Metalcyberspace – Contemporary Jewellery Design + Modern Studio Jewelry

Updates from October, 2008

• metalcyberspace 10:04 pm on October 22, 2008 | 0 Permalink
  Tags: 101 Bench Tips for Jewelers, Alan Revere, book (2), Euro Tool, jeweler, jewelry (28), jewelry books (2), jewelry pliers, jewelry tools, MJSA Journal (2), pliers, Revere Academy of Jewelry Arts (3), Revere pliers, tools (2)

  Alan Revere of Revere Academy of Jewelry Arts designs pliers

  

  Alan Revere pliers

  After two years in development, a newly refined and improved set of pliers, designed by Alan Revere, is available for goldsmiths and jewelry makers everywhere. The result of research, refinement and redesign, the new pliers incorporate a unique textured grip, which was designed by goldsmith Alan Revere of San Francisco, California. “We started with the finest German-made pliers available and added a totally new grip that increases function and efficiency. These pliers help get the job done, rather than getting in the way,” says Revere of his latest design.

  

  Alan Revere pliers

  A prominent jewelry author and educator, Alan Revere is a German trained master goldsmith, award winning jewelry designer, and founder of the Revere Academy of Jewelry Arts in San Francisco, California. Dissatisfied with pliers currently available through suppliers, a few years ago Revere wrote an article in MJSA Journal. In it he suggested that bench jewelers rip the springs and brightly colored plastics handles off of their pliers for improved control and performance. These controversial instructions later become tip number 63 in Revere’s book, 101 Bench Tips for Jewelers, published by MJSA/AJM Press in 2004. Revere argued that both the handles and springs diminish tactile sensation, reduce kinesthetic feedback and ultimately lower the function of pliers.

  

  Alan Revere pliers set

  Shortly afterwards, Revere was invited to a small German factory, where they have been making pliers by hand for generations. In this workshop, which takes great pride in hand craftsmanship and quality, Revere was asked to design a set of pliers to meet his ultimate expectations. He had a good idea of what he wanted; sturdy, but precise, un-plated pliers with bare metal grips and no springs. The jaws had to have a #240 grit finish, which leaves a fine “tooth” that grabs onto metal but does not mar it, as well as slightly rounded corners. While plain bare metal was preferable to plastic covered handles, Alan wanted to develop something new, something unique as well as attractive, a design that would provide more functional grip than anything he had seen.

  Beginning with patterns filed into his own pliers, Revere developed several possibilities. But he soon discovered that producing them in quantity would be impossible. So working further, he came up with a new and improved grip that the German workshop could reproduce. In order to add the pattern, a new tool was required to carve the notches just as Revere had filed into his own handles.

  The new grips feature a series of graduated cylindrical notches to add surface contact. This increases sensitivity, adds kinesthetic feedback and therefore elevates precision control of the tool. In addition, the grip pattern is very attractive and comfortable

  Revere’s ultimate pliers are intended for serious jewelers and bench workers. Revere Pliers come in flat, chain, round and half round/flat versions. Made of top quality high carbon steel, each pair goes through 50 exacting steps in forming, shaping, grinding, finishing, texturing, etc. from the rough blank to the final finish. Each pair receives extra care and quality control, to assure that they meet Revere’s standards.

  Revere pliers are available across the United States and around the world, distributed exclusively through Euro Tool, Inc. Available individually or as a set with a wooden stand, Revere pliers come with instructions on use and maintenance, as well as the history of Revere pliers.

      

   

• metalcyberspace 7:05 am on October 15, 2008 | 0 Permalink
  Tags: Anya Kivarkis, Christine Dhein, Contemporary jewellery (14), Contemporary jewelry (30), Cornelia Parker, Emiko Oye, exhibition (7), Gerd Rothman, Gijs Bakker, Janine Antoni, jewelry (28), jewelry artists (12), Joan Parcher, Kate Wagle, Lauren Fensterstock, Melanie Bilenker, metalsmiths (9), Myra Mimlitsch-Gray, Nick Dong, Otto Künzli, SFMC+D (2), Shana Astrachan, Susan Cummins, The Thinking Body

  The Thinking Body
  San Francisco Museum of Craft+Design
  Oct.17, 2008 – Jan.4, 2009

  Photos from the exhibition on facebook

  PREVIEW RECEPTION:
  Thursday, Oct. 16, 2008, 6-8pm

  An exhibition focused on contemporary American and European metalsmiths whose work considers the body in relation to its physical and intellectual environment.

