Archive
Karl Fritsch
Seeeeeee - at Design / Miami3 - 8 Dec 2024Read morePetra Zimmermann
Best Of26 Oct - 17 Nov 2024 Best Of Petra Zimmermann Making jewelry -about -jewelry remains as Zimmermann's central theme: sculptural, opulent and sensuous rings exhibited together with a wall installation featuring reinterpretations of found historical jewelry material, voluminous bracelets and necklaces that play on the threshold between body and space, their decorative function only unfolding when... Read moreIris Eichenberg / Jimena Rios
Offerings/ Fragments of an autobiography28 Sep - 21 Oct 2024 Offerings / Fragments of an autobiography Iris Eichenberg / Jimena Ríos The jewelry found in folklore serves as a testament, confirming the effectiveness of the symbolic language of wearable objects, and in them, the act of making becomes a tool for telling, celebrating, and healing. Everything started with ex votos-objects... Read moreEighteen Yuan
The Past - Perfect28 Sep - 21 Oct 2024 The Past-Perfect I have an inexplicable obsession with rust. Rust, as a witness to time, quietly spreads across metal surfaces, creating unique textures. Each crack, flake and rough texture prompts me to reflect on time, existence, and transience. Rusted metal embodies a tense: the past perfect. It embodies an acceptance... Read moreNorman Weber
Jewel20 Jul - 18 Aug 2024 Jewel When I think of jewelry, I think of images of gemstones, their geometric arrangement in rows or around a center. Gemstones faceted or cut as a cabochon. Admittedly, they are unoriginal and worn-out images. In my imagination they start to move, merge and change. The color is similar to... Read moreVeronika Fabian
Boiling Point 20 Jul - 18 Aug 2024 Boiling Point Veronika Fabian (Hungary/ UK) explores the potential for jewelry to embolden… to empower the wearer to take action against negative societal and global dynamics. In her latest body of work, Boiling Point , Fabian’s inspiration begins with a power plant. Various elements of water and steam pipes used... Read moreSummer Selection
22 Jun - 14 Jul 2024Read moreFOG DESIGN & ART
Fort Mason Center, San Francisco18 - 21 Jan 2024Read moreDesign Miami
6 - 10 Dec 2023Read moreMelanie Georgacopoulos
24 Nov - 24 Dec 2023Read moreFLORA & FAUNA
An Exploration of the Animal and Plant World by Acclaimed International Studio Jewelers 15 - 17 Nov 2023 High Line Nine Galleries - 508 West 28th Street, NYC During NYC Jewelry Week Read moreTerhi Tolvanen
Moderate to Southwest Winds26 Aug - 24 Sep 2023 Terhi Tolvanen Moderate to Southwest Winds August 26 - September 24, 2023 Ornamentum is thrilled to present Moderate to Southwest Winds, by Finish jewelry artist Terhi Tolvanen. The innovative artist will present a selection of new works- bold and beautiful wearable sculptures. Moderate to Southwest Winds I don’t mean to... Read moreTed Noten
Incubators Vol.2 (and other artifacts)22 Jul - 13 Aug 2023 Ornamentum is thrilled to welcome Ted Noten to the gallery for the exhibition of Incubators Vol. 2 (and other artifacts). Ted Noten is an artist and jewelry designer who lives and works in the Netherlands. His work acts as a critique on contemporary life and on the history of jewelry,... Read moreTanel Veenre
BeforeAfter24 Jun - 16 Jul 2023 Tanel Veenre BeforeAfter June 24, through July 16, 2023 Ornamentum welcomes Tanel Veenre for the opening of BeforeAfter . Based in Talinn, Estonian jeweler Tanel Veenre is a romantic. Fairytales and ritual are often the themes, his jewelry wears as much as mystic talismans as they are adornment. A passion... Read moreHanna Hedman
Scenery13 May - 11 Jun 2023 Hanna Hedman Scenery Furniture, Object and Artworks May 13 - June 11, 2023 Taking a break from a busy schedule of creating and installing large public artworks around Sweden, Hanna Hedman visits Ornamentum to present a spectacular selection of works for the home. Swedish artist Hanna Hedman (b. 1980), received... Read moreDesign Miami
30 Nov - 4 Dec 2022Read moreSalon Art & Design
10 - 14 Nov 2022Read moreShelley Norton
Re Cubed (Girl Before A Mirror)8 Oct - 6 Nov 2022 SHELLEY NORTON Re Cubed (Girl Before A Mirror) New Zealand artist Shelley Norton’s second exhibition with Ornamentum finds her continuing a process of reconfiguring plastic shopping bags into jewelry. Re Cubed finds the artist picking apart Pablo Picasso's painting Girl Before A Mirror. Elements are pulled from the canvas and... Read moreAlexander Blank
Vague Sparkle8 Oct - 6 Nov 2022Read morePhilip Sajet
Baroque and Roll3 Sep - 2 Oct 2022Read moreAnnelies Planteydt
Beautiful City - New Rooms3 Sep - 2 Oct 2022 Beautiful City - New Rooms Dutch Jeweler Annelies Planteydt's works often reflect on architecture, but not necessarily of living or working structures, although these are often referenced. The works investigate the organization of everyday life through line, repletion, form. The works can be viewed in distinct phases- the first, a... Read moreBeate Klockmann
