As well-wishers wound their way through the crowd at the Museum of Arts and Design Thursday night to congratulate Jonathan Adler on his first museum exhibition, he said lightheartedly, “This sometimes feels like attending your own funeral.”
Looking around the gallery, designer Anna Sui put it another way. “Everything you look at makes you smile.”
She and fellow guests like Veronica Webb, Ruben Toledo, John Bartlett and Beth Rudin DeWoody were joined by influencers like Katie Sturino and Moti Ankari. Thursday’s attendees were the first to see the exhibition, but others will have plenty of time to take it in. “The Mad MAD World of Jonathan Adler” runs through April 2026. Adler’s husband Simon Doonan helped to map out the show.
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However, “light and frothy” as the fashion world can be, the ceramicist, furniture designer and author said culling the exhibition has been “a deep experience. Understanding what I’ve been up to for the past 40 years and seeing my work juxtaposed next to the work that has inspired me has been like a deep therapy session and an autobiography. It has given me a chance to try to understand what I’ve been up to for all this time.”
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Liz Lange recalled meeting Adler as a freshman at Brown University, where a mutual friend brought him over to her dorm room to meet. “We kind of became instant besties, and we have been ever since,” she said.
To be surrounded by Adler’s work in a museum is “phenomenal,” she said. “I knew Jonathan when he rented space in a shared studio, and just had a wheel and no business. To see this is an incredible journey not just as a creative person but also as a businessperson. So many people have one side of their brain or other, but Johnny really has both.”
Lange, who had a signature company and now owns the brand Figue, initially bonded with Adler, after graduating from the Ivy League school and starting their respective businesses. Adler’s business is currently valued at $150 million. Consortium Brands Partners acquired a majority stake in Adler’s company in late December. Amidst all the good cheer, the potter admitted he was eager to get back to the wheel.
Amy Fine Collins recalled meeting Adler when he was starting out creating tchotchkes. Never imagining then that he would build such an empire, become a decorator and more, she mused how his work could have taken over MAD instead of being housed on one floor. “He really underplays what his success has been,” Collins said. “He also embraced kitsch in a fearless way. And he and Simon have one of the most successful marriages that I’ve ever seen even though they like to call each other rude names. It’s part of their schtick.”