Metalcyberspace blog - Contemporary Jewelry Design

DAVIDE BIGAZZI Chasing & Repousse’  Workshops
@Davide Bigazzi Studio & Gallery in the South Bay Area (CA)
April 19th and 20th - Saturday & Sunday - 9am to 12pm & 1pm to 5pm
Two Day Workshop: $435

14 hours of individualized instruction and limited enrollment, so sign up soon! 
Materials Included: Tools are supplied.

Workshop Description: This workshop is a hands-on introduction to the ancient techniques of chasing & repousse’. Its focus is on understanding the plasticity of metal and how molding metal can further enhance your work. Technique, the process of making tools, and an Italian cultural/historical perspective is provided through demonstrations and discussion. Hands-on learning and practice is the focal point of this workshop.
Both beginners and experienced students are welcome.

Davide Bigazzi is a metalsmith and designer from Florence, Italy currently living and working in the U.S. He has worked as an instructor, designer, model maker and production supervisor for prestigious fine silver companies in Italy. His work is featured in galleries worldwide. Capturing the intrinsic beauty and sculptural qualities of metal has been a life long passion. In his early years, Davide apprenticed with master Italian goldsmith Bino Bini. Bino, one of the most notable Italian metal artists of our day, left a legacy of the Italian chasing and repousse’ tradition, which Davide is committed to preserving via the hands-on workshops he teaches throughout the U.S. and in Italy.

Enamel Experience - International Badges Exhibition

Velvet da Vinci Gallery
through March 30, 2008

Velvet da Vinci Gallery in San Francisco presents “Enamel Experience - International Badges
Exhibition,” a show featuring 24 established artists from Germany, the United Kingdom and the
United States.  This exhibition is made up of contemporary badges inspired by the collection of
historic enamel badges at Hamburg’s Museum der Arbeit. 

“Enamel Experience - International Badges Exhibition” originated at the Museum der Arbeit in
Hamburg, Germany.  The museum is located in The Company Carl Wild Badge Factory, which was
in production from 1901 to 1989 and was forced to close due to cheaper competition overseas.
The historical badge collection includes badges made for the military, various societies,
commercial organizations and charities.  The contemporary artists have re-interpreted these
badges to create a series of new ones.
 
Badges have a rich history through their messages and techniques.  Elizabeth Turrell, the
organizer of the exhibition, says, “The making of badges, medals and regalia gives artists a
means of portable communication, including subversive messages, pleas for peace, and satirical
images. The badge can be produced as a one off, a limited-edition or commercially produced by
the hundreds or thousands.” 

Three prestigious international artists in the exhibition have taken very different approaches to
re-creating the badge.  Prominent British artist Wendy Ramshaw makes both public art and
jewelry.  Her work is found in museums and private collections throughout the world, such as the
Smithsonian Institute in Washington D.C., the Cooper Hewitt Museum and the Art and Design
Museum in New York and the Victorian and Albert Museum in London.  Her badge was inspired
by the intrepid polar explorer Ann Daniels who told the BBC how she saw a “rainbow around the
sun”.  The image caught Wendy’s attention and she created this sight in the form of a badge.

Tamar de Vries Winter, originally from Israel, lives in the UK where she creates jewelry and
hollowware.  She is highly influenced by ancient cultures.  Her work can be found in many
prestigious collections such as the Jewish Museum in New York and the Victoria and Albert in
London. She wants to communicate the message of peace through her badge.  She says, “The
vision expressed by this badge follows that of the prophet Isaiah - ‘We shall transform their iron
crosses into olive branches’.  I wish to dedicate the badge to the memory of my grandfather Josef
Lachmann who for all his life as a father, physician, soldier and citizen fought for his ideals.” 
The photo on the badge is from a collection of photographs taken in Germany and Palestine in
the first part of the twentieth century that she inherited.  It is a reminder to her of the world they
have lost.

Mark Hartung is a U.S. artist.  He originally studied glass at Kent State in Ohio.  He has been
working in enamel since 1989 and is a recipient of many Ohio Art Council Grants.  Mark was
inspired by badges with numbers he found in the collection of the Museum der Arbeit.  He took
this element and used it as a decorative motif to create his striking images.

Velvet da Vinci is open Tuesday through Saturday from 12 pm - 6 pm, Sunday from 12 pm - 4 pm.  The Gallery is closed on Monday.

The Jewellery Industry Innovation Centre (JIIC), part of The Birmingham City University’s School of Jewellery, assists the jewellery and silversmithing industries with new technology applications.
         
The School of Jewellery and Jewellery Industry Innovation Centre has announced it’s new Short Course program for 2008.

Courses are open to everyone on a first-come first served basis. Reservations for the 5 week program beginning on June 23rd will be accepted now.