  Artists include: Janine Antoni, Cornelia Parker, Gijs Bakker, Joan Parcher, Lauren Fensterstock, Myra Mimlitsch-Gray, Gerd Rothman, Otto Künzli and Melanie Bilenker.

  Bay Area artists Nick Dong, Emiko Oye, and Christine Dhein have created interactive installations running concurrently providing an alternative experience for the viewer and DIY activities for visitors.

  Co-Curators:
  Kate Wagle: Chair, Art Department, University of Oregon
  Anya Kivarkis: Visiting Professor, Metals & Jewelry, University of Oregon

  Exhibition Design: Ted Cohen
  Catalogue available in the SFMC+D Museum Store

  PUBLIC PROGRAMS
  Speaker Series Event:
  Crafting Experience, Experiencing Craft Sat., Nov.1, 3:30-5:30pm at SFMC+D, then the Larkspur Hotel

  Moderator: Susan Cummins, Director, Rotasa Foundation
  Panelists: Kate Wagle, Anya Kivarkis and Frank Wilson, neurologist and author
  [Free to members/$10 for non-members]

  CHILDREN’S PROGRAMS
  MakeArt Workshop: Accessorize with Small Toys!
  Sat., Nov.15, 1-3:30pm
  DIY workshop with jewelry artists Emiko Oye and Shana Astrachan
  Free workshop
  [To register, call 415.773.0303; Advance registration required]
  Visit the MakeArt Gallery anytime to experience DIY jewelry!

  Generous support from the San Francisco Grants for the Arts/Hotel Tax Fund, The Bernard Osher Foundation, COMERICA Palo Alto, Burr, Pilger & Mayer Foundation, Susan Beech, the Larkspur Hotel, and De Novo Fine Contemporary Jewelry.

  San Francisco Museum of Craft+Design
  550 Sutter St. San Francisco, California 94102
  415.773.0303 Tues. thru Sat. – 10-5, Thurs. – 10-7, Sun. – 12-5

   

• metalcyberspace 5:44 pm on October 14, 2008 | 0 Permalink
  Tags: Alexander Calder, Calder's Circus, metalsmith (8), mobiles, modernist jewelry (3), Paris, stabiles, studio jewelry (6), wire sculpture

  

  Alexander Calder: The Paris Years, 1926-1933
  at the Whitney Museum – New York, NY USA – Oct.16, 2008-Feb.15, 2009
  then travels to:
  the Centre Pompidou – Paris France – March 18-July 20, 2009

  This exhibition looks at Calder’s formative years (1926-1933) when he arrived at his revolutionary notion of “drawing in space”.

  “Calder’s Circus” will be presented in a new installation.

  Wire sculptures will include all four extant Josephine Bakers together for the first time, mechanized moving abstractions, some never-before-exhibited animals from Calder’s bestiary and his first ceiling-suspended mobile.

  His first Paris sketchbook will be on view along with previously unexhibited drawings.

  Rare films include:
  Sculptor Discards Clay, of 1928
  Le Grand Cirque Calder 1927 (1955) by Jean Painlevé
  Montparnasse–Where the Muses Hold Sway 1929 – Calder is seen as a member of the artists’ community of Montparnasse creating a wire portrait of Kiki de Montparnasse.

  Calder and his works portrayed in photographs by Brassaï, Kertész, Thérèse Bonney, Agnès Varda, and Marc Vaux.
  A catalog of the show is available.

