On Jewels: An Appreciation of the Art

The Stimulus Project 2009

Just a quick note about the Stimulus Project 2009 at the Sienna Gallery.

Above by Suzanne Beautyman

I love this idea for two reasons.  One the basic concept:  To stimulate the "flow' of money to artists in the US and Canada though the sale of jewelry in the price range of $100- 500.  There are 80 artists involved so far.  The price range also enables those of us who would like to collect contemporary jewelry to do so at far more accessible prices - thus encouraging us to buy now rather than wait for better economic times.

Above by Sharon Church

Secondly, I love the tech element to this exhibition and that the Sienna Gallery takes as a whole. You can read about this exhibition on Facebook - something that I am starting to see more and more with jewelry galleries and think is great.  You can become a fan of the Sienna Gallery there and follow what is going on.  I am one of those Facebook addicts and it think it is great to get this sort of information right there so that I can indulge my addiction but also follow the things that I am interested in way more than what type of beer my friend's personality is. More than that, you can view photos of the works on Facebook as well.  Lastly, The Sienna Gallery website is tech savvy in that a pop-up box occurs on their site prompting you to promote their exhibitions on a number of sites including Facebook, Twitter, StumbleUpon, etc.  Excellent!

Above by Sharon Massey

If you are interested in buying a piece, you can browse them right on the Sienna site by clicking on the individual artist's names.  Have fun shopping!  You'll find big names like Bruce Metcalf, Joe Wood, Myra Mimlitsch - Gray and Jamie Bennett as well as young jewelers.

Above by Jennifer Trask

Been a while

I have been on a sort of hiatus, as you might have noticed, with finding a house, moving, taking care of the little one and being pregnant again.  But I am back and determined to get back to the business of publicizing great jewelry artists, jewelry events, books and exciting networking/marketing opportunities available to today's jeweler.

Again, I urge any jeweler, from the experienced to the those currently studying to let me know what you are working on, where you will be exhibiting and where you can be found on the web.  I would love the chance to hear about new things and the hopefully help spread the word about your work.

That said, here are a few things going on at the moment.

In my local area:

Lireille - Gallery of Contemporary Jewelry and Art Friday August 7th from 5:30 - 8:30 - Meet emerging jewelers Fran Grinels (though I think that her better work is shown on the Lireille website itself) and Sherry Cordova at the artists reception during the First Friday Art Walk.

Opening on August 5th at the Velvet da Vinci Gallery is The Enamel Show which celebrates the new book 500 Enameled Objects by Lark Books.  

This looks like it will be an excellent exhibition as it includes jewelry and sculptural objects by 65 international artists, including: Natalya Pinchuk, Tura Sugden and Lisa Crowder.

Also not to miss are:

GlassWare at the Museum of Art and Design through Sept 20th. This exhibition includes masters of the material such as Wendy Ramshaw as well as up and coming jewelers working in glass.  It illustrates the possibilities and excitement of working with a wide variety of types of glass from pyrex to recycled glass, in this international exhibition which is a collaboration between The Museum of Art and Design and the Schmuckmuseum.

At the Facere Gallery - Metal Magic: Chasing and Repousee  an exhibit celebrating these ancient techniques, and including stunning works by artist such as Linda Kindler Priest and Billie Lim

Sixth Sense

This in from the Fuller Museum:

The Sixth Sense: Contemporary Jewelry from Korea

January 31, 2009 – July 26, 2009

Organized by Fuller Craft Museum and curated by Kiwon Wang,this exhibition will

highlight new work by contemporary Korean jewelry artists and provide and intimate

look at the spiritual and aesthetic elements of Korean jewelry while bringing to light

the importance of Korean artists on the international art scene.

There wasn't much else on the Fuller website, but I am hoping that there will be once the exhibit has opened so that I can comment further. I would love to hear from anyone who goes to see the exhibition as I wouldn't be able to make this one.

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November 4th 2008

                                  

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Flip Side

So excited that I am moving to the San Fransisco Bay Area so that I can finally check out the Velvet Da Vinci in person and have a chance to see each of their exhibitions!

On now is:

Flip Side and here is what they have to say about it

Work from JamFactory, South Australia
For the last 30 years, JamFactory Contemporary Craft and Design Centre, located in Adelaide, Southern Australia, has been a place for the design, production, exhibition and sale of work by leading and emerging Australian designers / makers, with a focus on ceramics, furniture, metal and glass.

