Edge of the Sublime: Enamels by Jamie Bennett by Jeannine Falino 2008
A beautifully illustrated catalogue of over 100 color plates, it addresses artist's lifework who first established his international reputation in 1986 when he produced enameled jewelry using unique, electroformed shapes. Jeannine Falino is an independent curator who formerly curated at the MFA in Boston.

Elegant Armor: The Art of Jewelry

Sept. 27, 2008 - May 31, 2009
The Museum of Arts & Design in New York inaugurates the Tiffany & Co. Foundation Jewelry Gallery in its new home at 2 Columbus Circle with Elegant Armor: The Art of Jewelry. The exhibition offer visitors the unique opportunity to see an exceptional assembly of works from the Museum's collection. The remarkably inventive artists extend the range of materials beyond precious gems and metals to demonstrate that they can make superb jewelry from paper, rubber, plastic, found objects of all descriptions and even pig’s intestines. Featuring over 200 objects from the pioneering works of the 1940s to the cutting edge pieces made this year, the exhibition provides a dazzling overview of the evolution of contemporary art jewelry.

3rd Annual Intercollegiate Metals Exhibition
Oct. 6-17, 2008 Mon.-Thurs. noon-5pm; Friday noon-3pm
Opening Reception: Mon. Oct. 6, 2008 7-9pm
Tickets: Free
A national juried exhibition of jewelry and metalwork, selected and organized by Herberger College faculty member Becky McDonah and the Metals program in the School of Art, ASU Tempe, AZ USA

GlassWear: Glass in Contemporary Jewelry
Curator Ursula Ilse-Neuman of Museum of Arts & Design New York, NY USA
organized by Museum of Arts & Design, New York, NY & Schmuckmuseum Pforzheim, Germany
traveling exhibition:
Nov.7, 2007– Jan.31, 2008 Glass Pavilion, Toledo Museum of Art, Ohio
March 14 -May 25, 2008 Schmuckmuseum Pforzheim, Germany
April 18-June 28, 2009 Memorial Art Gallery, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY USA
13 July – 20 Sept. 2009 Museum of Arts & Design, New York, NY USA
Oct.2, 2009 – Jan. 3, 2010 Mobile Museum of Art, Mobile, AL USA

Dieter Roth’s Rings
through 5 Oct. 2008 at MUDAC

The Swiss creator Dieter Roth (1930–1998) worked on innumerable fronts, trying out multiple materials and techniques. He was a remarkable dabbler in many things: at one and the same time painter, graphic artist, designer, sculptor, creator of installations, poet, musician, filmmaker and organiser of his own exhibitions. The scope of his interests and his artistic research was such that Dieter Roth is unique and, indeed, unclassifiable. His work often leaped from one discipline to another, while some of his works decomposed naturally because they were made from chocolate, cheese or meat. The proliferation and originality of his interventions and his works have left a lasting mark on the most recent generations of artists.

In 1957, Dieter Roth decided to settle with his wife in Iceland, which very quickly became his adopted homeland. Following the birth of their three children, in order to meet his family’s needs, the artist went on to experiment in very diverse fields: he built furniture, designed a shelving system for a pharmacist, developed new pieces for chess (a very highly regarded game in Iceland), designed posters and produced work in ceramics and glass. In parallel he became interested in making jewellery, which he thought he could sell easily. These creations were totally innovative and burst the norms of traditional jewellery. Thus his bracelets were based on salvaged aluminium plates on to which he poured chemical products; he would wait two or three weeks until a form of oxidisation was produced and then cut out strips of metal. His early days as a jeweller were very laborious. Icelanders did not recognise the originality of his experimental work, which broke down the barriers between different areas of skills. The meeting in 1958 with his fellow countryman, the goldsmith Hans Langenbacher, marked a turning point in his production. A long, fruitful collaboration grew out of this friendship, which would last until the artist’s death, as the abundant correspondence presented at the mudac this summer will testify.

