News Archives

Jewelry Takes Its Place at 2007 SOFA NY Lecture Series

The lecture series at SOFA NY has always been smaller than that of SOFA Chicago. This year is remarkable, however, for the number of presentations by contemporary art jewelers at SOFA and another concurrent event.

Women’s Tales: Four Leading Israeli Jewelers

Israeli jewelers Bianca Eshel-Gershuni, Vered Kaminski, Esather Knobel, and Deganit Stern Schocken talk about their role in forging an Israeli identity in the contemporary art jewelry movement that is distinctive from that of Europe and America. May 30 at The Bard Graduate Center, 38 West 86th Street from 6-8 p.m.. With Davira S. Taragin, curator of the exhibit, and Helen W. Drutt English, author and curator. Reception and book signing to follow. $25 general admission

Catherine Truman: The Crafting of Human Anatomy

An Australian jeweler and object maker, Truman draws inspiration from the history of anatomy and the study of human movement. The resulting works, characteristically carved from wood, evoke a sensory response to physical recognition and resemblance. Truman will discuss the conceptual and technical threads that weave through the development of her most recent works. This is the AJF sponsored lecture at SOFA on Friday, June 1 from 1-2 p.m.

Iris Eichenberg: Timelines

A foreigner in the countries in which she lives and work, Eichenberg observes, from a distance, the remnants and relics of lives lived elsewhere, bearing witness to the tastes, traditions and passions of other migrants. The Amsterdam-based German artist will take up her new position as Artist in Residence and Head of the Metal/Jewelry Department at Cranbrook Academy of Art, this fall. This SOFA lecture is Friday, June 1 from 2:30 - 3:30 p.m.

Kiff Slemmons: Beyond Repair

Slemmons discusses her recent project, “Re:Pair and Imperfection”, an exhibition that originated in Chicago and traveled to Palo Alto and Philadelphia. As a way to explore the idea of the imperfect and acknowledge a perceived need for increased vitality and cross pollination, Slemmons solicted “broken, incomplete, or inconclusive fragments” from artist/jewelry colleagues and made new work from them-”rather like translating one poem into 18 languages.” SOFA lecture Saturday, June 2 from 11 a.m. - Noon.

Sign Up For Members Only Boston Trip Now!

2007 is a banner year for contemporary art jewelry. Two collections of large and significant holdings have been given to two major museums. Art Jewelry Forum is planning a trip to Boston in May and another trip to Houston in September to mark these extremely important moments in the history of this form we love so well.

In order to participate in the opening ceremonies of the “Jewelry by Artists: The Daphne Farago Collection” at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, AJF is planning a trip there from May 19th through the 21st. The acquisition of this collection of contemporary jewelry by a fine arts museum is something worth celebrating and witnessing in person. It is an extremely special occasion.

Home base while in Boston is the lovely and well-located Nine Zero Hotel (www.ninezero.com) The trip will start with a welcoming dinner on Saturday night followed the next morning by a discussion of the retrospective “Edge of the Sublime” planned for jeweler Jamie Bennett by the independent curator, Jeanine Falino, which will open later this year at the Fuller Museum. Jamie himself will also be there. Then it’s off to lunch at the Institute of Contemporary Art/ Boston (www.icaboston.org) which is in a spectacular new building along Boston’s waterfront designed by Diller Scofidio + Renfro. After lunch we will attend a lecture at MASSART (www.massart.edu) by one of the truly inspirational Dutch jewelers, Ruudt Peters and see an installation of his work. The MASSART faculty (Heather White, Joe Wood and Barbara Seidenath) has also arranged an exhibition for us of jewelry by their alums and students. We will be given a special tour of the metal arts program there and meet with students and see their work. We will wind up the day with a cocktail party with artists and then a dinner on our own.

On Monday we will visit the artist Dan Jocz’s studio and then spend time with Libby and Joanne Cooper and have lunch at Mobilia, the well-established gallery (www.mobilia-gallery.com) in Cambridge. After lunch we will have a very special series of talks by curators at the Museum of Fine Arts Boston (www.mfa.org) . Kelly L’Ecuyer, who is working on a definitive book about the Farago collection due out in 2010, will take us through that collection. Yvonne Markowitz, who has just been named the Rita J. Kaplan and Susan B. Kaplan Curator of Jewelry, will show us some of the earlier collections of jewelry in the holdings of the museum and finally Lauren Whitley, Assistant Curator of Textiles and Fashion Arts, will talk with us about the Ed Rossbach textile collection which is also opening this evening. We will stay at the museum for the opening event and then go to dinner nearby for our final gathering.

It’s been a long dreary winter. Do something nice for yourself and sign up now to secure a place on this trip. Trip registration was mailed to all paid members on March 14.

If you are not a member and would like to participate, the first step is to click on Become a Member. Once we receive your request, a trip packet will be mailed to you.

Questions? You may always contact us at info@artjewelryforum.org. You may also call: 415-522-2924 and leave a message.