Spikes3 Sep - 2 Oct 2022 Spikes German artist Beate Klockman’s second exhibition with Ornamentum features a striking group of rings and one bracelet. Klockmann presses sheet wax into pyramid relief forms which she then combines and arranges in various manners. Some time ago I started to make bigger ring sculptures of thin metal-sheet. I was... Read more20 Year Anniversary Overview
23 Jul - 28 Aug 2022Read moreLisa Walker
Becky Went Viral14 May - 18 Jun 2022 'The exhibition title BECKY WENT VIRAL , whose name is shared by one of the few gold necklaces in the show, came from a chat with a colleague who was talking about an artist friend of ours. Their work was “everywhere” and selling well too. Of course “going viral” is... Read moreDesign Miami
Miami Beach- directly across from Art Basel30 Nov - 5 Dec 2021Read moreSalon
11 - 15 Nov 2021Read moreVeronika Fabian
Once Upon A Time11 Sep - 10 Oct 2021 Veronika Fabian’s work explores key societal issues of recent decades, filtering her observations through the lens of jewelry. Subverting our conventional understanding of well-known forms and meanings of jewelry, her work comments on the human condition with special emphasis on everyday life and personal identity. Once Upon A Time is... Read moreJutta Klingebiel
Flutter30 Jul - 30 Aug 2021 The enamels of Jutta Klingebiel prove that scale isn't necessary to astound. Observations from a walk in the forest, victorian-esque portraits or details of an eye or a hand have found themselves the subjects of Klingebiel's jewelry. Unbelievable mastery and personal interpretation of a traditional and laborious technique rarely employed... Read moreSamuel Gassman
the Dowery of the Faerie Queen19 Jun - 18 Jul 2021 With this exhibition Ornamentum introduces the work of Samuel Gassman, an outsider-artist of the contemporary jewelry scene, presented for the first time at Ornamentum. Fascinating compositions of fabric, metal and collected historical ephemera housed in hand-made boxes that are as intrinsic to the works as the buttons, figurines, textiles and... Read moreAaron Decker
it's (not) all fun and games19 Jun - 18 Jul 2021 Enameled grimaces, floppy fish, and medieval maces clip together assembling necklaces, brooches, and lockets in the newest works by Aaron Patrick Decker in it's (not) all fun and games . A body of work inspired by difficult experiences growing up queer in a military household, Decker skillfully sources and recontextualizes... Read moreGerd Rothmann
mit meinem Daumen modelliert1 May - 6 Jun 2021 Mit Meinem Daumen Modelliert (Formed With My Thumbs) Gerd Rothmann ranks among the living legends of contemporary jewelry. He is long- established as one of the major voices in the field for close to sixty years, with a prolific body of work, both of gold and silver wearables and masterfully... Read moreJiro Kamata
Holon6 Mar - 4 Apr 2021 HOLON an ancient Greek word meaning whole. In “The Ghost in the Machine” , a philosophical book by Arthur Koestler that greatly influenced the anime “Ghost in the Shell”, Holon was a concept proposing that the whole and the individual parts exist simultaneously. In 2008, I created Momentopia using old... Read moreUp In Smoke
Contemporary Jewelers, Silversmiths and Designers Take On Marijuana16 Jan - 21 Feb 2021 High End Marijuana paraphernalia smoking implements by contemporary artists and designers. Read morePetra Zimmermann
Vanity Vague10 Oct - 15 Nov 2020 Comprised of two groups of work, Vanity Vague features bracelets and rings, sculptures for the body that can be described as constructions between surface and free form, which at the same time arch into space and into a form that clings to the body. Inspired by artistic approaches that follow,... Read moreIris Eichenberg / Alberte Tranberg
The Centerpiece / The Blank29 Aug - 4 Oct 2020 On August 29, Ornamentum presents The Centerpiece / The Blank by Iris Eichenberg (US) and Alberte Tranberg (DK), an exhibition of table and wall sculpture,objects and wearable artworks. The Centerpiece / The Blank Coming from very different places and minds, it seems there is an echo in the works of... Read moreJaydan Moore
Gain, Gather, Grow11 Jul - 16 Aug 2020 Ornamentum is thrilled to present Gain, Gather, Grow , an exhibition of new works by Jaydan Moore. Known for dramatically scaled wall sculptures, intricately spliced from discarded serving platters – Jaydan Moore’s artworks stems from a foundation in the decorative arts. Moore’s confidence in scale results in visually impactful works... Read moreDesign Miami
4 - 8 Dec 2019Read moreHanna Hedman
Becoming Nature (also at Design/Miami 2019)19 Nov - 19 Dec 2019 The past five years saw Swedish jewelry artist Hanna Hedman scale her intricately detailed works up for numerous public sculptures and architectural fixtures around Sweden. Ornamentum Gallery and Hedman collaborated to present Becoming Nature, a series of sculptures and sculptural furniture created especially for Design Miami/ 2019.