Hans Langenbacher was instantly fascinated by the freedom of expression of the jewellery designed by Dieter Roth, the audacity of the materials employed and their ingenious system of assemblage. The artist used to try out various combinations of bolts, nuts and screws, propose new components to add, cover or remove. This incredible series of sculptures for fingers, or ring-sculptures, was based on rather ordinary materials such as gilt brass, iron and coloured plexiglass. Dieter Roth even went further, including the eventual wearers of his jewellery in the creation of their own ring. They could modify the ring as they pleased by combining or replacing certain components, thereby creating a unique object. The dialogue of the artist with the person who would wear the object is a central theme in Dieter Roth’s work. The series of rings produced by Dieter Roth includes some very special models such as the “Ring with rotating components” (1971), permitting the wearer to play with 15 different settings, the four “Lion rings” (1971) inspired by the Lion Monument in Lucerne, and the “Zoo ring” (1971) made up of toys in the form of interchangeable animal heads.

The exhibition presents six ring-sculpture models with multiple combinations permitting 40 different rings to be made, as well as 70 original documents prefiguring these projects. Drawings, sketches, letters and postcards sent by Dieter Roth to Hans Langenbacher allow one to follow, step by step, the collaboration between artist and goldsmith. All the objects come from the private collection of Hans Langenbacher (Lucerne).

Parallel to this project, Edizioni Periferia (Lucerne) is publishing in German and English the book Dieter Roth, Ringe 1959–1973, which includes photographs by Harry Burst of the various ring projects, with previously unpublished texts by Jean-Christophe Ammann, Hans Langenbacher and Flurina Paravicini, Adalsteinn Ingolfsson and Peter Noever. As the goldsmith Hans Langenbacher placed his archives at the publisher’s disposal, all the original documents relating to this collaboration have been reproduced in facsimile and gathered together in a loose-leaf file in a limited edition of 750. There is also a leader edition (15 numbered copies) incorporating an example of the “Lucerne lion ring” in silver.


From Hand to Hand: passing on skill and know-how in European contemporary jewellery
through Oct.5, 2008 at MUDAC

Special events:
Lecture by Karl Fritsch
Karl Fritsch, jewellery-maker, talks about his work. Sept.23, 2008 at HEAD / Boulevard James-Fazy 15, 1201 Geneva, free entrance.
Lecture by Karen Pontoppidan
A lecturer at Ädellab, Konstfack, Stockholm, Karen Pontoppidan talks about the transmission of knowledge. Oct.3, 2008 at MUDAC

Via a selection of jewellery by European creators, the exhibition “from hand to hand” seeks to define the bonds that are created between teachers and pupils and what is involved in passing on a skill or knowledge. European jewellers whose influence in the contemporary jewellery world is clearly established and recognised were therefore chosen, not just because they are eminent teachers but also because they are outstanding creators of their period. What influences have they had on their pupils? What do they hope to pass on? What have their pupils retained of this? And do the latter, some of whom have become teachers in their turn, have the feeling they are continuing a link in the chain?

Contemporary jewellery
In our Western societies, technical virtuosity acquired in a traditional manner in workshops or professional schools allows the making of jewellery that unites prestige with market value. Nevertheless, since the 1970s, the world of contemporary jewellery creation has questioned these values. So does this knowledge still have any meaning? Is it not the idea transmitted via the object that is of prime importance? In observing the selected pieces, made by the creators themselves, one realises that both these factors co-exist: manual skill remains very evident in as much as these pieces of jewellery testify to the attention paid to ensuring they are well made, a judicious choice of materials, a genuine pleasure in producing a beautiful object. But this manual skill is placed at the service of the expression of each individual’s private questionings. It is this combination that makes contemporary jewellery so fascinating. One can allow oneself to feast one’s eyes while enjoying a pleasant sensation of intellectual titillation. Benjamin Lignel, jeweller and art historian, has set out a number of common characteristics of contemporary jewellery. He underlines “notions of individuality, craftmanship, and its troubled relationship to the production mainstream.” And adds the following elements: “the human body as a general working area; an open attitude to methods and material that echoes art’s own agenda, complicated by the notion of wearability; […] and an emancipation from consumer goods’ vocation to ‘just’ satisfy consumer desires.” [In Metalsmith Magazine, autumn 2006]. These are a few of the facets which allow one to define better the preoccupations of contemporary jewellery creators.

