The Museum of Arts and Design will be unveiling Jonathan Adler’s first museum exhibition on Saturday.

Aptly named “The Mad, MAD World of Jonathan Adler,” the show will be on view for nearly a year — through April 2026. The extended run is a celebration of 30 years of creativity for Adler, who graduated from Brown University. Visitors will find items that Adler has culled from MAD’s archives including some finds that have not been shown publicly for decades and had inspired Adler when he was starting out as a potter. They will be juxtaposed with examples of his own work to illustrate how Adler was influenced by them.

Another creative influence on Adler’s life is his husband Simon Doonan, who has his own artistic and creative following from his books and years of designing store window displays at Barneys New York, and has pitched in at MAD by mapping out the display. (Doonan worked for Diana Vreeland at the Metropolitan Museum of Art‘s Costume Institute in the mid 1980s.) Just as Adler’s work can be indescribable, the new exhibition at the Columbus Circle museum will be classified into sections that are not exactly routine or expected. Ticket holders will wander past midcentury ceramics in “Authentica,” eye-catching and cheerful forms in “Optimistica,” Howard Kottler-created ceramic art in “Kottler,” shiny metal worked pieces from different artists in “Metallica,” more daring pieces in “Erotica,” sculpture from the Funk Art Movement in “Funkiana,” American flag-infused work from MAD artists in “Americalia” and nature-inspired creations in “Animalia.”

Those who really want to get a clearer picture of how Adler goes about crafting the creations that are sold in his signature stores will be able to rest their eyes on an installation that is a replica of the Jonathan Adler pottery studio in SoHo. The craftsman unveiled that creative studio nearly three years ago just a few blocks away from where his first studio was housed.

In late December, Adler touched a different milestone. Consortium Brand Partners acquired the majority interest in the home decor, furniture, and lifestyle company alongside American Exchange Group, which is a strategic minority investor. Adler, who serves as chief creative officer of his namesake company, has more than 1,000 points of distribution globally. At MAD, shoppers will be able to find select items that are featured in the exhibit in its gift store.

Like many New York-made career highlights, Adler’s opportunity with MAD stemmed from a dab of happenstance. The author, ceramicist and furniture maker was seated next to the museum’s deputy director of curatorial affairs Elissa Auther at an event and the pair bonded over Adler’s love of Kottler. To celebrate Adler’s MAD opening, Anna Sui, Ruben Toledo and Wendy Goodman will be hosting a party Thursday night at the museum. As for Adler’s advice for a hosting a dinner party, he told WWD in 2023, “Put on groovy tunes, invite interesting guests, and serve ‘normal’ food. No one wants a froth of this and a reduction of that. “