NEW YORK.- The Museum of Arts and Design (MAD) will inaugurate the Tiffany & Co. Foundation Jewelry Gallery in its new Columbus Circle home with Elegant Armor: The Art of Jewelry. On view from September 2008 to March 2009, the exhibition explores the inspirations for contemporary jewelry, including the fine arts, the human form and the natural world. Featuring over 130 works from 1948 to the present, Elegant Armor draws from the Museum’s collection of approximately 450 modern and contemporary works, the entirety of which will be housed in the Tiffany & Co. Foundation Jewelry Gallery in publicly accessible study drawers.

Holly Hotchner, director of MAD, noted, ”We’re very grateful to our partners at the Tiffany & Co. Foundation for their support in establishing this facility as an innovative international resource center dedicated to the presentation and study of contemporary jewelry. It will be a significant addition to MAD and to the field alike. The Museum’s commitment to collect and display the finest of contemporary work will give the artists in the field a presence in the New York art scene. Our new jewelry center will be an important destination for New York’s culture and fashion communities.”

“Since its founding in 1956, the Museum has had a distinguished history of interpreting the cultural significance of modern and contemporary jewelry,” said Ursula Ilse-Neuman, Curator of Contemporary Jewelry, who organized Elegant Armor. “Our permanent collection of jewelry and innovative exhibition programming have served to highlight the work of both established and emerging artists from around the world. MAD’s collection explores the range of concepts, materials and techniques that make contemporary jewelry one of today’s most visually exciting art forms.”