Stephen De Staebler (American, born 1933), Standing Man with Pregnant Woman, 1978, stoneware, gift of Bruce B. Dayton and The National Endowment for the Arts

Multiple Personalities: Figural Sculpture and Contemporary Craft

Saturday, March 22, 2008—Sunday, February 8, 2009
Galleries 277 and 278
Free Exhibition

Beginning in the 1950s, artists working in traditional craft media transitioned away from the vessel form into sculpture, a move that liberated following generations of artists.

This exhibition explores how artists working in traditional craft media have developed unique approaches to sculpting the human figure, and in the process blurred the distinctions between the two disciplines. It features some of the MIA’s most significant examples from the past three decades, by such notable artists as Robert Arneson, Stephen De Staebler, and Viola Frey in clay, and Stoney Lamar and Robyn Horn in wood.