ACJ, Diamond Jubilee Exhibition

On Monday the ACJ Diamond Jubilee Exhibition opened in Birmingham. I was very fortunate to be one of the chosen Jewellers for this exhibition, along with others, including, Maria Hanson, Zoe Robertson, Stephen Bottomley, Kelvin J Birk, Terry Hunt and Lynne Bartlett.

"Thirty two makers have created pieces especially for the event, resulting in a wide variety of individual interpretations in precious and non-precious materials. All the participating designers have embraced the theme of Jubilee celebration with style, irreverence, humour and panache. Crushed gemstones, sweets and jellies, ribbon, graphite powder, flocked and sublimated materials, rub shoulders with diamonds, silver and 18ct gold, in a glorious celebration of Queen Elizabeth II’s sixty years reign.

All the pieces were selected by a distinguished judging panel chaired by
Professor Jack Cunningham, which included Corinne Julius, Jacqueline Gestetner, Joanna Hardy, Kath Libbert and Karen Dell’Armi."

"The exhibition opens at the School of Jewellery, Birmingham City University, and then starts its tri-nation tour to Llantrisant, South Wales before showing at the newly opened Goldsmiths’ Centre, London – the first exhibition to be held there after its’ own opening Royal exhibition. This is a testament to the Association’s high profile, and to the Centre’s commitment to showing work in non-traditional as well as traditional materials, and used in non-traditional ways."

ACJ Diamond Jubilee Exhibition, will be showing at...
Birmingham School of Jewellery, Birmingham, 12th to 30th March 2012
Llantrisant Gallery, Wales, 1st to 31th May 2012
Goldsmiths’ Centre, London,11th to 16th June
SH Gallery, Edinburgh, 2nd to 28th July
North Glasgow College, 27th to 31st August

Images from top to bottom: Terry Hunt, Lynne Bartlett, Zoe Robertson.

More to follow soon...

Obsessionistas @ BIAD

23 BIAD staff and students will be exhibiting their own individual personal collections of ‘things’ between 5 – 16 December

Amongst the items on display will be lots of;
Japanese Guitars, Bouncy Balls, Designer labels, Ceramic brooches, Die cast cyclists, Cruet sets, Mickey Mouse ties, Christmas decorations,Robert Welch ware, Deely Boppers, Finnish ceramics & glass, Plastic chickens & geese, Delftware, Chairs, Comics, Plastic grass, Trainers,Vintage hairdryers, Brushes, Brooches, Czech glass+

Read more about the exhibition, here

Machteld van Joolingen: It's only temporary

‘It’s only temporary’ An exhibition of work by Machteld van Joolingen

"What we experience as time is nothing more than the conception that most events are not reversible. G. Krol

What remains and what disappears? The image, form, material and meaning - everything is subject to a change. Most of it vanishes in the end.

My discovery of plastic bags as a material is rather recent.

The colour, the shine and the many kinds of plastic contained in the plastic bags have seduced me to do several series of melting experiments. I started with cutting the plastic bags into small pieces, melting them in the oven and then taking them out to press them into a mould.
At a later stage I have realised that for the ultimate result, it is much better to work without a mould, and concentrate on the pure material – the melted plastic.
Currently, I sometimes stitch the pieces together before putting them in the oven. I try to influence the outcome during the melting process. For this I take the piece out of the oven, rearrange the plastic and put it back again. This may happen several times during the baking process. I also try to influence the colour palette of the plastic although this may not lead to the indented result. The key moment is when to take the piece out of the oven; a difference of few seconds could result in totally different outcome. The experience of unpredictability and chance excites me.

I also value the fact that many friends collected the plastic bags for me and jointly we are aiding a recycling process. Ugly bags may lead to beautiful results and vice versa.

From the melted material I select those pieces that have expressiveness and shape the story into my jewellery pieces. These pieces might carry reference to traditional jewelery, for it is tradition that delicately balances between temporary and eternal."

Place: Galerie Louise Smit
(Amsterdam, Netherlands)
19-Jun-2011 - 23-Jul-2011

Thanks for sending the images Machteld.

Morris Exhibition

Just before Christmas I visted the Willaim Morris Gallery to see my neckpiece in the exhibition "Inspired by Morris". I was very happy to see they had placed my work next to a bag embroidered by May Morris.

The exhibition showing my neckpiece has now ended. The gallery has a new temporary exhibition starting on the 2nd Feb titled "Morris, Anti-Scrape and the Preservation of Heritage"

"The William Morris Gallery is the only public Gallery devoted to William Morris - designer, craftsman, writer, socialist and conservationist - and displays an internationally important collection illustrating his life, achievements and influence.