Becoming Nature finds itself where industrial production and handmade techniques meet in a dialogue between a depicted nature and the home.
Download PDF Portfolio Of Hanna Hedman's Larger Works And Public Commissions. Read moreUte Eitzenhöfer
Subtext7 Sep - 6 Oct 2019 Talk, Discourse, Circle. Ute Eitzenhöfer's exhibition Subtext is comprised of three distinct groups of work; Talk deals with the power of words. For better or worse, the modern world gives us so many easy ways to put our thoughts and opinions out there for public reaction. With a rashly composed... Read moreRebekah Frank
Just Add Flesh19 Jul - 23 Aug 2019 JUST ADD FLESH Rebekah Frank's new pieces attempt to capture space, frame that space, and then invite a person into the space. They are interactive line drawings. The pieces don’t make sense until there is a push-pull between the created boundary and the body. Her work reflects her experience with... Read moreEstela Saez / Ulrich Reithofer
Kushari25 May - 7 Jul 2019Read moreDesign Miami
5 - 9 Dec 2018Read moreShelley Norton
Boxes27 Oct - 26 Nov 2018 Voluminous in scale yet lightweight and very wearable, with an almost folk-art painterly floral motif belies a bold and fascinating use of materials. From the artist: The pieces are made out of plastic shopping bags - they are not coloured by me - I often get asked that. I cut... Read moreTerhi Tolvanen & Philip Sajet
22 Sep - 22 Oct 2018Read moreSilke Spitzer
Anima18 Aug - 17 Sep 2018 For many years now, I've made things exist. But still, and yet never, questions are solved. Secretly listening to the inner voice talking to me along my way, my making is based on the longing for some deeper meaning. It is a battle for the soulfulness in the things we... Read moreKarin Johannson
Observations From A Distance18 Aug - 17 Sep 2018Read moreKarl Fritsch
It Is What It Looks Like14 Jul - 12 Aug 2018 German jeweler Karl Fritsch is celebrated by collectors of jewelry and art alike for his prolific oeuvre composed almost entirely of rings. Each creation is a unique artwork, the designs coming- in the artist’s words- “directly from the gut”. Fritsch plays by his own rules, simultaneously embracing and discarding the... Read moreTanel Veenre
The Garden of Earthly and Heavenly Delights26 May - 24 Jun 2018 The Garden of Heavenly and Earthly Delights.
I wish to explore beyond reason, to search for the human core hidden beneath the thick lacquer of culture. Ecstatic experiences as the doorway to the animal side of man. In my research I have explored both religious and sexual ecstacy, elaborate feelings of losing the self within pleasure. I have followed baroque ideas of how art should communicate with direct emotional involvement. These are my allegories, projecting sensual power, fulfilling utopias of spiritual and physical pleasure.
T.V. 2018
Residing in Talinn, Estonia, The Garden of Heavenly & Earthly Delights is Tanel Veenre's 3rd solo exhibition with Ornamentum.
In addition to his jewelry art, Veenre runs a successful production of cutting-edge fashion jewelry, he has worked as professor of Design at the Estonian Academy of Arts and he exhibits, teaches and lectures worldwide. Veenre's works can be found in numerous private and public collections worldwide, including the Estonian National Museum and the Estonian History Museum. Read moreIdiots (Afke Golsteijn & Floris Bakker)
Amazons21 Apr - 20 May 2018 Afke Golsteijn and Floris Bakker, the Dutch duo known as Idiots, present Amazons, a stunning group of their newest works at Ornamentum through May 20, 2018. From its roots in Greek mythology to the pop culture superhero identity of Wonder Woman, the name Amazons evokes images of a wild beautiful... Read moreDesign Miami
5 - 10 Dec 2017Read moreTed Noten
Drawer's Delight - 3 decades of new & unearthed treasures20 Oct - 20 Nov 2017 Drawer’s Delight: (a Noten-ism) The excitement upon finding something cherished hidden away and forgotten in the back of a drawer.
Ornamentum is thrilled to present Ted Noten under the exhibition banner Drawer’s Delight - 3 decades of new and unearthed treasures. Stunning new sculptures in acrylic; Noten's iconic handbag forms and "Drawers" build narratives from the items encased within, together with wearable works from the artist's personal collection- treasures spanning almost 30 years, unearthed by Noten during a recent move from his studio of 25 years with specific works picked by Laura Lapachin and Stefan Friedemann of Ornamentum. The selection represents key positions from Noten's artistic development. Each example was chosen as a marker of an important chapter in his personal narrative.
In an experience akin to finding lost treasure, the artist was reunited with many works from his personal collection, unpacked during the fore-mentioned studio move. With a solo gallery exhibition already in planning, Ornamentum seized this opportunity to use the show to ‘tell the story of Ted Noten’. Read moreRebecca Hannon
Life Preserver1 Jul - 7 Aug 2017 Can jewelry save your life?
