Metalcyberspace blog - Contemporary Jewelry Design

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.

Phillip Fike

born July 17, 1927 - died Dec. 8, 1997

Wow ! Has it really been ten years since my good friend Phillip Fike left this planet? I feel his presence around me all the time and it makes me think he’s still here.

We met at my first SNAG conference in the 80’s. I remember being in a dark bar surrounded by a sea of people and being told these amazing stories of past escapades. I wish I had taped them because I can no longer remember the exact details but I will always remember them with a smile.

For those too young to have met him, Phillip was a founding member of SNAG and the person who came up with the acronym SNAG (the Society of North American Goldsmiths).

He would make fabulous fibula which is an ancient form of a brooch. The types that the Romans and Greeks would use to fasten their garments. He was an expert with Niello. He was a professor at Wayne State University in Michigan from 1953-1997.

When I told him that I was running for the SNAG Board, he grabbed my hand strongly, would not let go, then thanked me and told me that I understood and represented the spirit of the original Society of North American Goldsmiths. Michael Good told me the same at Tavern on the Green in NY at WJA. I was honored that they felt that way about me. I won the election and served on it from 1994-1998.

It saddens me to know that a new generation of metalsmiths will never have the chance to experience firsthand the great man Phillip Fike.

I do have a page in progress.  I need to add a few photos and more information. Just have not been able to scan them yet. If people have info and stories I would love to hear from them.

Susan Sarantos

My library is quite extensive. I own almost every jewelry & metalsmithing book ever published along with my own collection of files. Last count that was over 400 binders. YIKES! And I have a long way to go to finish sorting boxes of torn out articles into those too. I save about every invitation, article and image of and about jewelry, exhibition catalogs, newspaper clippings, magazines. It’s an obsession of mine.  I think I was a librarian in a previous life. When I told that to Jan Yager she said “You are one in this life”. Hah so true.

I’m missing Metalsmith Vol 25 #s 1 & 2 if anyone has a copies of them that they don’t need, I will give them a good home.
If you have anything else too contact me and I’ll let you know where to mail it.

Susan Sarantos

TEXTURES OF TOSCANA 2008
A Renaissance Style Workshop of Chasing & Repousse’
June 9 – 15, 2008

Come “apprentice” in the art of ancient metalworking techniques with  master Italian metalsmith Davide Bigazzi in his native Tuscany. Learn chasing, repousse’, and tool-making in an intimate and inspirational setting in Pian Di Sco, a small village in the Chianti hills just south of Florence. The workshop, held in his Tuscan studio, will offer students the chance to study one-on-one with Davide and learn about the land that inspires his designs. Students will stay in a rustic Italian farmhouse and feast together daily. The course also includes a day trip to Florence to see works by Benvenuto Cellini and other Italian master metalsmiths and
sculptors.

The workshop includes:
-35 hours of individualized instruction :: previous experience helpful but not required

-Limited Enrollment:: 5 students
-6 nights in a rustic country farmhouse, double or single occupancy
-Breakfast, lunch, & dinner included – Homemade Tuscan cuisine!!
-Land transfers including pick-up from Florence train station to Pian Di Sco’ and return
-Transportation to Florence to visit Il Bargello museum and Museo degli Argenti
-Use of tools and studio space

About Davide:
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 his life-long passion.
During his early teens, Davide apprenticed with Bino Bini, the renowned Florentine metalsmith and sculptor, aiding in commissions for the Vatican, national banks, churchs, etc.. 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.

*The maximum class capacity of Textures of Toscana is 5.
Early registration is highly recommended!!
The registration deadline is April 10, 2008.
For info contact Elisa at 650-323-1923

Henry Dunay: A Precious Life written by Penny Proddow and Marion Fasel

A biography about Henry Dunay and his designs.

Creator of the “Jeweled Art Collection” a series of exquisite bejeweled quartz eggs which debuted at the Kuntsmuseum in Basel, Switzerland in April 1988. Dunay is known for his elegant collections of 18 karat gold featured at Neiman Marcus. His Cynnabar Collection was inspired by ancient hand painted Chinese scrolls. They depict mythical and earthly scenes.

Hillary Clinton wore the Kahn Canary ring designed by Dunay to the Presidential inauguration of her husband Bill Clinton.

I shared a lobster dinner with Henry and his wife several years ago at the Society of Jewelry Historians annual conference where he was a featured speaker. It was wonderful listening to him talk about his life.

Ted Noten wins Françoise van den Bosch Award 2008 on the recommendation of the jury: Karl Fritsch (winner Award 2006), James Beighton (mima Middlesbrough Institute of Modern Art), Lous Martin (maker, gallery Lous Martin Delft), Chequita Nahar (maker, head jewellery and product department Academy of Fine Arts Maastricht) and Miecke Oosterman (on behalf of the board of the foundation).

