelry,' but I was a little disappointed with the meager selection. Yes, it had a few wonderfully snazzy pieces (particularly David Webb, Silk Cord Ring, 1967 and Gijs Bakker Armband (Bracelet), 1967) in the exhibit that totaled 200 pieces, but far too many 'arts and crafts' jewelry. I suppose my tastes are more traditional and classical than what I had thought! For curatorial aims the selection satisfied its purpose: the exhibit covered a variety of periods from the 1940's to present day each divided into thematic clusters of "Sculptural Forms," "Narrative Jewelry," "Painted and Textured Surfaces," and the "Radical Edge." Fortunately, jewelry is small so appreciating 200 pieces will take no time at all leaving plenty of time to see the rest....which turned out to be the best part.

'Second Lives: Remixing the Ordinary' through April 19th, is a fabulous exhibit that draws on our creative and reflective capacities for everyday ordinary objects. This exhibition is a compilation of works by about 50 well established and emerging artists all centered around the theme of creating thought provoking 'objects of art' and installation pieces from quotidien life.

Highlights included: 'Trinity' by Andy Diaz and Laurel Roth, which is a chandelier made of syringes and pills; an insightful commentary upon our over-medicated and drug-ridden society. What was once crystal up on high, is replaced by drugs and medication that make us high (play on 'crystal meth' perhaps?). 'A Mixture of Frailties' by Susie MacMurry is a gorgeous coutour-esque gown made from rubber (medical?) gloves. Here we are again required to re-imagine materials and ideas-- wearing plastic is not associated with Haute Couture, but MacMurry's critique on fashion implies that if it's made to look good, someone might even wear plastic gloves. Or...is it a feminist statement of women reclaiming their domestic sphere of kitchen work and dishwashing plastic gloves in the form of fashionable dress? All in all, an interesting exhibition.