Not likely, but it does provide vital information, insight into our true selves, and perhaps hope for the future. Bold, graphic works in this series reflect Rebecca Hannon’s preoccupation with dazzle camouflage, warning coloration found in nature and secret languages associated with chroma. Baby blue components are interwoven with powder pink pieces. A modulated grey-toned neckpiece is interrupted by an unexpected burst of red. What associations do you have with mustard yellow or kelly green? Perceptions are confounded when recognizable silhouettes encounter jarring pattern. Lucky life preservers and buoys encircle a neckpiece to keep you joyfully afloat.
Rebecca Hannon, born 1973 in Washington DC, received her MFA degree at the prestigious Munich Academy of Fine Art in 2005 following a BFA from Rhode Island School of Design. Hannon has exhibited and held short and long term teaching positions internationally, and has been the recipient of numerous awards and grants, including a Fulbright research grant.
Currently, Hannon resides in Halifax, Nova Scotia with her Husband, young son and a Dachshund, where she holds an associate Professorship a the Nova Scotia College of Art & Design University and works in the studio continuing her experimentation in ever more complex compositions of synthetic laminates, ceramics and precious metals.
Life Preserver marks Hannon's second solo exhibition at Ornamentum Read moreDesign Miami / Basel
13 - 18 Jun 2017Read morePetra Zimmermann and Philip Sajet
Jewelry is my Dearest Sin29 Apr - 4 Jun 2017 To choose jewelry as the medium of expression can be seen as kind of impudent, almost a little sinful, because the present world is offering so many explosive, society-relevant issues that need attention.
Is it not almost the inversion of the avant-garde idea to dedicate your thoughts and work to aesthetic questions of appeal, value and transitory ideas of beauty?
I say No.
Petra Zimmermann
As our plans began, we asked Petra Zimmermann and Philip Sajet- both artists whom we have been showing for years- to hold coinciding exhibitions in our gallery space. When confronted with the task, they reflected on their admiration of each other's work and took it upon themselves to position the exhibition under a single umbrella, coming upon the title Jewelry Is My Dearest Sin to encompass the selection of both of their works- created and collected for this show. Asked to comment on exhibiting together, the artists pondered the qualities joining their worlds together in conversation; even as the outcomes are dissimilar, there are traits found in both artists' works such as the use (and distortion) of found objects, historical reverence- whether in the found materials or the techniques employed, and clear, bold forms which convey an extraordinary strength, even when humor is employed in their designs.
"It was an arranged alliance... but a very good one. We both are on the same quest, but our roads are different. We understand and appreciate each others points of arrival"
Philip Sajet
"On closer examination there are similarities to discover, like the use of found objects.e both are taking what is there. One takes every-day material like nails or bottoms of a bottle, plastic fragments and collected pebbles, the other Cut-outs of ordinary print media and historical jewelry-material...
To exhibit with another artist does not mean to show two positions at the same time, but gives the opportunity to step into a dialog and /or discourse."
Petra Zimmermann
Philip Sajet, Dutch, born 1953, has been exhibiting with Ornamentum within the gallery and at international fairs since 2007. Jewelry Is My Dearest Sin marks Sajet's 4th major exhibition with Ornamentum. Currently residing in France, Sajet's works can be found in countless museum and private collections worldwide.
Petra Zimmermann, Austria, born 1975, works and lives in Vienna, where she was honored with a solo exhibition at the Museum of Applied Arts several years ago. Zimmermann has been exhibiting with Ornamentum since 2008, within the gallery and at international fairs, her work can be found in countless museum and private collections worldwide. Jewelry Is My Dearest Sin marks Zimmermann's 3rd major exhibition with Ornamentum. Read moreDesign Miami
6 - 11 Dec 2016Read moreTanel Veenre
The Will / The Name of the Rose17 Sep - 16 Oct 2016 The flounces of wood and bone comprise an attempt to clear my thoughts, to lose the narrative behind the image.
The image of drapery is banal. But for me these white folds hide the story of western culture – from antiquity to Christian culture. Hinting at the presence of the body- hidden erotica without which there would be nothing. I call this series THE WILL.
The series of dark books is more complicated, layered, with multiple meanings.
The theme began haunting me years ago… Last autumn I tackled it again and started sculpting books of ebony and jet. I saw a link with Eco’s The Name of the Rose – with the destruction of occidental verbal wisdom... The inability of words to describe the nature of things, and the attempt of culture to redo this despite everything. The result is jewellery made of carved and actual books – holes piercing them create a bracelet.
It seemed powerful as an image – to shove your hand through words, thereby destroying the content of the book and nullifying the message.
I call this series THE NAME OF THE ROSE.
Tanel Veenre
Living and working in Tallinn, Estonia. Tanel Veenre was educated as a jewellery artist (MA) in the Estonian Academy of Arts (1995-2005) and the Gerrit Rietveld Academie in Amsterdam (1997-98). exhibiting since 1996, Veenre is known for a broad oeuvre including jewellery, photography and fashion, often intersecting. In 2012, Veenre was named as a professor of Design Faculty at the Estonian Academy of Arts.
Veenre has exhibited and held lectures/ workshops in Estonia, Brazil, China, Scotland, Finland, Portugal, Spain, USA, Norway, Israel, Sweden, Chile, Taiwan, Thailand, Mexico and Germany.
