Interviews

Ellen Maurer Zilioli has curated a show of the work of Bruno Martinazzi called Vivere Essere Volere Bene, which translates to something like “To Live, To exist, To Love: for the Pinacoteca Accademia Albertina di Belle Arti in Turin. This city has been Martinazzi’s home base for most of his life, so at 90-years-old, they are celebrating him. Martinazzi is a unique figure in the art world and one with a philosophical bent. I was very pleased to have his answers to some of my questions.

Susan Cummins: You are now 90-years-old, and you have accomplished many things in your lifetime. What are you most proud of?

Bruno Martinazzi: To get my ideas across, I cite Gianbattista Vico, an Italian philosopher and author of the volume Principi di Scienza Nuova, written between 1725 and 1744. In Volume 1, Part II, line 3, he writes, “First human beings hear without attention, then they keep attention with confused and touched souls, and finally, they reflect with pure minds.” From that principle, art and poems take form.

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.

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. 

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.