The Nasher Sculpture Center Announces November Lecture with Glenn Adamson, in Partnership with University of North Texas
The lecture is presented as a part of the Patsy R. and Raymond D. Nasher Lecture Series in Contemporary Sculpture and Criticism
What: The Sound and The Fury: On Craft and Sculpture in America, a lecture with curator, writer, and historian, Glenn Adamson
When: November 7, 2023 at 7:00pm
Where: The Nasher Sculpture Center, 2001 Flora Street, Dallas TX 75201
Details: One of the most persistent stereotypes about craft is that it is traditional: a means of connecting to the past, defined by continuity rather than innovation. In fact, this is a false opposition: to preserve a tradition successfully often requires constant invention, while the development of new ideas (particularly in a process-intensive creative context) invariably relies on accumulated knowledge. In this talk, Adamson will take us to the 1950s and 1960s, and to three figures working in three different media: Lenore Tawney, in fiber; Toshiko Takaezu, in ceramics; and Harry Bertoia, in metalwork. He will trace unexpected connections between these apparently disparate figures, focusing on the presence of sound and kinetic elements in their work as a particularly compelling leitmotif.
Admission to the talk is free with advance registration. Please click this link to RSVP.
About Glenn Adamson:
Glenn Adamson is a curator, writer and historian based in New York. He has previously been Director of the Museum of Arts and Design and Head of Research at the V&A. Dr. Adamson’s publications include Thinking Through Craft (2007); The Craft Reader (2010); Postmodernism: Style and Subversion (2011, accompanying the exhibition of that title at the V&A, co-curated with Jane Pavitt); The Invention of Craft (2013); Art in the Making (2016, co-authored with Julia Bryan-Wilson; Fewer Better Things: The Hidden Wisdom of Objects (2018); Objects: USA 2020; and Craft: An American History (2021).
Dr. Adamson is Artistic Director for Design Doha, a new biennial festival for Qatar (forthcoming in 2024), editor of Material Intelligence, a quarterly journal published by the Chipstone Foundation, and host of Design in Dialogue, an ongoing online interview series in collaboration with Friedman Benda. His current curatorial projects include Mirror Mirror: Reflections on Design at Chatsworth (2023) and Toshiko Takaezu: Garden of Forms at the Isamu Noguchi Museum (forthcoming in 2024, and touring nationally thereafter).
About the Nasher Sculpture Center:
Located in the heart of the Dallas Arts District, the Nasher Sculpture Center is home to the Raymond and Patsy Nasher Collection, one of the finest collections of modern and contemporary sculpture in the world, featuring more than 400 masterpieces by Brancusi, Calder, de Kooning, di Suvero, Giacometti, Basquiat, Hepworth, LeWitt, Matisse, Miró, Moore, Picasso, Rodin, Serra, and Shapiro, among others. The Nasher Sculpture Center is open Wednesday through Sunday from 11 am to 5 pm. Admission is $10 for adults, $7 for seniors, $5 for students, and free for children 12 and under and members, and includes access to special exhibitions. For more information, visit
About the College of Visual Arts and Design
UNT’s College of Visual Arts and Design, CVAD, is one of the nation’s most comprehensive visual arts schools at a public university, offering 29 undergraduate and graduate degree programs and concentrations in areas ranging from art history to communication design to new media art. The college includes several institutes and centers, such as the renowned Texas Fashion Collection and three art galleries that showcase student and professional work. Considered one of the best art schools in the South and Southwest, the College of Visual Arts and Design offers the first and only Ph.D. program in art education in Texas and the top-ranked program in Communication Design for Graphic Design. Learn more at Visit CVAD News and Views site at
Thank you,
Glenda, Charlie and David Cates