The Will / The Name Of The Rose is Tanel Veenre's second solo exhibition at Ornamentum. Read moreDavid Clarke / Jayden Moore
Lost Causes17 Sep - 16 Oct 2016 Ornamentum Gallery’s decision to pair David Clarke with Jaydan Moore may seem an uncontroversial one. They are clearly like-minded, both in terms of process and aesthetics. Yet, because of a particular dynamic within the contemporary craft and design scene, the juxtaposition is actually quite provocative.
I’ll go on to explain, but first, a brief introduction to both artists is perhaps in order.
Clarke has long been the key figure in British smithing, at least at its avant garde extremity. Equal parts bad boy and consummate master, he has staked out his position through a distinctive use of found objects, very much in the “assisted readymade” tradition of Duchamp. Most of his work involves the alteration of silver and pewter domestic wares, such as spoons, sugar bowls, and teapots. He cuts these apart and recombines them, often to humorous and narrative effect. He also employs casting, capturing the ghost of the original object - a particularly powerful example is a short stack of cast pewter cups, cast from the one that his mother drank from just before she died. Each successive cast uses a little less metal, creating an effect of disappearance. It’s a touching work, and consistent with Clarke’s overall position on sentiment, which he does not engage in actively, but rather represents with sympathy and understanding. He has also created distinctive bodies of work in which metal vessels are encrusted with salt or sugar (the latter are a collaboration with Natalie Smith). These attest to his sureness of touch with materiality, and ability to summon up a sense of time’s passage. Like much of his best work, the encrusted pieces are at once surrealist and everyday, like a dream one might have during an afternoon nap.
The Ornamentum exhibition also features Jaydan Moore, a young American smith whose interests and techniques bear close comparison to Clarke's. Moore has lately been a resident at the Penland School of Crafts in North Carolina. I had a chance to visit him there last year, and was impressed by the quantity of old silver he had amassed: piles of platters, blackened with tarnish. Like Clarke, Moore cuts these antique objects apart and reconfigures them, but his approach is more lyrical and draftsman-like. The works feel intuitive, like drawings, despite the hard craft that went into their making. He has also created a series of prints based on the engraved patterns in the old silver, underlining his interest in graphic quality.
The key difference between the two artists is in their ‘touch’: Clarke tends to work into his materials, and explore massive, textured effects, while Moore’s handling is more clean, surgical and precise. If one wanted to be grand about it, one could say that the differences between Clarke and Moore recall the longstanding art historical opposition between colorito and disegno, originally intended to distinguish between the Venetian and Florentine painters in the Renaissance, and later applied to such contrasting figures as Rubens and Poussin.
In any case, it seems clear that Moore, a younger artist, has learned from Clarke’s example but also has struck out into new territory. However – and this why the gallery’s choice to mount the show is so interesting – some people in the metals scene have grumbled that the work is too close; that Moore is “derivative” of Clarke. By putting on this two-person show, Ornamentum is essentially calling this issue out into the open, inviting viewers to make up their own minds.
For my own part, as I have said, I think Moore already has an important and unique voice and that it’s developing quickly. But it seems worth pausing over the widespread sensitivity to over-similarity – an attitude that is particularly pronounced in the studio craft world. In the fine art world, a bigger ocean, there is certainly occasional concern about derivativeness. But the more usual tendency is to recognize like-minded artists as inhabiting a “movement” or “scene.”
Art historians do not dismiss Derain for being influenced by the older and more innovative Matisse, or Van Doesburg for being influenced by Mondrian. They may recognize the primacy of an innovator, but they are also curious about the way that a good idea circulates. Moore has a shorter track record than Clarke so far, that is true; but to say that his work is simply derivative rests on the unspoken assumption that key tactics like the assisted readymade should be associated with a single maker. That assumption simply does not exist in the fine art context.
Where does the anxiety about imitation in the crafts come from? I can think of a few possibilities. First, the field’s proximity to design may prompt concerns about intellectual property. Unlike painters, industrial designers and the companies they work for exert legal control over their work, and try to prevent its being copied. This is of course because of mass production; having invested in design development, a manufacturer does not want to see their product undercut in the market. While this dynamic is not really operative in the crafts, it’s possible that the field has borrowed designers’ notions of originality.
A second possibility is that the domain of studio craft is just not large enough for people to work in closely allied idioms. There aren’t enough collectors or specialist museums paying attention to this field as it is, so when an artist does establish themselves they don’t relish the competition. That is of course a provincial attitude in the extreme – redolent of the Old West showdown starter, “this town’s too small for the two of us.” (To his credit, Clarke will have no part of such territorialism, and welcomes the chance to show alongside Moore.)
These factors no doubt have a certain relevance, but I think the real reason for studio craft’s anxieties about influence has to do with that old bugbear, art status. It’s worth remembering that craft in its historic modes was rife with “imitation.” It was not only unproblematic, but essential to the whole enterprise. Apprentices were expected to learn from their masters. Guilds reinforced stylistic and technical uniformity within each trade. Stylistic change was relatively slow, and conformity to existing modes was prized. Innovation happened incrementally, and was based on a deep respect for existing models.