William Morris was born in Walthamstow in 1834. The Gallery is delightfully housed in the 18th Century Water House, Morris' family home from 1848 to 1856, and set in Lloyd Park in Walthamstow."

Andrea Wagner @ Gallery NOEL GUYOMARCH

Andrea Wagner is showing work at Gallery Noel Guyomarch in Montreal, September 30th until October 24th

Leonor Hipólito: Heritage

"With Heritage I have initiated the cicle of interventions which under the idea of Private View happens in different private spaces.
Each intervention represents a different body of work for it takes in account the particular characteristics of both house and host.
Within the variety of events from Private View it is intended to trigger sensations only possible to experience in the specificity of the chosen places.
Every intervention 'site specific' is developed in close relation to the host participant and it is presented in one-time show."

concept Leonor Hipólito / photography Leonor hipólito and Arne Kaiser

See images from Heritage here

Making Treasure

Making Treasure Blog

OPENING TIMES:Monday-Friday 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. from Monday 13th September to Wednesday 22nd September. Closed Saturday/Sunday.

Fantastical edible creations, modern re-interpretations of historical decorative arts, rubber glove garments and wearable drawings, a selection of what will be showcased at Making Treasure, the MA Jewellery, Silversmithing and Related Products graduate exhibition opening on September 11th at 6.30pm.

The exhibition is the culmination of the intensive one-year long course taught at the renowned School of Jewellery, Birmingham City University.

School of Jewellery
BIAD
Vittoria Street
Birmingham B1 3PA
0121 331 5940l

Chilean crafts in the UK: Workshop Opportunity and Exhibition

Pop-up shop in Carnaby Street. Discover beautiful jewellery made with the micro technique of weaving with horsehair produced by Chilean designer-makers.


Monoco, Green disc ring

Rosalía Jorquera, green butterfly


CECILIA BRAVO, TERESA DIAZ, PAULA VELASCO Founders of ChileMakers

ChileMakers is an organization that seeks to promote and commercialize contemporary and traditional Chilean crafts in markets that value fair trade, originality and sophistication in each design. ChileMakers was born in 2009 aiming to nurture and promote knowledge and commercial exchange between Chilean designer-makers and Europe, with a special focus in the UK.

19 – 31 July 2010 Open daily, 11am-7pm Pop-Up Shop at Carnaby Street.
Kingly Court, Carnaby, London, W1B 5PW

Designer-makers: Acllahuasi | DamaJuana | Daniela Gloger | Manuela Tromben | Monoco | Paula Leal | Rosalía Jorquera | Walka

ChileMakers are running some workshops in conjunction with the exhibition: Try your hand in our workshops and learn the basis of weaving with horsehair. Saturday 24 & 31 July, 11:00am-1:00pm, £10, all materials included. Book your place at info@chilemakers.com (limited availability).

LATE TALK: Enjoy a fascinating conversation along with basketmaker Mary Butcher (artist in residence at V&A) about the origins of weaving with horsehair and how it relates to basketery. Thursday 22 July, 7-9pm. Book your place at info@chilemakers.com (limited availability).

I am attending one of the workshops, am really looking forward to it.

Summer Show: SW1 Gallery

This week from the 1st-3rd July, WAES are staging an exhibition at the SW1 Gallery. My students have made some lovely works this year and will be showcasing them at this event. There will also be work from students studying glass, ceramics, photography and fine art. It's a free event and loads to see.

CULTEX @ Rugby Art Gallery & Museum‏

Cultex Starts today at Rugby Art Gallery and Museum.

"CULTEX, curated by Professor Lesley Millar, features six major innovative textile artists from Japan and Norway: Machiko Agano, Yuka Kawai, Kiyonori Shimada, Anniken Amundsen, Gabriella Göransson, and Eva Schjølberg.

The artists' sculptural textile installations have emerged from an exchange of diverse cultural perspectives, working methods and creative processes. In addition, Rugby Art Gallery and Museum has commissioned two new site-specific works by artists Eva Schjølberg and Gabriella Göransson, and will be showing a new work by Machiko Agano. These new works will make use of the normally unused outdoor balconies, creating a fascinating dialogue with the works in the gallery.

CULTEX is supported by the Japan Foundation, the Sasakawa Foundation in Scandinavia, Daiwa, the Norwegian Embassy in the UK, the Hub, Norsk Kulturråd, Norsk Kunsthåndverkere, OCA, and Norke Texstilkunstnere."