   

• metalcyberspace 3:44 pm on September 19, 2008 | 0 Permalink
  Tags: art jewelry (11), jewelry book (8), metalsmithing (14), metalsmiths (9), modernist jewelry (3), studio jewelry (6)

  Form & Function: American Modernist Jewelry, 1940-1970 – Marbeth Schon 2008

  This book is the catalog for two of the first major exhibits to show only modernist jewelry from such a broad group of artists. Both take place in 2008 in Fort Wayne, Indiana: one at The Fort Wayne Museum of Art (May 2 to Aug. 24, 2008) and the other at The University of St. Francis School of Creative Arts (May 2-30, 2008). Over fifty collectors and living art jewelers have lent some of the best examples of this innovative style. Sculptors Alexander Calder, Harry Bertoia, Jose de Rivera, Peter and Daniel Macchiarini, Earl and Tod Pardon, and Merry Renk are among the 96 artists featured, along with their extensive jewelry creations. Their work was experimental and stimulated originality in successive generations. Plastics, pearls, brass, copper, silver, gold, and enamels are among the materials found here in mini-sculptures and jewelry ornaments for men and women alike. The author’s extensive research uncovers connections among the artists and documents this important art period and medium. Artists, collectors, cultural historians, and students all will want to see the exhibits and own the catalog.

  Previously written by the same author is:
  Modernist Jewelry 1930-1960: The Wearable Art Movement – Marbeth Schon 2004

  This beautifully written book explores the work of 175 of the most important American modernist artist jewelers through a comprehensive text and over 540 color and 35 black and white photos. Beginning with the streamlining of Art Moderne, modernist jewelers mirrored the consciousness of their age. They were free thinkers artists who broke away from the mainstream of jewelry design and looked to the fine arts for inspiration; they were Surrealists, Cubists, and Abstract Expressionists functioning as sculptors in small scale, painters in enamels, and architects in miniature. The modernist metalsmiths of the 1930s through 1960s laid the groundwork for the enormous expansion of metalsmithing in the 1970s and ’80s. These creative jewelers produced personal designs as they absorbed the changes happening in the world around them. The artists’ stories and jewelry are arranged chronologically and linked to four pivotal exhibitions held at the Museum of Modern Art, New York City, in 1946; the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis, in 1948 and 1955; and an exhibition on paper in 1959. Together, the artists at these important events comprise the modernist movement of wearable art directly and through their influence on the subsequent generations. This important book will stand as the primary reference to art jewelry of the mid-20th century and be consulted by all who want to understand the innovations it embraces.

   

• metalcyberspace 8:20 pm on September 18, 2008 | 0 Permalink
  Tags: Contemporary jewelry (30), enamel (2), Jamie Bennett (2), jewelry exhibition (24)

  Edge of the Sublime: Enamels by Jamie Bennett
  Samuel Dorsky Museum of Art – NY Sept.27 – Nov.16 2008
  Opening reception: Friday, Sept.26, 2008 5-8pm

  Edge of the Sublime represents the first-ever retrospective of works by one of the most important enamelists working today. This exhibition explores the artist’s creative use and development of a variety of enameling and metalworking techniques to produce highly color-saturated imagery on signature brooches, necklaces and pendants. Curated by Jeannine Falino, former Carolyn and Peter Lynch Curator of Decorative Arts, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Edge of the Sublime debuted at Fuller Craft Museum in Massachusetts before traveling to the SDMA and museums nationwide through 2010.

  This exhibition will continue to travel to:
  Arkansas Art Center – AR Dec.19, 2008 – Feb.22, 2009
  Racine Art Museum – WI
  Bellevue Arts Museum – WA

  An exhibition catalog is available:
  Edge of the Sublime: Enamels by Jamie Bennett by Jeannine Falino 2008
  A beautifully illustrated catalogue of over 100 color plates, it addresses artist’s lifework who first established his international reputation in 1986 when he produced enameled jewelry using unique, electroformed shapes. Jeannine Falino is an independent curator who formerly curated at the MFA in Boston.

