The Museum of Arts and Design Presents "Slash: Paper Under the Knife"

The museum's third Materials and Process exhibition spotlights paper art.

Sheila Kim -- Interior Design, 10/11/2009 12:00:00 AM

Andreas Kocks’s Paperwork #935G. Photo: Sheila Kim.

In August's Good on Paper, we highlighted a few artists who've recently been up-cycling paper into art forms. But the paper trail hasn't stopped there. New York’s Museum of Arts and Design last week opened its exhibition, "Slash: Paper Under the Knife," featuring previous works and site-specific installations by an impressive roster of international artists.

The third show in the museum's Materials and Process series surveys paper treatments ranging from shredded and laser-cut to burnt paper, combined with other materials such as acrylic and wood to create a variety of sculptural works: Andrea Dezsö presents theatrical LED-lit Shadow Books; Célio Braga designs curtains using cut-and-taped medicine instructions; Pietro Ruffo makes a political statement fashioning a 6-foot-long tank out of Hebrew prayer script and nails.


Left: Lane Twitchell’s PeaceableKingdom (Mystic Light). Photos: Sheila Kim.

In recent years, we've been seeing art and design shows become more exploratory and demonstrative, and MAD is taking that up a notch by offering a full week of glimpses into the creative process. As of the exhibition opening on October 7, visitors have been able to watch select artists in action as they installed their site-specific works. There was Jane South, who was building cut-paper architectures resembling industrial machinery, towers, and gears in MAD's fourth-floor gallery. Andrea Mastrovito, fittingly for this Columbus Circle–situated museum leading into Columbus Day weekend, was seen hanging his massive depiction of Christopher Columbus’s ship sailing in stormy waters along the ceiling of the lobby.

If you don't make it during the live installations week, don't fret—the finished exhibition, running through April 4, 2010, is still worth the visit, and a feast for the eyes.


Mia Pearlman's VOLUTA. Photo: Sheila Kim.

Browse our slideshow of select highlights from Slash.