Sue Lorraine, Creative Director of the Metals Design Studio and curator of Flip Side, explains that the intention of this exhibition was to push the work of the participating artists into a new dimension. 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.

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So Glad to be MAD

I have blogged previously about the new contemporary jewelry galleries at the V&A, MFA Boston and Houston.  I am so pleased that contemporary jewelry is finally getting the attention that is deserves and that many fine museums, authors and publishing houses are now treating it as a serious artform.

To that note, I couldn't be happier to hear that the newly remodeled and soon to reopen Museum of Art and Design, MAD will be featuring the country's first resource center and gallery of contemporary jewelry.'  The Tiffany & Co Foundation Jewelry Gallery will house the permanent collection of contemporary jewelry, exhibitions, artist's residencies, public programs and an extensive online resource. See the press release here.

Elegant Armor is the upcoming exhibition:
The Museum of Arts & Design  inaugurates the Tiffany & Co. Foundation Jewelry Gallery in its new home at 2 Columbus Circle home 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.

I for one and looking forward to my next trip to NYC!

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Change

This exhibit ends Sunday, so if you are in the San Fran area, get there soon!

Change is an exhibit of creatively reworked coins by Stacey Lee Webber at Velvet da Vinci.  I love her innovative ways of working with an everyday object and the work is right on topic with today's trend towards reusage.

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Young Designers in Germany

It makes me happy to see new designers being promoted in a mainstream setting.  Even more than that I like to see new designers using experimental techniques and interesting materials rather than trying to emulate high street styles.  Jewellery should be exciting and new, even if that means that it isn't always to my taste, not tried and tested, and boringly safe....

So, I was excited to see that the Decorate Life fair in Frankfurt is featuring young designers in its Tendence autumn + winter show in early July.  22 young designers will be included in the show:

"As part of Tendence Autumn + Winter from 4 to 8 July 2008 they will be presenting jewellery which breaks with convention and tradition. The promotional programme Talents, has established itself as a career springboard for up-and-coming young designers worldwide; it is organised within the framework of the consumer-goods fairs Ambiente and Tendence and brings these creative young people into contact with industry, wholesalers and retailers."

I think that this is excellent and what a great opportunity for the jewellers themselves!

Disclaimer:  I don't think that all of the jeweller's work is of high enough standard to be included in the show.  While I do desire experimentation and pushing the limits, I also expect excellent craftsmanship and some of the jewellers included don't meet that in my opinion. The following are just a few of those who I think do belong:

Kerstin Klix
 

Katrin Rohde

 

Tanja Freidrichs

   

Miriam D’Haene

 

 

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Back on Track

To my readers,

I have been off-line for some time now, due to the birth of my son Jack. 

(photo by Kelly Atherstone)

I am completely in love and have been understandably distracted from the world of Jewelry. 

I will try to start posting regularly again soon, but for now, just a quick mention of the current show West Meets West at Velvet da Vinci.  The work is part of a project where US west coast jewelers exhibit in Liverpool and British jewellers exhibit in the US.

I like the works by Jenny Walker and Barry Swerdlow
   

 

click here for the UK show at Bluecoat

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US Round-up

It seems like that is a lot going on the contemporary jewelry world in the US right now, and that is exciting!  Find below a brief note on a few of the ongoing, or upcoming exhibition:

Edge of the Sublime: Enamels by Jamie Bennett
January 19 - May 4, 2008 at the Fuller Craft Museum in MA

Framing · The Art of Jewelry
January 19 – May 11, 2008  at the Museum of Contemporary Craft in Portland

New Jewelry by:
Christy Klug, Karen Lee,Micki Lippe, Ingrid Psuty, Brooke Marks-Swanson, 
Mary Filapek & Lou Ann Townsend

February 15 - March 28, 2008 at the Taboo Studio in San Diego, CA

The Enamel Experience
February 27 - March 30, 2008

International Badge Exhibition Curated by Elizabeth Turrell at the Velvet da Vinci in San Francisco

Alexander Calder Jewelry
February 23 – June 15, 2008 at the Norton Museum of Art in West Palm Beach

I am sure that there are many more, but this is all that I have time for at the moment.  Please drop me a line if you know of any others that should be included.

 

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