Through July 6, The Renwick Gallery, 17 Street NW, Washington, DC. The exhibit includes some 300 objects, including 275 pieces of jewelry. Cindi Strauss, curator of modern and contemporary decorative arts and design at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, organized the exhibition; Robyn Kennedy, chief of the Renwick Gallery, is coordinating the exhibition in Washington.
Archive for January, 2008
In January 2008, AJF member Gail Hufjay traveled from snowy New York to sunny Florida for a big milestone: the first work she’s ever submitted to a juried jewelry show had been accepted at the Armory Art Center’s Close to the Skin exhibit in West Palm Beach.
Gail first started collecting art jewelry in the 1980s. She remembers seeing one traveling jewelry show and being fascinated by the work of Rebekah Laskin. “At another show, I found myself falling in love with some chopstick brooches by Bob Ebendorf,” Gail recalls.
Fast forward to today, and both Rebekah and Bob have been instrumental in the fact that three of Gail’s own jewelry creations will be featured in the Armory Art Center’s Close to the Skin exhibit in West Palm Beach. Here’s how this all came about.
Gail’s enjoyment of art jewelry first led her to begin collecting pieces. “I have a minor collection,” she believes, yet the names in her collection include Pier Volkus, Marjorie Simon, Raissa Bump, Biba Schutz, Mary Donald, Roberta Williamson, Yoshiko Haesegawa, Thomas Mann, and Rolando Negoita.
Gail began making her own jewelry in the 1990s after she learned that Rebekah Laskin was teaching at the Westchester Art Workshop near her home in Westchester County, NY, and she signed up. Gail works for her own pleasure, not for sale, even though one persistent would-be customer once followed her throughout a craft fair begging to buy the work off her back.
In addition to learning from Rebekah, Gail has studied with artists Mary Beth Rozkewicz, David Butler, Robert Dancik, and Rolando Negoita.
Gail entered this particular show for two reasons. First, for some time Rebekah has been encouraging her to enter her work in a juried show. “She basically told me to ‘Grow up and move on,’ ” Gail recalls. “The reason I selected this particular show,” Gail continues, “is that two artists I admire so much, Bob Ebendorf and Linda Darty, were the judges.”
All photos by Ralph Gabriner
Feb. 22-24, Baltimore Convention Center. More than 700 artists will show their work. See www.craftcouncil.org/baltimore.
Through Aug. 10, Racine Art Museum, Racine, WI. For more information, see www.ramart.org.
The exhibit was organized by Roseanne Raab, and it provides a career survey of Pardon’s work from the 1950s to the 1990s, when he was a major contributor to American studio jewelry.
On the museum’s website, it states: “Trained formally as a painter, Pardon is best known for jewelry that incorporates rich colors in both enameled metal surfaces and colored gemstones. He is often credited to playing a significant role in the revival of the art of enameling, as well as introducing enamel as a design element in industry.”
Through June 15 at Gallery Loupe, Montclair, NJ.
Curated by artists Sherry Simms and Sayumi Yokouchi, “Out of the Shell” features 17 international artists who were asked to create up to three pieces “that address the ‘idea’ of the pearl from an historical, cultural, or material perspective,” describes Patti Bleicher, Gallery Loupe, “in other words, they are recontextualizing the pearl.”
The artists featured include Ela Cindoruk, Turkey; Ramon Puig-Cuyas, Spain; and Joe Wood, USA.
Photos: top, Ramon Puig-Cuyas, Spain; middle, Joe Wood, USA; bottom, Ela Cindoruk, Turkey.
May 28-June 1, Park Avenue Armory, New York, NY.
SOFA lectures will be held Thursday, May 29, in the Tiffany Room. There will be three lectures featuring jewelry.
10 to 11 a.m. Jewelry by Artists: The Daphne Farago Collection at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, by Kelly L’Ecuyer, AJF member and curator of decorative arts and sculpture, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Presented by the Art Jewelry Forum.
1:45 to 2:45 p.m. Adam Paxon, winner of several prizes whose work has been collected by the Contemporary Art Society, London, as well as the Montreal Museum of Decorative Arts.
4:15 to 5:15 p.m. Karen Pontoppidan: Why I Do What I Do. Karen currently assists Ruudt Peters in Stockholm. Presented by the Society for North American Goldsmiths.
Innovative Works by European, Asian, and American Jewelry Artists
June 6-July 6, Patina Gallery, Santa Fe, NM. Curated by AJF member Charon Kransen, this exhibit features some 150 pieces from around the world, including work by Andrea Janosik, AJF Emerging Artist for 2007. The exhibit opens Friday, June 6 from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. See www.patina-gallery.com.
Brooches (3″, sterling silver, PVC, polyester thread) by Vicki Mason.
Images courtesy of Charon Kransen.
Brooch (2 1/2,” 18k gold, enamel, pearls) by Jacki Ryan included in the “Adornment for the 21st Century” show curated by Charon Kransen at Patina Gallery from June 6 to July 6. For more information, see the calendar section to the right.
Thursday, Oct. 2, through Sunday, Oct. 5. AJF members will go behind-the-scenes at the new Museum of Arts and Design and the Metropolitan Museum, and we’ll visit artists’ studios, collector homes, and AJF member galleries.
Nov. 6-9, Navy Pier Festival Hall, Chicago, IL. See www.sofaexpo.com.