Daniel Brush Exhibit Opens at Museum of Art and Design Today, 10/16

Opening today, October 16, 2012, Daniel Brush's Blue Steel Gold Light will comprise examples of his large-scale paintings, his earliest gold-granulated jewels and objects, a selection of his most significant steel and gold tablet and wall sculptures, along with his witty magnetic adornments made from plastic, aluminum, steel and precious gems. The exhibition will remain on view until February 17, 2013.

"Captivated by materials, obsessive about process, Daniel epitomizes the creative concerns of the Museum of Arts and Design," says Holly Hotchner, MAD's Nanette L. Laitman Director. "So it is fitting that he should have the distinction of being the first living artist to command both of its second floor galleries, including the Tiffany & Co. Foundation Jewelry Gallery."

Over the past 40 years, Daniel Brush has created an oeuvre unparalleled in contemporary American art-from large-scale canvases and drawings to gold-domed containers encrusted with gold granules so miniscule they must be applied with a one-haired brush. Whatever the medium, Brush's art has always been an extension of his mind and heart-whether that reflects his day-to-day life or one of his many intellectual pursuits, be it the study of Noh drama, Mughal jewelry, Jazz, the Victorian art of turning, or the molecular structure of metAl Alloys.

Daniel Brush: Blue Steel Gold Light will be accompanied by a profusely illustrated fourcolor monograph, published by The Museum of Arts and Design and distributed by DAP that will no doubt continue to be appreciated long after the exhibition has concluded. This will not be a standard art historical monograph, but a volume designed and photographed by the internationally renowned graphic designer Takaaki Matsumoto. Idiosyncratic, highly personal appreciations by contributors from the worlds of art, poetry, criticism, and science will reflect Brush's work, these include neurologist and writer Dr. Oliver Sacks, curators Brett Littmann and David McFadden, poet Saskia Hamilton, and writer Paul Keegan.

The Museum of Arts and Design explores the blur zone between art, design, and craft today. The Museum 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 digital. The Museum's exhibition program explores and illuminates issues and ideas, highlights creativity and craftsmanship, and celebrates the limitless potential of materials and techniques when used by gifted and innovative artists. MAD's Permanent Collection is global in scope and focuses on art, craft, and design from 1950 to the present day. At the center of the Museum's mission is education. The Museum's dynamic new facility features classrooms and studios for master classes, seminars, and workshops for students, families, and adults. Three open artist studios engage visitors in the creative processes of artists at work and enhance the exhibition programs. Lectures, films, performances, and symposia related to the Museum's collection and topical subjects affecting the world of contemporary art, craft, and design are held in a renovated 144-seat auditorium.