Metalcyberspace – Contemporary Jewellery Design + Modern Studio Jewelry

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• 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, 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

  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 3:09 pm on September 19, 2008 | 0 Permalink
  Tags: art jewelry (11), Art Smith, jewelry exhibition (24), metalsmith (8), modernist jewelry (3), silver (3), studio jewelry

  From the Village to Vogue: The Modernist Jewelry of Art Smith
  at Brooklyn Museum, NY USA
  May 14, 2008 through May 17, 2009

  Exhibition of Silver Jewelry Designed by Legendary Modernist Jeweler Art Smith

  This exhibit will honor the gift of twenty pieces of silver and gold jewelry created by the Brooklyn-born modernist jeweler Arthur Smith (1917–1982), primarily from Charles Russell, Smith’s companion and heir.

  The presentation of Art Smith jewelry will be enhanced by archival material from the artist’s estate, including his working tools, the original shop sign designed by Smith, period photographs of models wearing his jewelry, preparatory sketches, and account books. Presented along with Smith’s work are twenty-three pieces of modernist jewelry from the permanent collection by such artists as Elsa Freund, William Spratling, Frank Rebajes, Eva Eisler, Ed Weiner, Claire Falkenstein, Jung-Hoo Kim, and others. Inspired by surrealism, biomorphicism, and primitivism, Art Smith’s jewelry is dynamic in its size and form. Although sometimes massive in scale, his jewelry remains lightweight and wearable due to his awareness of the female form. The jewelry dates from the late 1940s to the 1970s and includes his most famous pieces, such as a "Patina" necklace inspired by the mobiles of Alexander Calder; a "Lava" bracelet, or cuff, that extends over the entire lower arm in undulating and overlapping forms; and a massive ring with three semiprecious stones that stretches over three fingers.

  Trained at Cooper Union, Art Smith, an African American, opened his first shop on Cornelia Street in Greenwich Village in 1946. He later moved the business to 140 West Fourth Street, where it remained throughout his career. Not only one of the leading modernist jewelers of the mid-twentieth century, Smith was also an active supporter of black and gay civil rights, an avid jazz enthusiast, and a supporter of early black modern dance groups.

  This exhibition is organized by Barry Harwood, Curator of Decorative Arts, Brooklyn Museum. The exhibition is supported by the Harold S. Keller Fund with additional support from the Donald and Mary Oenslager Fund.

   

• metalcyberspace 10:27 pm on December 8, 2007 | 0 Permalink
  Tags: art jewelry (11), Contemporary jewellery (14), Contemporary jewelry (30), fibula, jewelry artist (8), Metalcyberspace (10), metalsmith (8), metalsmiths (9), Phillip Fike, S.E. Sarantos (8), SNAG (4), Society of North American Goldsmiths (3), studio jewelry

  

  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 fibulae 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

   

• metalcyberspace 10:53 pm on May 4, 2007 | 0 Permalink
  Tags: art jewelry (11), Contemporary jewellery (14), Contemporary jewelry (30), metalsmithing (14), metalsmiths (9), studio jewelry

  Jewelry by Artists: The Daphne Farago Collection
  May 22, 2007- March 5, 2008
  Museum of Fine Arts, Boston MA USA

  This exhibiton will present highlights from Daphne Farago’s collection of contemporary jewelry, which was given to the MFA in 2006. The collection comprises more than 600 works of jewelry by leading American and European artists, ranging in date from about 1940 to the present, in a wide variety of media and sculptural forms. With this gift, the MFA now holds the most comprehensive collection of twentieth-century studio jewelry ever assembled. The exhibition will include a selection of about 150-200 objects, and will provide a chronological survey of studio jewelry in the 20th century. While demonstrating the breadth of the collection and the variety of artists’ approaches to jewelry-making, the show will also represent key artists in depth, including Alexander Calder, Art Smith, Sam Kramer, Robert Ebendorf, William Harper, Wendy Ramshaw and Mary Lee Hu.

   

• Welcome!

  metalcyberspace 1:25 am on March 30, 2007 | 0 Permalink
  Tags: art jewelry (11), Contemporary jewellery (14), Contemporary jewelry (30), Metalcyberspace (10), metalsmithing (14), metalsmiths (9), S.E. Sarantos (8), studio jewelry

  Please join me in making Metalcyberspace more interactive. I will also be updating the website with the information as it comes in to the blog.

  This blog is hosted on my webhost server and if it hogs up too much bandwidth it’s going to disappear so if you link please link direct to Metalcyberspace main page too just in case. Also, Metalcyberspace is trademarked as a single word so please list it as one word instead of metal cyberspace or metal cyber space.

  When posting images please don’t hot link to other’s copyrighted designs without permission that results in stealing their bandwidth. Link to images from your own server.

  Enjoy!
  SES
  Susan Sarantos
  http://www.sarantos.com
  http://www.metalcyberspace.com

  blog at http://metalcyberspace.com/blog