   

• metalcyberspace 5:31 pm on September 18, 2008 | 0 Permalink
  Tags: Contemporary jewelry (30), jewelry exhibition (24), Tiffany & Co. (2)

  Elegant Armor: The Art of Jewelry

  Sept. 27, 2008 – May 31, 2009

  The Museum of Arts & Design in New York inaugurates the Tiffany & Co. Foundation Jewelry Gallery in its new home at 2 Columbus Circle with Elegant Armor: The Art of Jewelry. The exhibition offer visitors the unique opportunity to see an exceptional assembly of works from the Museum’s collection. The remarkably inventive artists extend the range of materials beyond precious gems and metals to demonstrate that they can make superb jewelry from paper, rubber, plastic, found objects of all descriptions and even pig’s intestines. Featuring over 200 objects from the pioneering works of the 1940s to the cutting edge pieces made this year, the exhibition provides a dazzling overview of the evolution of contemporary art jewelry.

   

• metalcyberspace 1:15 am on September 18, 2008 | 0 Permalink
  Tags: Charles Lewton-Brain, foldforming, jewelry (28), jewelry book (8), jewelry making (3), metalsmithing (14)

  

  Foldforming by Charles Lewton-Brain

  The ultimate reference on foldforming from the artist who invented this groundbreaking approach to working with metal. By taking advantage of the inherent qualities of the material, foldforming develops organic forms in metal with minimum effort. Hundreds of sequential photographs demonstrate techniques to make a wide range of forms. Foldforming lends itself to all branches and levels of metalsmithing, from jewelry to blacksmithing, beginners to advanced artists.

  Charles Lewton-Brain received his initial training in Germany and later earned a Master of Fine Arts from SUNY New Paltz. In the 1980s he invented a way of working with metal that exploits its inherent behaviors. Through hundreds of workshops and in his position at the Alberta College of Art + Design, Charles has developed the science and art of foldforming to its current high standard.

   

• metalcyberspace 1:12 am on September 17, 2008 | 0 Permalink
  Tags: Contemporary jewellery (14), Contemporary jewelry (30), Dieter Roth, jewelry book (8), jewelry exhibition (24), Ringe 1959–1973

  Dieter Roth’s Rings
  through 5 Oct. 2008 at MUDAC

  The Swiss creator Dieter Roth (1930–1998) worked on innumerable fronts, trying out multiple materials and techniques. He was a remarkable dabbler in many things: at one and the same time painter, graphic artist, designer, sculptor, creator of installations, poet, musician, filmmaker and organiser of his own exhibitions. The scope of his interests and his artistic research was such that Dieter Roth is unique and, indeed, unclassifiable. His work often leaped from one discipline to another, while some of his works decomposed naturally because they were made from chocolate, cheese or meat. The proliferation and originality of his interventions and his works have left a lasting mark on the most recent generations of artists.

  In 1957, Dieter Roth decided to settle with his wife in Iceland, which very quickly became his adopted homeland. Following the birth of their three children, in order to meet his family’s needs, the artist went on to experiment in very diverse fields: he built furniture, designed a shelving system for a pharmacist, developed new pieces for chess (a very highly regarded game in Iceland), designed posters and produced work in ceramics and glass. In parallel he became interested in making jewellery, which he thought he could sell easily. These creations were totally innovative and burst the norms of traditional jewellery. Thus his bracelets were based on salvaged aluminium plates on to which he poured chemical products; he would wait two or three weeks until a form of oxidisation was produced and then cut out strips of metal. His early days as a jeweller were very laborious. Icelanders did not recognise the originality of his experimental work, which broke down the barriers between different areas of skills. The meeting in 1958 with his fellow countryman, the goldsmith Hans Langenbacher, marked a turning point in his production. A long, fruitful collaboration grew out of this friendship, which would last until the artist’s death, as the abundant correspondence presented at the mudac this summer will testify.

  Hans Langenbacher was instantly fascinated by the freedom of expression of the jewellery designed by Dieter Roth, the audacity of the materials employed and their ingenious system of assemblage. The artist used to try out various combinations of bolts, nuts and screws, propose new components to add, cover or remove. This incredible series of sculptures for fingers, or ring-sculptures, was based on rather ordinary materials such as gilt brass, iron and coloured plexiglass. Dieter Roth even went further, including the eventual wearers of his jewellery in the creation of their own ring. They could modify the ring as they pleased by combining or replacing certain components, thereby creating a unique object. The dialogue of the artist with the person who would wear the object is a central theme in Dieter Roth’s work. The series of rings produced by Dieter Roth includes some very special models such as the “Ring with rotating components” (1971), permitting the wearer to play with 15 different settings, the four “Lion rings” (1971) inspired by the Lion Monument in Lucerne, and the “Zoo ring” (1971) made up of toys in the form of interchangeable animal heads.