New courses for 2008 include:
Decorative Techniques for Jewellers : Jinks McGrath
Exploring Concepts for Contemporary Earrings : Yvonne Kulagowski
Gemstone or Glass – What are you buying : Kate Hopley
Hand Engraving : Mark Phelps
How to Use Coloured Resins in your Jewellery : Clare John
Jewellery – Clasps, Catches and Clips : Richard Witek
Marketing & Promoting your Jewellery Business : Yvonne Kulagowski
Models from Milliput – An Alternative to Wax : Mark Brayley
Narrative Jewellery – An Introduction : Xavier Ines Monclús

JIIC will be holding open days 3:30-6pm on April 8 & 9, 2008

New Works: Jewellery by Alexandra Stülb & paintings by Andrea Gabbriellini

at ORFEO Galerie d’Art - Luxembourg
Exhibition runs until April 31, 2008

Åsa Lockner - Views of Order

at PLATINA, Odengatan 68, Stockholm
Exhibition runs until April 30, 2008

In 7 chapters Åsa Lockner depicts the concepts of order. The idea and inspiration for the exhibition comes partly from journeys in countries with limited freedom of speech and repression. Order is also Åsa Lockners own tool for balancing her everyday life.

The exhibition “Views of Order” at Gallery Platina in Stockholm is a research on different aspects of order political, social and cultural. But the artist and designer Åsa Lockner also relates to her private life: 
- When I face symptoms of stress my desire for order increases. I try to compenesate my loss of  control with actions as organizing work papers in files.

Recently Åsa Lockner visited Laos and White Russia, two countries where the inhabitants are under strong repression from the authoritiy. She reacted with surprise on the few visible signs from the governmental control in the streets: 
- The lack of individual expression and subcultures was the things that struck me hardest. Downtown Minsk was unnaturally tidy and clean, simply too clean. The whole society was cleansed from diverting expression.

“Views of Order” is organized in seven chapters of jewellery and sculptures in different environments, all describing the artist ideas. The first chapter, “Table Manners”, handles governmental repression towards dissidents. The third chapter is the sculpture, “Being Nice”, where a woman fights against visible and invisible chains.

METAL Inclinations
International Online Metalsmithing and Jewelry Exhibition

Call for Entries:
Deadline to enter: June 30, 2008

Exhibition debuts online October 31, 2008 and runs one year until October 31, 2009
Jurors for the show are: Michael Monroe, Marilyn da Silva and Susie Ganch
Sponsored by the Society for Midwest Metalsmiths

MJSA Expo New York
April 13-15, 2008
Jacob Javits Convention Center
New York City

MJSA Expo New York is the largest and oldest trade show in the United States dedicated to the design and manufacturing of jewelry. The show features nearly 400 exhibits of some of the latest and most innovative tools, supplies, machinery, components, services, and finished products all under one roof. MJSA members attend Expo New York free of charge. The charge for non-MJSA members is $15 (U.S.) when registering at the show. Advanced registration for both MJSA members and non-members is FREE.

listing of seminars 

Show Hours
Sunday, April 13        10:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m.
Monday, April 14        10:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m.
Tuesday, April 15        10:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.
Buyer registration opens at 9:00 a.m. each day

Students enrolled in jewelry-related programs are welcome at the show during the following times ONLY :
Sunday, April 13         3:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m.
Tuesday, April 15        10:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.
Students must present their student ID when registering.

Through Feb. 17, 2008 at the Houston Museum of Natural Science
Jewelry with the original renderings will be displayed.

Born in 1898, Duke Fulco di Verdura is probably best known for his Maltese Cross bracelets that he designed for Coco Chanel. He worked with Chanel in Paris in the 20’s & 30’s then moved to America in 1934 and worked with Paul Flato for a while before opening his own company in 1939.

Nature was inspiration for many of his designs.  He loved color and mixed materials regardless of the value encrusting with gems sea shells, pearls, animals, fruit and leaves. His jewelry adorned many stars and they wore it in the movies they filmed. Keep a close eye on Marlene Dietrich, Greta Garbo and Rita Hayworth and you will see it.  Cole Porter commissioned him to create cigarette boxes to commemorate each show.

Verdura died in London in 1978.
In 1985, Ward Landrigan purchased the firm and has been reviving his unique designs.

I’ve always been drawn to Verdura’s renderings because I enjoy rendering in watercolor and gouache so much myself and love his sense of whimsy and style.  I visited the 5th Avenue salon in New York while studying at FIT (1988-89) to get a first hand look at his designs.

Susan Sarantos

LIBIDO- chains, gender, feelings and love

Jewellery - Jenny Edlund
Foto - Morgan Norman

Exhibition runs until February 2, 2008
PLATINA, Odengatan 68 in Stockholm

The exhibition is the result of one years work with the female body and identity in focus.