I am showing work in their Craft Conservatory for the next few months, along with other makers who use textiles in their work.

Ela Bauer: I Care A Lot

Ela Bauer's work was selected for I care a lot. Which I posted about last week. A really interesting response to the theme, presenting a discussion rather than taking a side or political point of view.

I did not enter this project as I could not think how to approach such a tricky subject without feeling uncomfortable about my interpretation or lack of real knowledge on the subject. I think Ela's work is a very thoughtful response and is universal to the idea of conflicts.

"This is a huge heart which actually is a huge knot.
That is the key feeling in this work; the knot is such a paradoxal form; it consists of “one”, but through an action (of knotting) it becomes “two”, with a heart between them. At the same time it is the ground of endless processes which in themselves are not complex, but all together they create an unsolvable, knotted reality. An un-followable mass of actions and reactions.
There is no wrong or right, just a complex, painful situation."

Ela Bauer: I Care A Lot

I Care A Lot - a portable discussion on the Middle East present a collection of Jewelry artworks in a group exhibition dealing with a variety of complicated themes associated with the Middle East.

Ela Bauer has been selected to show her work in the exhibition. Soon there will be an online exhibition showcasing the work of makers involved. A difficult subject to respond to, am looking forward to seeing how people have interpreted the theme.




You can read more about the project/exhibition here

Fabrizio Tridenti

info@fabriziotridenti.it
fabriziotridenti@alice.it
www.fabriziotridenti.it

l’éducation sentimentale: Lin Cheung

l’éducation sentimentale
repertory of forms for an History of contemporary jewellery

a proposal by
Christian Alandete

With :
Lin Cheung (GB) /
Carole Deltenre (F) /
Gesine Hackenberg (NL) /
Anya Kivarkis (USA) /
Åsa Lockner (SW) /
Marc Monzó (E) /
Bettina Speckner (D)

In Flaubert’s novel, "A sentimental education, the young hero has to find his path among contradictory feelings at a time of historical changes. In the last decades, the theoretical issue of modernity and his need for change became less relevant and visual artists started to look back to the past, taking forms from a common repertory inheritated from international Avant-gardes. With the same concern, contemporary jewellers explore past history of jewellery to point out specific meanings in a new social and historical context."

photo Suzy Solidor D.R.

Extreme Beauty: Leonor Hipólito

Extreme Beauty
28.02 - 28.03.2010
Glassel School of Art, Houston, USA
Usabilidade no seu Esplendor
24.03 - 25.04.2010
Museu de São Roque, Lisboa, PT
Leonor Hipólito* & Claudia Silveira Oliveira
07.04 - 09.05.2010
Villa Bengel, Idar-Oberstein, DE

Ineke Otte: Wonderland

"Selfridges in London has selected a collection of jewellery of Ineke Otte, for the launch of the new film "Alice in Wonderland", with Johhny Depp. They have a special presentation with products which are related to the film. They present the collections of jewellery "tea for two" and necklaces "rat" of Ineke to the public during this event."

Congratulations Ineke!

By A Thread

Fellow Jeweller Angela Gleason very kindly emailed me a link to an exhibition in the US, with a similar theme to the one I am currently showing in, in Rochester. It looks like a great show. Thanks Angela.

Images from the top:

Lisa Kokin,
Panacea Plus, 2010, Self-help book spines, thread and mull, 61 x 56 inches, Courtesy of the Artist and Donna Seager Gallery, San Rafael, Image by Lia Roozendaal/Jagwire Design

Susan Taber
Naturaleza, 1996
Thread, constructed by machine stitching
13 x 16 x 14 inches
Image Courtesy of Photo B. Molloy

Katie Lewis
Detail of 201 Days, 2006, Thread, pencil and pins, 70 x 36 x 1.8 inches, Courtesy of the Artist

The San Jose Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA) is pleased to present, By A Thread, an exhibition of artwork by emerging and mid-career artists who create unexpectedly nostalgic, and poetic works using thread as their primary medium.

Leonor Hipólito: Goldfingers

http://goldfingers.dk

Evert Nijland and Terhi Tolvanen

The Holiday Show

Object Fetish have a special Holiday Show with selected makers who exhibit with their online gallery. Each maker was asked to think about what "The New Bling" meant to them and submit a one off piece of jewellery art, alongside an image that inspired the work. Its always great to see the variety that is made from the same starting point.

I particularly the Hyacinth Ring by Alidra Alic, see for yourself here: http://www.objectfetish.com/holiday/

Thanks Whitney and Jeff, Merry Christmas!