Europe
Apart from a few isolated examples, it would be difficult in Europe to find a school that is characterised by its territorial roots. The majority of European jewellery schools and colleges have developed an international style, based rather more on the identity of the creator than on his or her origin. Ever since the 1980s–1990s, Europe has represented a crucible for the creation of contemporary jewellery. Students still come from all over the world to undergo training here. Creators who have passed through European schools are consequently right in the centre of the reflections that prevail in the contemporary jewellery field.

Ties and links
To define more closely the relationships that exist between the exhibition’s participants, the latter responded to a questionnaire regarding the transmission of skills and knowledge. Their answers echo their creations in the exhibition as well as in the catalogue. Thus, all the jewellers relate their experiences during their years of training; their relationship with their teacher(s); who pushed them, who supported or discouraged them; who they still remember several years later; how there was a certain amount of connivance. Some pupils, having become masters in their turn, are continuing an artistic process that was developed under the influence of their teachers. Fabrice Schaefer, who teaches at the Haute école d’art et de design in Geneva, says: “‘Transforming a material’ was at the heart of Esther [Brinkmann]’s teaching; I still work along those lines”. Others, on the contrary, claim to have broken with them completely: “I think that I have never been faithful to my teacher. We have completely different ways of facing our craft and making jewellery.” (Marc Monzó, Spain, 1973).

The exhibition
The exhibition brings together works by 58 jewellery-makers of 3 generations (12 masters, 39 pupils, 7 pupils of pupils) who have emerged from 10 schools in various countries: Germany, Spain, Finland, France, Great Britain, Italy, Netherlands, Portugal and Switzerland. It is organised around the first-generation teachers, with the addition of their pupils and, in some cases, the pupils of their pupils. The tradition that the Swiss are great travellers is confirmed here: of the 17 Swiss jewellers included, 5 of whom currently teach abroad, 5 pursued complementary training outside Switzerland before returning home.

The choice of pieces was carried out in agreement with the creators. The majority of the works date from the last five years. In a few cases they are older because they are emblematic of the work of particular teachers. Each creator has the same module at his/her disposal, without any sort of hierarchy: a trolley on wheels offering a presentation area of around 1m2. This display option conveys the very great mobility of jewellery creators: both the teachers who move around giving workshops and the pupils who follow the teacher of their choice.

Despite every effort on the scenographer’s part, a piece of jewellery presented in a display case is nothing but a miniature sculpture. It lacks its natural support, the body. To compensate for this absence from the exhibition, some of the jewellery pieces are also shown being worn by means of black-and-white photographs taken by students of the Ecole de Photographie in Vevey (CEPV).

The exhibition’s organisation and scenography were undertaken by Carole Guinard, jewellerymaker and scenographer at the MUDAC.

The Miniature Worlds of Bruce Metcalf
Sept.28 - Dec.21, 2008
Special Events on Sept.28, 2008:
Bruce Metcalf Lecture: "Chapters in a Life of the Imagination" 2-3pm at the Palo Alto Art Center auditorium
Public Preview 3-5pm
The lecture and preview are free to the public; please call 650-329-2366 to RSVP for the lecture.

A 120 page full-color exhibition catalogue is available.

Curated by Signe Mayfield of PAAC, this first major exhibition of his work examines social, moral and political issues, many of which Metcalf has also raised in his essays. In this exhibition, diminutive size matters. Cast in silver or carved in wood, Metcalf's vulnerable protagonists act out issues on the stage of miniature worlds. Some of his pieces serve dual lives as wearable brooches, where the protagonists venture into the world and engage the unsuspecting viewer with their stories and distinctive visual language. The exhibition also marks the premier of the United States tour slated for multiple venues through 2011, including the Mint Museum of Craft+Design in Charlotte, North Carolina; Bellevue Arts Museum in Bellevue, Washington; Fresno Art Museum in Fresno, California; Fuller Craft Museum in Brockton, Massachusetts; Arkansas Arts Center in Little Rock, Arkansas; and Racine Art Museum in Racine, Wisconsin.

