We asked our members to describe art jewelry and provide a photo of a strong example. Collectors, makers, educators, enthusiasts, curators, and gallerists from around the globe wrote in. As expected, their comments were diverse. Many people said art jewelry communicates an idea and tells stories. It’s expressive and conveys a message. A frequent response was that it stimulates an emotional reaction. This leads to astonishment, questions, and vivid conversations. Art jewelry can be provocative, and it takes courage to wear.
Art jewelry explores traditional techniques in new ways. Many respondents described it as a unique creation made from any material. It can’t be mass-produced and sold in traditional jewelry shops.
It isn’t about decoration … or it may be purely ornamental … or express profound conceptual insights. Some makers said they use it a platform to bring attention to issues. Others engage in making to explore themselves. It was described as a repository for memory.
Yet other responses: Art jewelry has no rules, and no right or wrong, and it shouldn’t be constrained.
What’s sure is that art jewelry is a small package that contains big ideas. So … how do you define it?
Click on the photos to learn about what they show.
![The curator Eliana Negroni says, “This text by contemporary art critic Angela Madesani represents what art jewelry is for me: ‘[...] The jewels, designed and created by an artist, are not in fact craft but works of art in all effects and deserve a correct placement within the history of the artist and consequently in the history of art.’” (From "Is jewellery art?" by Angela Madesani, member of the jury for the 2018 edition of Gioielli in Fermento. Full text: https://gioiellinfermento.com/is-jewellery-art/.) Negroni adds, “This necklace comes from the assembly of a collection of wire cages that seal the corks in bottles for sparkling wines. [The artist, Annamaria Zanella, says] they are memories of the happiest moments, of the evening spent with dear friends, a golden interweaving of intimate memories. She is fascinated by the gesture in freeing the sparkling wine from the bottle and letting it live with all its aromas into the glass and through our conviviality. … when I look at a piece of jewelry that really catches my attention and admiration, I consider it a piece of art jewelry in its absolute simple message.” Caption: Annamaria Zanella, Bacco, 2012, necklace, iron, magnets, enamel, gold plating, photo: M.F. Magliani, courtesy of the artist](https://artjewelryforum.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/zanella_amz-bacco_800-x-600.jpg "The curator Eliana Negroni says, “This text by contemporary art critic Angela Madesani represents what art jewelry is for me: ‘[...] The jewels, designed and created by an artist, are not in fact craft but works of art in all effects and deserve a correct placement within the history of the artist and consequently in the history of art.’” (From \"Is jewellery art?\" by Angela Madesani, member of the jury for the 2018 edition of Gioielli in Fermento. Full text: https://gioiellinfermento.com/is-jewellery-art/.) Negroni adds, “This necklace comes from the assembly of a collection of wire cages that seal the corks in bottles for sparkling wines. [The artist, Annamaria Zanella, says] they are memories of the happiest moments, of the evening spent with dear friends, a golden interweaving of intimate memories.” Caption: Annamaria Zanella, Bacco, 2012, necklace, iron, magnets, enamel, gold plating, photo: M.F. Magliani, courtesy of the artist")