The Award will be presented in 2008.

Ted Noten (Tegelen NL, 1956) has been working as a designer of jewellery, objects and installations since 1990. With his jewellery projects, Ted Noten succeeds to reach a broad and international audience, and besides that he has acquired recognition in the world of design and fine arts. Last year, as the result of his own initiative, he realized a solo exhibition in Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen (Rotterdam) and a publication CH2=C(CH3)C(=O0OCH3 enclosures and other TN’s (published by 010, Rotterdam).

Since 1980 the Françoise van den Bosch Award is awarded every two years to an (international) jewellery artist whose work is of outstanding quality and appeals to younger generations and the audience. The Award is granted by the Françoise van den Bosch Foundation and involves an amount of money and the acquisition of a piece of jewellery by the award winner.

The private Foundation, initiated by friends and family of jewellery designer Françoise van den Bosch (1944-1977), started in 1980 after her sudden death. It is the aim of the Foundation to stimulate international jewellery.

The Works Gallery
JEWELRY :: Flirting with Seduction

Carmen Valdes
Lonna Keller
Kathleen Lamberti
 
The Works Gallery is proud to present Flirting with Seduction, an exhibit
featuring the work of prominent jewelry artists Carmen Valdes, Lonna Keller
and Kathleen Lamberti.
 
Valdes received her BA from Yale University and her Masters in Architecture
from Harvard Graduate School of Design.  Her work is influenced by her years
of design work in the architectural field and by the juxtaposition created
by the materials she uses; rubber and silver.  Valdes creates work that is
simultaneously bold and elegant, hard and soft, precious and industrial.
 
Keller is a unique jeweler who creates pieces that reference the sensuality
that exudes from the female form.  She uses everyday found objects such as
swivel hooks; garbage bags, zip ties and rubber chords to create pieces that
are designed to enhance the female body almost like a second skin.  In 1999
her work was selected to be part of the Renwick Collection in Washington DC.
 
Lamberti uses metal and fiber to create pieces that are very structural, but
also soft and contain vibrant colors.  To combine these opposing materials,
Lamberti uses stitching that is functional, but also decorative.  Using
objects found in nature as inspiration for her forms, she creates works that
are more body dressing than jewelry.
 
Flirting with Seduction : Carmen Valdes : Lonna Keller : Kathleen Lamberti
exhibition runs from Nov 2-30th, 2007. 

The Works Gallery is located at 303 Cherry Street in Old City, Philadelphia, PA. 
The public is welcome, admission is free.
Gallery hours are Tues- Sat. 10-6pm.

PARALLAX - Massart Metals Symposium Event

PARALLAX: the apparent displacement or the difference in apparent direction of an object as seen from two different points…

Saturday October 27th 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Massachusetts College of Art and Design, Pozen Center, North Hall
621 Huntington Ave. Boston, MA 02115

This event is free and open to the public. Parking is available in the MassArt parking lot
R.S.V.P. required

Speakers include: Iris Eichenberg, Lauren Fensterstock, Katja Prins, Andrea Wagner, Deb Todd Wheeler and Joe Wood.

This one-day conference event takes advantage of an opportunity to compare two separate bodies of work. At Massachusetts College of Art and Design, there will be two separate exhibitions installed in the Bakalar Gallery; Golden Clogs, Dutch Mountains and IN SITU.

Both of these exhibitions stem from investigations in jewelry and personal object making. Since jewelry and objects for personal use have an essential built-in context, the divergent approaches the artists take in these two very different exhibitions is intriguing. It sheds light on the differences in the approach to context in personal adornment and object making as art. As explorations and investigations that use jewelry and personal objects as a point of departure, there is always an implied function or context. How these two groups employ context illustrates a fundamental difference in cultured perspective.

The exhibition Golden Clogs, Dutch Mountains, organized by Andrea Wagner, features the work of relatively young artists working in the Netherlands. With a recognized legacy of bold defiance to convention, Dutch works often pose questions for the viewer and wearer to reconcile historic references with new materials and associations.

The artists in the exhibition IN SITU organized by Joe Wood are a group of young artists working primarily in the US. These artists work from a similar point of departure. They too employ elements from conventional approaches to jewelry and personal object making but that is where the two groups diverge. Where one group (Dutch) embraces the open, enigmatic and fragmentary the other creates a full-blown narrative fiction around the objects. For the Americans, the object remains central to the experience but only as it becomes wrapped in a specific personal projection of the artist’s intent. Interaction, experience and documentation become intregal to the work.

In both cases, context of the object is a focus. With the respective differences of vantage that these two groups of artists have we may see this essential element in more depth and clarity.