Love is in the air for our Valentine’s Day edition of “On the Couch with Jonathan Adler.” Join Adler, MAD chief curator Elissa Auther, and award-winning design writer Sarah Archer for an eclectic discussion on the theme of “craft erotics.” The trio will explore the sweet and spicier associations between craft, sex, and romance found in Adler’s designs, feminist art history, and favorite pop culture classics—from the Hollywood blockbuster Ghost to the NBC comedy show Community.  

A series of conversations at MAD to accompany The Mad MAD World of Jonathan Adler, “On the Couch with Jonathan Adler” seats the celebrated potter and designer next to leading contemporary design curators and critics. With Adler’s optimistic, irreverent perspective on “the work” sparking against the keen insights of the design world’s liveliest thinkers and writers, the evenings promise to kindle fresh conversations about the important influences on Adler’s craft-based design practice. 

About the panelists

Jonathan Adler’s mission: to bring Modern American Glamour to your life. How? By creating a foundation of timelessly chic furniture and accessorizing with abandon.

It all started with pottery. Jonathan first gave the wheel a spin at summer camp when he was 12 years old. He was obsessed with clay the moment he touched it. Unfortunately, his passion wasn’t always encouraged. After his college professor told him, “You have no talent. Move to New York and become a lawyer,” he attempted to comply, moving to the city and working in the entertainment biz. Three years later he quit and went back to the wheel.

In 1993, Barneys bought his collection of pots, and in 1998, he opened his first store.  Now he has stores located around the globe and his offerings span furniture, lighting, décor, and more.  His products – and iconic interior design projects such as the Parker Palm Springs – are all rooted in his commitment to outstanding design, impeccable materials, and unparalleled craftsmanship. 

His motto? “If your heirs won’t fight over it, we won’t make it.”

Sarah Archer is one of America's leading experts on design and material culture. A native New Yorker now based in Philadelphia, she has worn many hats - author, curator, editor, reviewer, lecturer, and broadcaster - always with a combination of accessible style and scholarly insight. Her writing can be found in full-length books, including The Midcentury Kitchen, Midcentury Christmas, and Catland: the Soft Power of Cat Culture in Japan; in numerous museum publications, most recently for the Wharton Esherick Museum; in print (The New York Times, Material Intelligence, and American Craft, among others) and online (The New Yorker, T Magazine, Hyperallergic). She also consults with companies and museums, helping to develop deeply researched public-facing content. Previously, she was senior curator at the Philadelphia Art Alliance and the Director of Greenwich House Pottery; more recently, she has appeared as a regular guest on the podcast You’re Wrong About and in the CNN documentary The Many Lives of Martha Stewart.

Elissa Auther is the Deputy Director of Curatorial Affairs and the William and Mildred Lasden Chief Curator at the Museum of Arts and Design (MAD). She is the author of the groundbreaking study String, Felt, Thread: The Hierarchy of Art and Craft in American Art. In addition, she has published widely on a diverse set of topics, including the history of modernism and its relationship to craft and the decorative, the material culture of the American counterculture, and feminist art. Her work in the area of feminist art and culture also includes the co-direction of the public program Feminism & Co.: Art, Sex, Politics at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Denver from 2007 to 2017. In her role as a curator, recent exhibitions include, Surface/Depth: The Decorative After Miriam Schapiro (2018); Vera Paints A Scarf!: The Art and Design of Vera Neumann (2019) and Queer Maximalism x Machine Dazzle. Prior to her appointment at MAD she was Associate Professor of Modern and Contemporary Art History at the University of Colorado.