Obviously, the feeling that every studio craftsperson should mark out an absolutely independent territory directly opposes this historical model of practice. Uniqueness serves as a safeguard against the tired canard that craft is not about creativity, only execution. It is a straightforward case of overcompensation: ironically, contemporary craft is much more preoccupied with originality than fine art is. Perhaps the feeling is understandable, but it is also misplaced. For the obsession with independence of voice actually undermines the ability of the field to achieve momentum and rich internal discourse, which are the real drivers of creativity.
When an emerging maker sees something in the work of an established maker, they should lay claim to it, reinvent it, absorb it into their own work. That is how any discipline progresses - not by reinventing the wheel over and over again in ignorance of precedent, but through adoption and reinterpretation. It seems to me that this is exactly what Moore has done, and more power to him.
Picasso supposedly said, “good artists copy, great artists steal.” Some viewers may consider this exhibition a crime scene; but contemporary metalwork is all the better for it.
Glenn Adamson
Independent Curator Read moreSara Borgegard
Brick Scale + Concrete20 Aug - 11 Sep 2016 In the harbor of Gustavsberg, a town to the east of Stockholm where Sara Borgegard keeps her Atelier, a factory… in fact one of the most important porcelain factories in the Swedish art industry is being torn down to make way for fancy apartments. The loss of such an important industrial center will be devastating to the locals, many who have spent their whole working lives in the production line.
Borgegard reflects on this loss in Brick, Scale + Concrete. Impressions of industrial elements- mostly used to cast or store materials within the surroundings of the old factory inspire the forms created in her latest exhibition.
Sara Borgegard has used materials with strong connections to Swedish history, wood and Iron in particular, throughout her work.
In past pieces the wood she used came from transport pallets, in her latest group Concrete (2016), she constructs from a veneer of Adler, a fine wood she purposefully leaves rough and bare. In contrast to the colorful surfaces and simple, symmetric closed forms of the earlier Brick (2014) pendants, the wooden forms of Concrete are empty and light, yet more complex and irregular in form.
Borgegard doesn’t over-develop a form. With simplicity she seeks to bring the energy of a sketch into her work, often burnt to reveal black surfaces where lacquer has chipped away. She pays tribute to the human acts of creating, using and living with crafted objects in her wearable sculptures, bound to the wearer with threads and ropes such as carpet warp, also derived from the (traditionally female) crafts tradition of rug weaving that has been important in her own lineage. Read moreAaron Decker
Derby and his Badges16 Jul - 14 Aug 2016Read moreDesign Miami / Basel
14 - 19 Jun 2016Read moreJiro Kamata
Flare 4 - 8 May 2016 Flare – brooches and necklaces of Corian and highly polished 18k gold comprise the latest body of work by Japanese born, Munich based artist Jiro Kamata. Exhibited upon a surface of shiny black acrylic, Flare is the feature exhibition of Ornamentum’s Collective Design Fair presentation. Inspired by the sunrise of... Read moreCollective Design Fair, NYC
Skylight Clarkson Square4 - 8 May 2016Read moreHibernate
Helena Lehtinen, Eija Mustonen, Tarja Tuupanen1 - 30 Apr 2016 The Hibernate Egg, part 1; personal experience Jewellery exists as a category of objects that are touching human beings in three different ways. Firstly the jewellery object itself is touching the human body when worn, it is a physical touch, which is mostly perceived unconsciously by the wearer. Secondly; jewellery... Read moreFog Fair
Iris Eichenberg, Real 14 - 17 Jan 2016 The objects, drawings, mirrors, and embroidery constituting the series “real' defy any form of hierarchy. They loop into and mirror one another and themselves, questioning the reality of objects as such. Moreover, all the elements of the installation are empty, offering rather than occupying space. As such, they evoke a... Read moreDesign / Miami
2 - 6 Dec 2015Read moreDavid Bielander
DIY 26 Sep - 26 Oct 2015 A solo exhibition by David Bielander. September 26 – October 26 Opening reception Saturday September 26, 6 – 8 pm. DIY: Following Ornamentum’s acclaimed premier of the gold Cardboard bracelets at the Design Miami / Basel, Switzerland fair, Bielander broadens the theme- and his play on the recognized, established concepts... Read moreAgnes Larsson
Remains 8 Aug - 7 Sep 2015 Remains Agnes Larsson 2015 Skin, - the container of our body, a carrier of life, holder of light, a surface with a depth. It is faded, solid and transparent. It is hardened, petrified and reshaped. As a construction it is strong but at the same time fragile. It has been... Read moreNight & Day
