Andrew Gardner joined the Department of Architecture and Design as Curatorial Assistant in 2017. His primary focus is on modern and contemporary design, with particular research interests in: the material studies and practices of making, including global fiber arts; design systems, including the urban landscape, transportation networks, and natural ecologies; the social and political dimensions of technological innovation; and issues of gender, race and diversity in the design field. He is currently engaged in several ongoing projects at the museum, including the development of design-focused galleries for the museum’s 2019 expansion project, an exhibition on woven textiles from the MoMA collection, and ongoing acquisitions efforts aimed at diversifying the museum’s holdings of design by people of color and women.
Prior to MoMA, he served as a research fellow and then as a curatorial assistant at Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum, where he helped to organize Beauty: Cooper Hewitt Design Triennial (with Ellen Lupton and Andrea Lipps, 2016), How Posters Work (with Ellen Lupton, 2015) and Tools: Extending Our Reach (with Cara McCarty and Matilda McQuaid, 2014). He completed his MA (2015) in design history and material culture at the Bard Graduate Center.
Mrinalini Mukherjee’s work does not easily fit any neat categories, whether “Post-Minimalism,” “Fiber art” or “craft.” Considering Yakshi (1984) in MoMA’s reinstalled galleries, the essay highlights the influence of her cultural background on her methods and materials.
American textile designer Joel Robinson remains an enigmatic figure despite his inclusion in MoMA’s collection. Robinson’s story, in many ways, mirrors the story of so many others featured in the’Good Design’ series, whose promising careers never gained the traction that such a recognition might reward.