  The exhibition presents six ring-sculpture models with multiple combinations permitting 40 different rings to be made, as well as 70 original documents prefiguring these projects. Drawings, sketches, letters and postcards sent by Dieter Roth to Hans Langenbacher allow one to follow, step by step, the collaboration between artist and goldsmith. All the objects come from the private collection of Hans Langenbacher (Lucerne).

  Parallel to this project, Edizioni Periferia (Lucerne) is publishing in German and English the book Dieter Roth, Ringe 1959–1973, which includes photographs by Harry Burst of the various ring projects, with previously unpublished texts by Jean-Christophe Ammann, Hans Langenbacher and Flurina Paravicini, Adalsteinn Ingolfsson and Peter Noever. As the goldsmith Hans Langenbacher placed his archives at the publisher’s disposal, all the original documents relating to this collaboration have been reproduced in facsimile and gathered together in a loose-leaf file in a limited edition of 750. There is also a leader edition (15 numbered copies) incorporating an example of the “Lucerne lion ring” in silver.

   

• metalcyberspace 12:31 am on September 17, 2008 | 0 Permalink
  Tags: Contemporary jewelry (30), jewelry book (8)

  
  From Hand to Hand: passing on skill and know-how in European contemporary jewellery
  through Oct.5, 2008 at MUDAC

  Special events:
  Lecture by Karl Fritsch
  Karl Fritsch, jewellery-maker, talks about his work. Sept.23, 2008 at HEAD / Boulevard James-Fazy 15, 1201 Geneva, free entrance.
  Lecture by Karen Pontoppidan
  A lecturer at Ädellab, Konstfack, Stockholm, Karen Pontoppidan talks about the transmission of knowledge. Oct.3, 2008 at MUDAC

  Via a selection of jewellery by European creators, the exhibition “from hand to hand” seeks to define the bonds that are created between teachers and pupils and what is involved in passing on a skill or knowledge. European jewellers whose influence in the contemporary jewellery world is clearly established and recognised were therefore chosen, not just because they are eminent teachers but also because they are outstanding creators of their period. What influences have they had on their pupils? What do they hope to pass on? What have their pupils retained of this? And do the latter, some of whom have become teachers in their turn, have the feeling they are continuing a link in the chain?

  Contemporary jewellery
  In our Western societies, technical virtuosity acquired in a traditional manner in workshops or professional schools allows the making of jewellery that unites prestige with market value. Nevertheless, since the 1970s, the world of contemporary jewellery creation has questioned these values. So does this knowledge still have any meaning? Is it not the idea transmitted via the object that is of prime importance? In observing the selected pieces, made by the creators themselves, one realises that both these factors co-exist: manual skill remains very evident in as much as these pieces of jewellery testify to the attention paid to ensuring they are well made, a judicious choice of materials, a genuine pleasure in producing a beautiful object. But this manual skill is placed at the service of the expression of each individual’s private questionings. It is this combination that makes contemporary jewellery so fascinating. One can allow oneself to feast one’s eyes while enjoying a pleasant sensation of intellectual titillation. Benjamin Lignel, jeweller and art historian, has set out a number of common characteristics of contemporary jewellery. He underlines “notions of individuality, craftmanship, and its troubled relationship to the production mainstream.” And adds the following elements: “the human body as a general working area; an open attitude to methods and material that echoes art’s own agenda, complicated by the notion of wearability; […] and an emancipation from consumer goods’ vocation to ‘just’ satisfy consumer desires.” [In Metalsmith Magazine, autumn 2006]. These are a few of the facets which allow one to define better the preoccupations of contemporary jewellery creators.

