Uncharacteristically, I boarded a train at four in the morning on Friday, January 22, 2010 for an eight-hour trip to Richmond, Virginia. I had not ridden a northbound train from the South since I was a junior in high school. What could possibly be my motivation, you wonder? Why, a jewelry exhibition, of course. But […]
Fragments of Our Imagination Read More »
Rachel Timmins, I Want To Be A Gold Lobster With Blue Puffs, 2009, found fabric, wool yarn, copper, thread, Poly-Fil stuffing, found gloves, 19 x 12 x 4 inches each Nick Mullins, Brooch 2, 2009, resin, wood, paint, 6 x 4 x 2 inches For me, the shift came when I began electroforming vessels rather
What’s in a Name? SNAG 2010 Read More »
Schmuck 2010, held in Munich from March 3 –9, 2010, was the center of five fever-pitched days of jewelry and adornment. Over 30 exhibitions were presented citywide, representing a variety of countries, academic programs and individual studio jewelers. Installation detail, Schmuck 2010 Adam Grinovich, Necklace: Function & sense #1: Function 1, 2008, leather, polish, iron,
Schmuck 2010: A Report Read More »
Designers on Jewellery: Twelve Years of Jewellery Production by Chi ha paura…? opened last month at the San Francisco Craft + Design Museum and is on display until May 16, 2010. The show marks the jewelry design brand’s twelfth year in the making. Founded by Gijs Bakker, jewelry and product designer and co-founder of Droog Design,
Designers on Jewellery Read More »
It’s clear from the title of this exhibition that it has large ambitions, stretching from the Renaissance to the present day. As the introductory wall text puts it, ‘Over the centuries, Finnish craftsmen were able to learn their trade and practice it in neighbouring countries. Innovations and impulses were first received from the west, and later from the east. After the Second World War, Finnish jewellery design discovered its own style, which has become recognized around the world.’
Finnish Jewellery 1600-2009 Read More »
It’s not often you see an art book whose text is more interesting than the photographs. But such is the case with this retrospective catalog of the work of Gerd Rothmann. The hefty 404-page book shows the artist’s entire oeuvre (or at least everything he documented) from 1967 to 2008. The 589 photographs give a good idea of Rothmann’s changing styles and there are occasional full-page illustrations of some of his most distinctive pieces. But the text is a must-read for every collector, whether or not they know or care about the work itself.
Gerd Rothmann: Catalog Raisonné 1967-2008 Read More »
‘You are only what you surround yourself with? No. You surround yourself only with who you are.’ (Rob Walker, Buying In: The Secret Dialogue Between What We Buy and Who We Are. Random House, 2008.)
Read My Pins: Stories from a Diplomat’s Jewel Box Read More »
Klaus Bürgel is an artist who defies categorization. Is he primarily a jeweler? Yes and no. Does he care if his pieces are wearable? Not particularly. Is he a graphic artist? Certainly. A sculptor? Definitely, even though he often works in non-durable materials such as styrofoam and occasionally creates pieces too big to leave his
Endless Conundrum: Klaus Bürgel Read More »
Arthur Smith, Neckpiece, 1948, brass, 7 x 8 x 1 1/4 inches, Museum of Arts & Design, New York, purchased by the American Craft Council, 1967, photo: John Bigelow Taylor The quality of most of the pieces is remarkable and reflects decades of collecting by the American Crafts Council through the museum (formerly the American
Inspired Jewelry: From the Museum of Arts and Design Read More »
Whether you would enjoy this weighty book (399 pages) or prefer to give it a pass depends on how you view yourself as a collector and how interested you are in the broad field of contemporary European (particularly German) jewelry.
Modern Jewellery Design Read More »
No one tells a story quite like Robin Kranitzky and Kim Overstreet. Each narrative is skillfully presented with just enough visual information to engage and please the ‘reader.’ Ultimately each work satisfies on its own merits, but always leaves the observer wanting just one more story from this talented duo, who seem to have an inexhaustible number of literary delights swimming in their collective heads, ready to become the next jewel.
Symbiotic Realms: Robin Kranitsky and Kim Overstreet – Selected Works 1985-2008 Read More »
Blah, Blah, Blah. Do you ever tire of words? It seems that we are inundated with them from the time we wake until we finally escape them in sleep. What to do short of exile? Relax, take a deep breath, and use your eyes for seeing, not reading! As children, we saw with wonder before we read with understanding. Let’s recapture that wonder and open a ‘picture book’.
