The Everyday Object in American Art opens at the Austin Museum of Art on Saturday, August 25, 2007. Extending through November 4, the exhibition illuminates unexpected facets of the familiar—the extraordinary within the ordinary—through artworks that compel us to examine our surroundings with fresh eyes. The exhibition features artwork that challenges traditional definitions of art, while also documenting 20th-Century American culture. Organized by the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York City, the exhibition showcases works by noted artists such as Richard Artschwager, Alexander Calder, Vija Celmins, Tony Feher, Robert Gober, Marisol, Claes Oldenburg, James Rosenquist, Jessica Stockholder, and Andy Warhol, Danwen Xing and many more.Through content or medium, these thirty sculptures, paintings, prints, and photographs play with the traditional expectation of art as elevated beyond everyday life. A wide spectrum of materials are utilized, including stuffed vinyl, plastic laminate, mirrors, fiberglass, tin cans and wire, a pushcart, a wicker chair and plastic tubs and water bottles. Spanning almost ninety years, from 1917 to 2006, these works present a record of the culture in which they were created, and often the implicit commentary of the artist as well. Quoting Dana Miller, curator of the show: "Carefully distilling their subjects from their surroundings, the artists in this exhibition reveal the poetry and magic in everyday. This prosaic but powerful iconography continues to be relevant for American artists, enduring in some of the extra-ordinary artwork of the twenty-first century." As part of AMOA’s vision, in response to Extra-Ordinary: The Everyday Object in American Art, also on view will be a selection of everyday objects created by Austin-based designers. The exhibition features those ingenious, yet ubiquitous, objects we use everyday that have been transformed to tickle the consumer's imagination. The discrete display will feature such objects as a Dell laptop from M3 Design; a dog bowl from WetNoz; and a water cooler from Design Edge - - all Austin-based, award winning, industrial design firms. Director of Exhibitions and Education Eva Buttacavoli states, "It's exciting to organize this project for Austin, where there is such a buzz about design. In our creative community the everyday intersects with the unique everywhere we look. This provides a perfect dialogue to the Whitney collection's roster of artists transforming the mundane with unexpected wit and irony." This exhibition is organized by the Austin Museum of Art in collaboration with the Industrial Design Society of America, Texas Chapter and curated by Eva Buttacavoli, Director of Exhibitions and Education. Executive Director Dana Friis-Hansen comments, "We’re thrilled to bring highlights from the Whitney’s collection to Austin for a provocative, fun-filled exhibition that stretches our concepts of representation and the subjects of the artist. Whether it’s famous Pop Art works such as Claes Oldenburg’s soft sculpture, the Brillo boxes of Warhol, or paintings and drawings by Jasper Johns, Roy Lichtenstein and James Rosenquist—this fascinating show is sure to delight all generations."