Flip Side: Jewelry from JamFactory at Velvet da Vinci Gallery
Sept.10 to Oct.12, 2008

Velvet da Vinci Gallery in San Francisco presents "Flip side: Jewelry from JamFactory", a show featuring new work from eight established Australian jewelers. Sue Lorraine, Creative Director of the Metals Design Studio and curator of Flip side, explains that the intention of this exhibition was to push these artists into a new dimension of their work. "There is always more than one point of view, always several ways to look at something, from the back and the front, the inside and the outside, the upside and the downside, the safe side and the flip side." However, instead of creating drastically new pieces for the exhibition, Lorraine found that their mature and assured practice has allowed them to push the boundaries of their everyday work. For the last 30 years, JamFactory Contemporary Craft and Design Centre, located in Southern Australia, has been a center for the design, production, exhibition and sale of work by leading and emerging Australian designers / makers.

An exhibition catalog is available.
The artists exhibiting in the show are: Alisa Dewhurst, Kath Inglis, Tassia Joannides, Sim Luttin, Sally Mahony, Lauren Simeoni, Belinda Newick, Melissa Turner.

Tassia Joannides uses the common zipper as her medium. She has given this one-dimensional form body and substance. The armbands intentionally blur the boundaries between the inside and out. By unzipping and zipping they become part of the wearer, an intimate experience.

Melissa Turner uses stainless steel to create fluid and soft forms of beauty. There is no front or back, no pin back, no pendant, no ring shank, only fluid forms. These forms stand as an act of defiance to the jewelry world, without a wearable function.

Sally Mahony uses primarily stainless steel in her work. She manipulates the material to both extremes, making it corrode and shine to a satiny, seductive black. The brooches peel away from the body exposing fabric or metal beneath.

Kath Inglis again is a manipulator of materials. She carves PVC into three-dimensional wearable sculptures. Kath is inspired by the colors of shadows and reflections in water. Just as water has no top or bottom, no starting or ending point, her jewelry is a continuous ripple on the wearer.

Lauren Simeoni's brooches reflect the impact materials have on the world. She is a lover of materials and the impact these material leave. In this series of brooches she has printed nostalgic images on aluminum and reveals a time of personal innocence.

Sim Luttin made this body of work while recently living in the U.S. As a visitor she was hyper-aware of her surroundings. Her necklaces reflect and magnify nature with their seed-like forms as vessels strung from dark beads.

Alisa Dewhurst and Belinda Newick have used the body as their starting points. Alisa crochets necklaces illustrating the repetitive genetic message of DNA, the building material that makes up each individual. She mimics this process in crocheted wire. Belinda uses the necklace to discuss the fragility, fertility and fecundity of the female anatomy.


Home - Jewellery by Sofia Björkman at Platina Stockholm Sweden
Exhibition runs until Oct. 4, 2008

"Where I live, all the houses are similar. The small houses in wood are called shoe cartons and are on the line along the streets of the suburb. All who live there have a house, a garden, a car, a grill and at least one inherited piece of jewellery." Sofia Björkman

Chao & Eero - Our Nature at Design Forum Finland Sept.12- Oct.5, 2008
Unique one-off jewellery by Chao-Hsien Kuo and Eero Hintsanen

Board Meeting - New Work by Anna Whitley at Fingers Jewellery Sept.15 - 28, 2008
Preview Monday 15th from 5.30-7.00pm

Signs from Nature - Birgit Laken / Suzanne Esser at Galeria Reverso through Oct.4, 2008

