NYC Makers: The MAD Biennial
Museum of Art and Design
New York, New York
 July 1- October 12, 2014

Curated by Jake Yuzna

New York Makers: The MAD Biennial was a landmark exhibition that celebrated the creative communities flourishing across New York City’s five boroughs. We were proud to be among the 100 selected makers—artists, artisans, and designers—chosen to represent the richness and diversity of New York’s cultural production.

Organized by MAD's then-new director Glenn Adamson and curated by Jake Yuzna, the show highlighted a generation of makers working across varied disciplines, merging traditional craftsmanship with new technologies, artistry with activism, and function with fantasy. For us, it was an honor to have our work—built from hand-sewn boxes, scrolls, textiles, and beads—featured alongside visionaries from so many fields.

The biennial was structured as a series of immersive tableaus that housed live programs throughout its run—fashion shows, performances, culinary installations—all of which underscored the vibrancy and fluidity of contemporary art making. What stood out most to us was how the exhibition blurred lines: between object and experience, material and memory, public and personal.

Group Exhibitions

The MAD Biennial reflected something central to our practice: that making art is an act of connection. Whether stitching scrolls or building sculptural towers, we’ve always been driven by a desire to link stories, people, and materials. New York Makers was a perfect stage for that ethos—inviting the city to gather, look, touch, and reflect.

A rigorous nomination and jury process made our inclusion especially meaningful to us at this point in our careers.. More than 300 cultural leaders, including museum curators, chefs, musicians, and academics, helped shape the final list of participants. The result was a thrilling snapshot of New York’s creative heartbeat—a collaborative, celebratory, and deeply human take on what it means to make art  in our time.