2007 Trips: Boston and Houston

May: Join us in Boston for the Daphne Farago Collection Opening

Join us in Boston on May 20 and 21 for the opening of the Daphne Farago collection at the Museum of Fine Arts. With a selection of about 150 objects, this collection exhibition will provide a chronological and thematic survey of studio jewelry in the twentieth century. While demonstrating the breadth of the collection and the variety of artists’ approaches to jewelry-making, the show also offers indepth exploration of works by many key artists.

It is shaping up to be a wonderful trip. Plan on returning home on Tuesday, May 22 as our Monday schedule will take us into the evening. Watch for more information to come in the next month or two. In the meantime, mark your calendar for this members-only opportunity.

September: We’re Off to Houston for the Grand Opening of the Helen Drutt Collection

Later this fall, September 26-30, we will be in Houston for the grand opening of the Helen Drutt collection at the Museum of Fine Arts. We are working on the agenda for this members-only trip in order to take maximum advantage of the various other activities being planned in conjunction with this opening. We will also find time to visit some of Houston’s other outstanding venues, including the DeMenil collection.

ALTERNATIVES Gallery

09.12.2006 - 05.1.2007
WINTER EXHIBITION

Annual exhibition showing the work of numerous designers who present jewelry for special occasions.

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ALTERNATIVES Gallery

Via d’ Ascanio, 19 – 00186 Roma, Italy - Tel/Fax 39 06 68308233 -

info@alternatives.it
www.alternatives.it

Jewelry Highlighted Recently in Two Publications

This past December, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer Reporter carried a feature article by Susan Phinney, “Jewelry artists are flourishing in Seattle.” Art Jewelry Forum members are included in this article. To read the entire piece, click here: http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/lifestyle/251895_artjewelry.html

The most recent issue of Departures magazine featured the work of Dutch jewelry artists. For that article, click here: http://www.departures.com/wg/wg_0306_dutch.html

Palm Beach Fine Art Show: An AJF Member Review

The following is a report on the Palm Beach Fine Craft show from AJF member Marianne Hunter. We welcome contributions by members for the AJF web site to this category at any time.

The Palm Beach Fine Craft show lived up to its name with aisles of simply fabulous art work in all media! There were 10 artists working in non-jewelry metals including sculpture, functional sculpture, flatware, judaica and lighting.

There were 22 jewelers listed but I can only put the artist and work together for this one-person review for those listed below.

Namu Cho was there with his work which is very clean precisely elegant work. Even though his work is often architecturally structured, his references to nature and life prevent it from being cold.

Jaclyn Davidson has been showing for the past couple of years a very different approach to her work. She is less focused on the heavy gold carved and enameled pieces she has been so respected for, and is now showing beautifully fabricated pieces of roses and buds and pods, stems and leaves all as light and airy and beautifully executed that they feel as if life has only just left them. A huge departure for an established artist and very exciting to see.

Pat Flynn was there with his beautifully balanced work of black, forge-marked iron contrasted with dustings of sparkling white diamonds and yellow gold. It’s amazing how his pieces look so timelessly elegant using the hand forged nail as a starting point. Good design does trump old ideas.

Stuart Golder, as always has immaculate, sophisticated woven gold pieces. He works with a precision that would drive me mad to attempt. His pieces are for everyday and gala depending on the piece.

Cornelia Goldsmith was showing new pieces, in sculptural gold granulation, of more complex design…linked elements, more colored stones etc. Cornelia’s work is very feminine and more organic and lively than most who work in granulation.

Rob Greene’s work continues to amaze me. His instinct for selecting and cutting stones to their best advantage is without competition. His metal work is always in support of what he feels from the stone; inventive but subdued, perfectly crafted. As one who loves images in stone, I always look forward to Rob’s new work.

Valerie Hector is showing some great new sculptural pieces in her intense beadwork method. Always a treat to see, the new pieces were really a delight!

Barbara Heinrich’s studio produces a vast array of necklaces and bracelets with lots of pearls and stone beads mixed with elements of sculptural gold…lots of texture and movement.

Tom Herman is a jeweler’s jeweler. His engraved and carved gold is as fine as any I’ve ever seen anywhere. He combines both artistry and craftsmanship to absolute perfection. He is another who uses story-telling stones with great sensitivity as well as others just for their color as an ornament to his fine metal design.

Marianne Hunter…well, I’d best leave this alone…but I did have new work I was very happy to be showing and which had a very positive response

John Iverson is someone I’ve only recently come to know of and found his work very fine and inventive.

Holly Lee can always be counted on for works of impressive strength. There is a sculptural weight to even her more delicate pieces that speaks of larger issues. The integrity of her vision shines through in each piece.

Meetings

On March 18th the Metal Arts Guild of San Francisco will be hosting Sharon Campbell, a founding member of AJF, to give a lecture. She will be speaking about her narrative art jewelry collection, how she promotes the field through her business, and what the future plans for her collection are. The meeting will be held at the Academy of Art University, 79 New Montgomery, San Francisco on the first floor in the auditorium, 3-5:00 pm. AJF members are welcome to attend.

Random Acts of Jewelry

Moonstone