Round the World (1992) by Richard Snyder.
Photo credit: Matthew Gordon.
Courtesy of Superhouse and Richard Snyder.
Curated by Thomas Mellins and Donald Albrecht, the exhibition Art + Furniture: Designers, Makers, and Advocates will be presented in the New York School of Interior Design Gallery from September 25, 2026, through April 2, 2027. The exhibition opening is Thursday, September 24, from 6 pm–8 pm. The show will explore the origins, contributions, and legacies of the art and studio furniture movements from the late 1960s to the early 1990s. Intentionally blurring the distinction between fine art and useful objects, as well as between design and craft, the featured artists challenged traditional ways of exhibiting and selling work, giving rise to a new generation of gallerists and entrepreneurs.
Exhibition 3D visualizations by Studio Joseph.
These artists and entrepreneurs embraced a bold concept of what furniture could be. At the same time, they responded to the city they called home. New York in the late 1970s was a metropolis in crisis. Yet with adversity came a positive edge: Avant-garde art, music, fashion, and design flourished. Amid challenges to modernist “good taste,” many artists and craftspeople flocked to New York’s formerly industrial SoHo neighborhood, attracted to its atmosphere of artistic freedom, as well as its commodious and comparatively affordable live/work spaces.
Presenting furniture, objects, and photographs, the exhibition will highlight the work of twenty artists, including Donald Judd, Wendell Castle, Dakota Jackson, and Michele Oka Doner as well as artists less well known to a broad public but critical to the movements including Elizabeth Browning Jackson, Rafael Barrios, Jim Cole, Thomas Hucker, Laura Johnson Drake, David N. Ebner, Dan Friedman, James Hong, Tom Loeser, Alex Locadia, Terence Main, Wendy Maruyama, Howard Meister, Forrest Myers, Gaetano Pesce, and Richard Snyder.
The exhibition has been designed by Studio Joseph with production and publication by Poleshuk Design.
The exhibition will be accompanied by the forthcoming book Art + Furniture: An Oral History of the American Furniture Movement, published by Abbeville Press. Created and edited by architect Dennis Miller, a proponent of the movement through his influential eponymous furniture, lighting, and design showroom, with an introduction by the curators and a foreword by Jonathan Adler. An outgrowth of an oral history project at the New York School of Interior Design Archives conceived by Miller, the book chronicles the American furniture movement through the words of its protagonists, complemented by contemporary and archival photography. Miller brings together in-depth interviews not only with leading furniture artists, but also with the curators and gallerists who championed, nurtured, and helped advance their work. The book will be available for purchase at NYSID.
Public programs including guided tours with the curators, panel discussions with the designers and their collectors, and other events, will take place throughout the exhibition.
Pink Chair (1994) by Forrest Myers.
Photo credit: Joe Coscia, Jr.
Courtesy of Forrest Myers.
Modern Bar (1979) by Dakota Jackson.
Photo credit: Alejandro Paczka.
Courtesy of Dakota Jackson.
Burning Bush (1990) by Michele Oka Doner.
Photo credit: Matthew Gordon.
Courtesy of Superhouse and Michele Oka Doner.
Dictionary Stand (1968) by Wendell Castle.
Photo credit: Logan Jackson for R & Company.
Courtesy of R & Company.
Spiral (designed 1980; executed 2025) by Elizabeth Browning Jackson.
Photo credit: Matthew Gordon.
Courtesy of Superhouse and Elizabeth Browning Jackson.
Mesa (1980) by Rafael Barrios.
Photo credit: ©EMILIE BALTZ for Magen H Gallery.
Courtesy of Magen H Gallery.
About the Curators
Thomas Mellins has written extensively about New York City’s architecture and urbanism. He has also curated exhibitions for such cultural institutions as the New York Public Library and Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts. Donald Albrecht creates exhibitions, books, and essays, often for public institutions, that explore a wide range of topics, from broad overviews of cultural trends to in-depth profiles of visual and performing artists.
About the Design and Production Teams
Studio Joseph is an architecture and exhibition design practice focusing on projects that foster community gathering and education. They work with museums, libraries, universities, and other civic institutions looking deeply into the realm of art, culture, and history.
Poleshuck Design Inc. is a multidisciplinary design studio that creates physical and digital environments for theater, television, events, and exhibitions. Based in New York City, their work can be found around the globe.
Corporate Partnerships
NYSID appreciates the support of corporate sponsors: Benjamin Moore, Cadogan Tate, and Kravet Inc.