  Europe
  Apart from a few isolated examples, it would be difficult in Europe to find a school that is characterised by its territorial roots. The majority of European jewellery schools and colleges have developed an international style, based rather more on the identity of the creator than on his or her origin. Ever since the 1980s–1990s, Europe has represented a crucible for the creation of contemporary jewellery. Students still come from all over the world to undergo training here. Creators who have passed through European schools are consequently right in the centre of the reflections that prevail in the contemporary jewellery field.

  Ties and links
  To define more closely the relationships that exist between the exhibition’s participants, the latter responded to a questionnaire regarding the transmission of skills and knowledge. Their answers echo their creations in the exhibition as well as in the catalogue. Thus, all the jewellers relate their experiences during their years of training; their relationship with their teacher(s); who pushed them, who supported or discouraged them; who they still remember several years later; how there was a certain amount of connivance. Some pupils, having become masters in their turn, are continuing an artistic process that was developed under the influence of their teachers. Fabrice Schaefer, who teaches at the Haute école d’art et de design in Geneva, says: “‘Transforming a material’ was at the heart of Esther [Brinkmann]’s teaching; I still work along those lines”. Others, on the contrary, claim to have broken with them completely: “I think that I have never been faithful to my teacher. We have completely different ways of facing our craft and making jewellery.” (Marc Monzó, Spain, 1973).

  The exhibition
  The exhibition brings together works by 58 jewellery-makers of 3 generations (12 masters, 39 pupils, 7 pupils of pupils) who have emerged from 10 schools in various countries: Germany, Spain, Finland, France, Great Britain, Italy, Netherlands, Portugal and Switzerland. It is organised around the first-generation teachers, with the addition of their pupils and, in some cases, the pupils of their pupils. The tradition that the Swiss are great travellers is confirmed here: of the 17 Swiss jewellers included, 5 of whom currently teach abroad, 5 pursued complementary training outside Switzerland before returning home.

  The choice of pieces was carried out in agreement with the creators. The majority of the works date from the last five years. In a few cases they are older because they are emblematic of the work of particular teachers. Each creator has the same module at his/her disposal, without any sort of hierarchy: a trolley on wheels offering a presentation area of around 1m2. This display option conveys the very great mobility of jewellery creators: both the teachers who move around giving workshops and the pupils who follow the teacher of their choice.

  Despite every effort on the scenographer’s part, a piece of jewellery presented in a display case is nothing but a miniature sculpture. It lacks its natural support, the body. To compensate for this absence from the exhibition, some of the jewellery pieces are also shown being worn by means of black-and-white photographs taken by students of the Ecole de Photographie in Vevey (CEPV).

  The exhibition’s organisation and scenography were undertaken by Carole Guinard, jewellerymaker and scenographer at the MUDAC.

   

• metalcyberspace 11:07 pm on September 16, 2008 | 0 Permalink
  Tags: Bruce Metcalf, Contemporary jewelry (30), jewelry book (8), jewelry exhibition (24)

  The Miniature Worlds of Bruce Metcalf
  Sept.28 – Dec.21, 2008
  Special Events on Sept.28, 2008:
  Bruce Metcalf Lecture: “Chapters in a Life of the Imagination” 2-3pm at the Palo Alto Art Center auditorium
  Public Preview 3-5pm
  The lecture and preview are free to the public; please call 650-329-2366 to RSVP for the lecture.

  A 120 page full-color exhibition catalogue is available.

  Curated by Signe Mayfield of PAAC, this first major exhibition of his work examines social, moral and political issues, many of which Metcalf has also raised in his essays. In this exhibition, diminutive size matters. Cast in silver or carved in wood, Metcalf’s vulnerable protagonists act out issues on the stage of miniature worlds. Some of his pieces serve dual lives as wearable brooches, where the protagonists venture into the world and engage the unsuspecting viewer with their stories and distinctive visual language. The exhibition also marks the premier of the United States tour slated for multiple venues through 2011, including the Mint Museum of Craft+Design in Charlotte, North Carolina; Bellevue Arts Museum in Bellevue, Washington; Fresno Art Museum in Fresno, California; Fuller Craft Museum in Brockton, Massachusetts; Arkansas Arts Center in Little Rock, Arkansas; and Racine Art Museum in Racine, Wisconsin.