Lisa Walker "Unwearable" at Objectspace Gallery through Oct. 4, 2008

"Trees Above" by Silke Spitzer
at Ornamentum Gallery through Sept. 29,2008

"Nest" Necklace, 18K gold, wood, natural rubber, 2008


Solo Exhibition of Yael Krakowski
Opening Sept. 15, 2008 at Galeria Bielak






Ornament as Expression: The Jewelry of Arline Fisch
Aug. 24- Dec. 7, 2008
Racine Art Museum, Racine, Wisconsin
Meet the artist & booksigning Oct. 2, 2008 at 2:30 space is limited.
Masters Workshop March 27-29, 2009

Craft in America - Expanding Traditions - an eight city museum touring exhibition opening April 2007
Arkansas Arts Center, Little Rock, Arkansas April 13 through June 24, 2007
Museum of Contemporary Craft, Portland, Oregon July 22 through September 23, 2007
Mingei International Museum, San Diego, California October 20, 2007 through January 27, 2008
Houston Center for Contemporary Craft, Houston, Texas February 22 through May 4, 2008
Cranbrook Art Museum, Bloomfield Hills, Michigan June 8 through September 14, 2008
National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma October 11, 2008 through January 18, 2009
Palm Springs Art Museum, Palm Springs, California February 18 through May 24, 2009
Fuller Craft Museum in Brockton, Massachusetts June 27, 2009 through September 27, 2009



GOLDEN CLOGS, DUTCH MOUNTAINS: New Jewelry from the Netherlands

Golden Clogs, Dutch Mountains is an exhibition showing the young generation of Dutch avantgarde jewelry with strong and innovative work by eleven emerging artists. It will open at Velvet Da Vinci Gallery, San Francisco on March 21 till April 20, 2007. It was curated for them by Andrea Wagner (studio jeweller in Amsterdam) who further organized that the exhibition continues to a number of other galleries in the United States and Canada. Testifying to the exceptional originality and creative mentality in The Netherlands the charismatic and compelling work has an unconstrained playfulness and subtle humor. The innovative use of a wide scope of materials is the outcome of the arists’ experimental curiosity in their search for narrative materiality. These intelligently beautiful jewels project a strong visual language that is based to a large extent on the power of the emotional value of material conveying the meaning behind the work. There is an exhibition catalogue Golden Clogs, Dutch Mountains with 22 color illustrations exceptionally photographed by Corriette Schoenaerts. A lecture on the Dutch creative mentality and the historical background of contemporary jewelry in that country will be given by Andrea Wagner to accompany the exhibitions.
Further showings planned:
Ornamentum Gallery, Hudson NY 6 July – 6 August 2007
Gallery Loupe, Montclair, NJ - Fall 2007
Gallery Noel Guyomarc'h, (514) 840.9362 Montréal (Québec) Canada - 6 March – 13 April 2008
Anna Leonowens Gallery, Halifax, N.S., Canada September 2008

Ornament as Art: Avant-Garde Jewelry from the Helen Williams Drutt Collection
and even more info at Mintwiki

Audrey Jones Beck Building, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, TX USA Sept. 23, 2007 - Jan. 21, 2008
Renwick Gallery of the Smithsonian American Art Museum March 14-July 6, 2008
Mint Museum of Craft + Design, Charlotte, NC Aug. 16, 2008-Jan. 9, 2009
Tacoma Art Museum, Tacoma, Washington, June 20-Sept. 13, 2009

Catalogue of the show:
Ornament as Art: Avant-Garde Jewelry from the Helen Williams Drutt Collection by Cindi Strauss 2007


Listing of previous exhibitions

Collections online Adorn Equip - examines issues around the design of equipment and accessories used by disabled people Dazzle - Contemporary UK jewellery Portrait Miniature Collection Wearing Glass - Contemporary Jewellery and Body Adornment Victorian and Mourning Jewelry Art of Mourning Things Gone By

International exhibitions listing of contemporary jewelry, jewellery, joaillerie, bijoux, bijouterie, schmuck, juwelen, gioielleria, smykker, joyeria, juveler, jalokivikorut, korut, juwelierswerk, juvelerarbejde, klenoty, artists and designers.