The theme is chains where Jenny Edlund has created handmade chains and used prefabricated ones in big collars and bracelets. The exhibition also includes photos by the photographer Morgan Norman with Jenny herself as model.

Together the jewelleries and the photos make a unit, where the issue is the position of the female body, in society, in artwork and the rules that surrounds a female body.

Libido is a work about jewellery as tactile, sensual artefact and a work about the female being and sexuality that reaches into the political and feministic discussion about the gender power order. Jenny Edlund claims that the jewellery that is in contact with the skin has a very high erotic potential, and in the exhibition Libido has developed from the crossroad of her artwork and life.

The exhibition reminds us that it is the body we live in and act through.

Jenny Edlund (born 1959) lives and works in Stockholm. Educated at Konstfack, and represented at Röhlsska museet, Gothenburg and MAD, Museum of Art & Design in New York

New West Coast Design: Jewelry + Metalwork

Velvet da Vinci Gallery
2015 Polk Street @ Broadway
San Francisco, CA 94109

Jan. 18 to Feb. 17, 2008
Artist Reception, Friday, Jan. 18, 6-8 pm.

Velvet da Vinci Gallery in San Francisco presents New West Coast Design: Jewelry + Metalwork, an exhibition showcasing 60 West Coast established and rising metal artists and jewelers creating exceptional new work.

New West Coast Design is a group of exhibitions to be held in different venues throughout the San Francisco Bay Area focusing on specific developments in the craft and design fields.  New West Coast Design exhibitions have a rich history which started with a desire to exhibit furniture and objects by California artists.  The California Design exhibitions began at the Pasadena Museum of Art in the 1950s and continued through the 1970s. Designer Craftsmen of the West, curated by Elizabeth Moses in 1957 and held at the de Young Museum, and the thirteen California Design events sponsored by the Baulines Craft Guild in San Francisco from 1988 to 2004 were also premier showcases for regional design.  West Coast designers and artists continue to create unique work exhibited in Museums and private collections. 

The exhibition at Velvet da Vinci, New West Coast Design: Jewelry + Metalwork highlights a collection of the most exciting new designs in jewelry and metalwork currently being made on the West Coast.

Helen Shirk is one of the New West Coast Design: Jewelry + Metalwork artists.  Ms. Shirk is a world-renowned, Southern California metalsmith who creates large organic (plant like) vessels out of copper.  The piece in the exhibition is textured and painted with colored pencil to evoke the color palette of Western Australia.  The work is deeply rooted in her time spent there.  She says, “I try to create the feeling of sensuousness, strangeness, and vitality that I find in the natural world.”

Jeweler Maria Phillips, (Seattle) conjures up the female body through her choice of materials.  Her series of brooches made from gut, gold, silver and thread look almost like quick, precise sketches. 

Cynthia Toops, (Seattle) an established polymer-clay jeweler, has created a new series of work out of felt.  Her Twig bracelet is hand felted into an organic oval with three-dimensional texture emulating small protruding branches. 

James Yont, one of the younger artists in the exhibition, has created a modern style brooch.  Made from red, white and orange plastic and a variety of industrial metals the appearance is that of a space ship with its modern sleek angles.

Mike Holmes and Elizabeth Shypertt co-curated New West Coast Design: Jewelry + Metalwork. 
Velvet da Vinci is one part of a Bay Area-wide exhibition of the New West Coast Design Exhibition. 
In total there are five other museums and galleries:

San Francisco Museum of Craft + Design
New West Coast Design - Contemporary Objects
Jan. 18 through April 27, 2008

San Francisco Center for the Book
New West Coast Design - Books
Jan. 25- April 25, 2008, reception Jan 25, 6-8pm

Bucheon Gallery
New West Coast Design - Fiber
Jan. 4 - Feb. 9, 2008, reception Jan. 4, 2008 6pm - 8pm

Museum of Craft and Folk Art
“C” Change: Craft in Our Future
Recent Graduates from the California College of the Arts 
Nov. 1, 2007 - Jan. 27, 2008

Artworks Gallery
New West Coast Design - The State of the Art Quilt
Jan. 10 - Feb. 28, 2008, reception Jan. 24

Since 1991, Velvet da Vinci Gallery has been a leader in showcasing new developments in contemporary art jewelry and craft-based sculpture and regularly organizes exhibitions of contemporary craft.  The Gallery represents more than 75 renowned artists from across the globe and regularly holds lectures by both local and visiting artists that are free to the public.
Velvet da Vinci is open Tuesday through Sat. from 12 pm - 6 pm, Sunday 12 pm - 4 pm. 
The Gallery is closed on Monday.