Jewelry by Katrin Feulner & Stephanie Morawetz11 Jul - 2 Aug 2015 Night and Day Jewelry by Katrin Feulner and Stephanie Morawetz July 11 – August 2, 2015 Opening Reception Saturday, July 11, 6-8pm. Night and Day… the necklaces of Katrin Feulner and Stephanie Morawetz stand in contrast to each other. On the one side we have bright orange, turquoise and yellow... Read moreDesign Miami / Basel, Switzerland
Selected Works 15 - 21 Jun 2015Read moreGround: An Retrospective Exhibition of Ruudt Peters
MassArt Boston 20 May - 31 Jul 2015 Opening Reception May 23rd from 3:00-6:00PM President's Gallery, 11th Floor Tower Building Massachusetts College of Art and Design 621 Huntington Avenue, Boston MA 02115 Exhibition open Saturday, May 20-July 31, 2015 Gallery Hours: M-F 9AM-5PM GROUND Ruudt Peters uses the Alchemical concepts of Micro/Macro and Above/Below in his jewelry. Grounding... Read moreNow: 20 Years Norman Weber Part 1
at Collective Design Fair 12 - 17 May 2015 Norman Weber Born 1964 in Germany, Weber is one of the most fascinating jewelry voices coming out of the Munich Academy of Fine Arts. Having practical training in both gold and silversmithing, Norman earned his Masters at the renowned establishment under the direction of Otto Künzli, Herman Jünger and Horst... Read moreFog fair
14 - 18 Jan 2015Read moreTed Noten
Ted's House - at Design Miami 20143 - 7 Dec 2014 Within Ornamentum’s exhibition, Ted Noten creates a house as a portrait of himself as an artist and an environment to frame a selection of new works. The confines connote a domestic setting in old-world simpler times, while the chaos of a modern cityscape development adorns the wall. A metaphor for... Read moreDesign Miami
Celebrating 10 Years of Design/Miami3 - 7 Dec 2014Read morePhilip Sajet
12 x 12 x 1225 Oct - 16 Nov 2014 Twelve necklaces, twelve rings, twelve (pairs of) earrings. What these 36 works have in common is their origin, coming from a driven maker, an artist who’s fevered passion is embodied in the personal handling of materials, in his arrangements of splintered, broken crystal with delicate gold work, and his combinations... Read moreEunmi Chun
Flora & Fauna20 Sep - 19 Oct 2014 Munich based artist Eunmi Chun (Korea 1971) explores the intersection of the plant and animal worlds in her latest exhibition Flora & Fauna. Figures of animals such as a lion, gorilla and a giraffe among others, are depicted in curiously translucent forms sculpted of animal gut (cow and pig intestine)-... Read moreGiovanni Sicuro
16 Aug - 14 Sep 2014 NEO MODERNISM(?) Approaching the work of Giovanni Sicuro is difficult if you're searching for a direct category to fit it in. Classically trained as a Goldsmith and Sculptor in Udine, Italy, it is evident that Sicuro's work wasn't pushed in the expected aesthetic direction of contemporary Italian jewelry and the... Read moreSilke Spitzer
Breathing 14 Jul - 10 Aug 2014 Inhale……and then…….Exhale. A breath: the act of Breathing. Something so innate in our existence... In the newest body of work by Silke Spitzer (Germany), titled Breathing, the ebb-and-flow of the natural process in making is observed. Combining modern materials with the natural, she builds playful, idyllic compositions. Aluminum, slate and... Read moreTerhi Tolvanen
Jungle 8 May - 9 Jun 2014Read morePetra Zimmermann
Object Fragment Portrait26 Oct - 18 Nov 2013 Petra Zimmermann, the subject of a solo exhibition the Museum of Applied Arts, Vienna earlier this year, shows new work in her second solo exhibition at Ornamentum Gallery. Necklaces combining two strands recognizable within Zimmermann’s oeuvre – the confrontation of historical materials- fragments of found antique costume jewelry pieces with... Read moreIris Eichenberg
X21 Sep - 21 Oct 2013 Eichenberg’s new series of work, presented under the intriguingly annoying title ”X,” at first sight appears to continue the artist’s persistent fascination with the face, the human face, and to inscribe itself in the traditional genre of “portrait painting.” Rather than suggesting the possibility of faces emerging, appearing, presenting themselves... Read moreHanna Hedman
loss6 Jul - 5 Aug 2013 'All around is beauty, but a lingering bleakness is pulling downward.' - Hanna Hedman Hanna Hedman's new group of jewellery merge from aesthetics of loss, personal inner darkness, imitated nature and talismanic objects. Blossoming sentimental flowers that imitate still life paintings become preserved into metal. Desiccated leaves form a hand... Read moreRuudt Peters
Qi 11 - 16 Jun 2013 Travellers to strange and distant realms, and anyone who has ever seen the film Lost in Translation (Sofia Coppola, 2003), knows the mixture of desperation, disorientation and melancholy that catches up with a tourist who stays any length of time in foreign lands. Jewellery maker Ruudt Peters had a similar... Read moreAlexander Blank
