Fabio J. Fernández (left), Beth Ann Gerstein (right), photo: Céline Browning When I visited The Society of Arts and Crafts gallery space to interview Executive Director Beth Ann Gerstein and Exhibition Gallery Director Fabio J. Fernández, the comfortable, open three-room space looked like Christmas morning. Piles of discarded wrappings littered the floor and brightly colored […]
Beth Ann Gerstein and Fabio J. Fernández Read More »
Exhibition view, Schmuck Sonderschau (special exhibition) 2014, curated by Jorunn Veiteberg, arranged by Alexandra Bahlmann, Handwerksmesse, Munich, photo: Eva Jünger, München The exhibition has long been considered to be the jewelry equivalent of Michelin stars. Clearly, the accolade signals a form of artistic excellence and sets a standard for the field on a global level.
Jorunn Veiteberg, Juror for Schmuck 2014 Read More »
Caroline Billing, owner of The National in New Zealand, participated in a fair with three of the artists she represents, and AJF took this opportunity to interview all of them about their work. They are articulate and smart. No wonder the New Zealand jewelers are making their mark internationally.
Susan Cummins: Can you describe the Kete fair and symposium event?
Caroline Billing: Kete was a four-day art fair and symposium that was recently held in Wellington, New Zealand. It is a new event (this was its second incarnation) and the first of its kind here for us. The concept is to bring together galleries to showcase their selected artists across different craft mediums. Talks around the subjects of collecting, artists’ practices, and current issues in craft were held, and it included keynote speakers during the daytime and evenings.
What part did you play?
Caroline Billing: I represented three of my jewelers at Kete with the aim of highlighting three distinct and successful current practices by New Zealanders in contemporary jewelry.
Kete with Dodd, Haydon and Wilkinson Read More »
Two friends answered some questions about the show they arranged to have together and their lives as jewelers in wonderful and unassuming ways. Their exhibit called Salty at Quoil Gallery in Wellington, New Zealand, is filled with references to nature and the place they come from.
Susan Cummins: Please tell the story of how you both decided to show together in the exhibition at Quoil?
Lisa West: We shared a workshop for years and we’re good friends, so it seems natural to me that I approach Tania about doing the occasional show together. We have shown together previously at Quoil. We often work independently on quite similar things without realizing it, so I think we make things that are quite cohesive when they’re displayed together.
Tania Patterson: Lisa and I are old friends. We have shown together in the past, and it seemed about time we did it again. We seem to work on similar themes, and our work sits well together.
Tania Patterson and Lisa West: Salty Read More »
In 2013, Rutger Emmelkamp took over the direction of the jewelry department at the Gerrit Rietveld Academie in Amsterdam. The success of the academy’s alumni, on the one hand, and the glowing reputation of the department’s former directors—Ruudt Peters, Iris Eichenberg, Manon van Kouswijk, and Suska Mackert—on the other, has made the “succession” a matter of
Sienna Gallery is having a rather unusual show this month with a series of photographs by Lauren Kalman accompanied by a few objects used in them. The photos include a nude figure, ormamentation and mid-century furniture. Very strange and very beautiful but extremely mysterious. If you want to understand them you must read on.
Susan Cummins: Lauren, please tell the story of your background.
Lauren Kalman: Both of my parents were visual artists, and I think that had a huge influence on my development as an artist. My father is an industrial designer who is currently involved in designing and building his house, and my mother was a commercial photographer. They collected design and craft objects and were interested in architecture and design, so my aesthetic influences began very young. More specifically related to But If the Crime Is Beautiful … , we owned reproductions of the Eames recliner and Wassley chair, so Modern design was a part of my environment growing up.
I majored in metals at Massachusetts College of Art, and following that, was accepted into the now-defunct apprenticeship program at the Johnson Atelier Technical Institute of Sculpture. There, I was trained in foundry with a focus in metal chasing and welding.
My MFA is in art and technology from The Ohio State University. This background includes exposure to conceptual practices, physical computing, digital imaging, and digital video, all of which play an important roll in my current practice.
Lauren Kalman: But If the Crime Is Beautiful … Read More »
Klimt02 has both an online platform for the art jewelry community and a gallery located in Barcelona, Spain. It is owned by Amador Bertomeu and Leo Caballero and has become an influential and informative source of information for everyone interested in contemporary jewelry. In this interview, Amador and Leo, speaking as one, provide us with
Farrah Al-Dujaili, a maker from the United Kingdom, won the 2011 Art Jewelry Forum Artist Award for an Emerging Artist for her bold, unique mix of drawing and making that crosses over and intertwines. Working with drawing materials, such as pencil, crayons, and watercolors, she applies them to the surface of enamel paint to create
Marijke de Goey’s exhibition Lines, Space, Illusion is on display at Fingers Gallery in Auckland, New Zealand, through February 28, 2014. In this interview, Marijke discusses the concept behind the body of work on display and some of her recent projects.
Marijke de Goey: Lines, Space, Illusion Read More »
Karen Pontoppidan is having numerous shows as part of a series called CANVAS CONTEXT CASH. The first part, called just CANVAS, was presented in 2011 as a solo exhibition at three different galleries—Galerie Rob Koudijs, Galerie Spektrum, and Gallery V + V. The current show called CONTEXT was first presented at Galerie Rob Koudijs last April and is now at Galerie Spectrum. CASH will be presented for the first time with Gallery Maurer-Zilioli as a solo exhibition in March 2014, and then continue to a group exhibition in Poland. The concept of rolling out a big collection of jewelry using related ideas is very ambitious. And Karen is trying out and really experimenting not only with that but with ways of working as well. Pretty fascinating stuff.
Susan Cummins: Karen, can you fill us in on your background, and when it was that you decided to become a jeweler?
Karen Pontoppidan: When I was 13-years-old, I decided to become a jewelry artist. It was an easy decision because, growing up on a farm in Denmark, my imagined future profession and my imagined future “glory” seemed far away. Looking back at my decision, I believe it was mainly made against my parents and against the unbearable conservatism of the environment in which I grew up. Becoming an artist would make me untouchable for the measurements of a farmer’s mind, and therefore it was the best escape I could imagine. But no matter why I developed this goal, I am very happy with my choice of profession.
Karen Pontoppidan: Context Read More »
Portrait of Antonella Villanova, photo: Hugh Findletar Kellie Riggs: When did your interest in contemporary jewelry begin, and how did that transform into a desire to open a gallery? Antonella Villanova: The interest in contemporary jewelry was born about 10 years ago, at first with jewelry made by visuals artists, but I wasn’t satisfied. After,
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Katja Prins has expanded her views of the relationship of humans to technology in her new show with Galerie Rob Koudijs. Her new jewelry continues to research the way the two interact in the modern world. It is something no one today can deny confronting. These beautiful, clean, and provocative pieces are very suggestive and thought provoking.
Susan Cummins: Can you tell the story of how you discovered that you wanted to be a jeweler?
Katja Prins: I think that the need to express oneself by creating things and using visual language is something that doesn’t come like a discovery or epiphany. It’s something that is just part of you, and it simply needs to have the opportunity to develop. I’ve always been interested in all kinds of art and have always liked to make things, so I just followed my heart.
As soon as I started my technical education as a goldsmith at Schoonhoven, it was clear to me that there was more. I wasn’t too interested in traditional jewelry, and so right away, I focused on going to the art academy. There wasn’t much about jewelry there, but much more about expressing yourself, developing a visual language, and telling an interesting story. It made me an artist whose medium happens to be jewelry.
Katja Prins: Hybrids Read More »
