Bizarre Beauty

Glenn Adamson is a curator and writer who works at the intersection of craft, design history, and contemporary art. He has previously been director of the Museum of Arts and Design, New York; head of research at the V&A, London; and curator at the Chipstone Foundation in Milwaukee. Adamson’s publications include Thinking through Craft; The Craft Reader; Postmodernism: Style and Subversion (co-edited with Jane Pavitt); The Invention of Craft; Art in the Making (co-authored with Julia Bryan-Wilson); Fewer Better Things: The Hidden Wisdom of Objects; and Craft: An American History. He earned his BA in History of Art at Cornell University in 1994 and his PhD in Art History at Yale University in 2001. Martha J. Fleischman is a specialist in American art and a collector. She has been the owner of Kennedy Galleries and publisher of The American Art Journal.With texts by Glenn Adamson, Arthur C. Danto, Mary E. Davis, Toni Greenbaum, Cynthia Hahn, John Perreault, and William Harper, a conversation with Ugochukwu-Smooth Nzewi, and forewords by Martha J. Fleischman and Abraham Thomas.

• 6 PREFACEMartha J. Fleischman9 FOREWORDAbraham omas11 SHAPE SHIFTER: THE LIVES OF WILLIAM HARPERGlenn Adamson93 SAINTS, MARTYRS, AND SAVAGESWilliam Harper99 BETWEEN THE BED AND THE BROOCHArthur C. Danto127 NEWS FROM ATLANTIS: WILLIAM HARPER’S EXPANDED OEUVREJohn Perreault133 ON JASPER JOHNSWilliam Harper159 A PROFOUND AFFINITY: WILLIAM HARPER AND MEDIEVAL ARTCynthia Hahn179 AN ORGY OF TONES: WILLIAM HARPER & THE BALLETS RUSSESMary E. Davis201 THE SPIRIT THAT MOVESA Conversation with Ugochukwu-Smooth Nzewi211 LORD LOVE A DUCK: WILLIAM HARPER’S QUARANTINE SERIESToni Greenbaum228 CHRONOLOGY 1944–2023233 EXHIBITION HISTORY238 BIBLIOGRAPHY243 MUSEUM COLLECTIONS244 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS AND CREDITS246 AUTHOR BIOGRAPHIES