Blank Planet 20 Apr - 20 May 2013Read moreDana Hakim
My Four Guardian Angels16 Mar - 14 Apr 2013Read moreTed Noten - 7 Necessities
Design Miami 20124 - 9 Dec 2012Read moreSam Tho Duong
lemitcA13 Oct - 12 Nov 2012 Made from repurposed jogurt bottles, Sam Tho Duong was Awarded the Stateprize Baden-Wüerrtemberg and Prize of the city of Ulm, 2012 (Germany) for lemitcA. Read moreCONV3RSATIONS
Gemma Draper, Ute Eitzenhöfer, Estela Saez8 Sep - 1 Oct 2012Read moreDavid Bielander
Rare Species 4 Aug - 2 Sep 2012 The tentacles of the “Krake” candelabra emerge from the surface of your table to grasp a candle… or to feel for an unsuspecting sailor. Eight individual elements can be positioned as desired making a stunning and humorous centerpiece on any table, large or small. We find the Krake exhibited together... Read moreRuudt Peters
Corpus 12 - 17 May 2012 CORPUS Between body and spirit. Flat, amorphous shapes in subdued shades of dark-grey. Ruudt Peters’ new jewellery appears to be austere and abstract until the eye is drawn to the occasional sharp edges, distinct details, or intentionally modelled surfaces. Associations suddenly tumble over one another: arms or legs evoke images,... Read morePhilip Sajet
Recent Pieces 31 Mar - 6 May 2012Read moreIris Eichenberg
Rhizome 27 Aug - 24 Sep 2011Read moreDan Jocz
a series of dreams16 Jul - 8 Aug 2011Read moreJiro Kamata
Arboresque; at SOFA NY Fair14 Apr - 17 Oct 2011Read moreJennifer Trask
Vestige 26 Mar - 11 May 2011Read morePetra Zimmermann
History Repeating II4 - 29 Sep 2010Read moreRebecca Hannon
Black and White and Red All Over24 Jul - 22 Aug 2010 What is black and white and red all over? It is a riddle, and child’s play, but this time it is not a newspaper. Paper-thin porcelain, vibrant Formica chips and elemental forms make up this body of work. I had the pleasure of teaching Foundation Studies at Nova Scotia College... Read moreRuudt Peters
Anima 18 May - 18 Jun 2010 For a considerable time now Ruudt Peters has been exploring the feminine subconscious in the male (the ANIMA) as a guiding principle for his design. Over the past year he has been drawing blind, in order to achieve more freedom in his thinking. These drawings give expression to an unknown... Read moreTanel Venre
Pagan Poetry 20 Mar - 13 Apr 2010Read moreIris Eichenberg
Pink Years Later- SOFA Chicago 20095 - 8 Nov 2009Read moreKatja Prins
Nexus 5 - 28 Sep 2009Read moreConstanze Schreiber
The Beautiful Fall5 - 28 Sep 2009Read moreBeate Klockmann
Enamels etc25 Jul - 22 Aug 2009Read moreHanna Hedman
What you tell is not always what you experienced.20 Jun - 12 Jul 2009 The series of necklaces by artist Hanna Hedman explores the borders between lie, escapism, reality and fantasy. Hanna Hedman’s new series of work has been inspired by an interest in storytelling and how stories change depending on the narrator, whether information is left out and dependent on to whom the... Read moreSergey Jivetin
Accumulus 9 - 25 May 2009Read morePhilip Sajet
at SOFA NY16 - 19 Apr 2009 i am looking first for that which is real... beauty is second to that - than one finds that the “real” is the actual beauty. Read moreTed Noten
Design Miami 20082 - 7 Dec 2008Read moreKatja Prins
Continuum 1 Nov 2008Read moreJantje Fleischhut
11 Oct - 1 Nov 2008Read moreSilke Spitzer
Trees Above6 - 29 Sep 2008Read moreHibernate
three finnish jewelers: Helena Lehtinen, Eija Mustonen, Tarja Tuupanen1 - 31 Aug 2008Read moreFull Duplex
Stefan Heuser / Jiro Kamata7 Jun - 7 Jul 2008Read moreDaniel Jocz
An American's Riff on the Millstone Ruff: SOFA NY 200829 May - 1 Jun 2008Read moreSara Borgegard / Gemma Draper
Dual Show 27 Sep - 22 Oct 2007Read moreGOLDEN CLOGS, DUTCH MOUNTAINS
Contemporary Young Dutch Jewelry6 Jul - 6 Aug 2007Read moreIris Eichenberg
Timelines / Tenements1 - 25 Jun 2007Read moreRuudt Peters
Sefiroth20 - 24 May 2007 The re-enchantment of jewellery art 'Religion more taboo than sex”, read the headline in an art journal about current trends in the art world. In contemporary art, the word 'soul' triggers more embarrassment than all kinds of physical excesses. Ruudt Peters must be a brave man, then. In his new... Read moreMary Preston
New Work 23 - 28 Oct 2006Read moreSergey Jivetin
Lineare17 Aug - 10 Oct 2006Read moreTed Noten
Solo Show: SOFA NY fair, 200631 May - 26 Jun 2006Read moreRuudt Peters
Azoth SOFA, Chicago15 Oct - 11 Nov 2005 Stone and Water Notes on Ruudt Peters’ Azoth Small, amorphous bodies cut in two and revealing an interior consisting of layer upon layer of multicoloured polyester round a hollow prism of black, oxidized silver. Ruudt Peters’ new works arouse our curiosity. What are these strange brooches? Are they images of... Read moreSam Tho Duong
50 Rings 17 Sep - 10 Oct 2005Read more