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Munich Jewellery Week Paper 2021 - Part 1
Hi, welcome to Munich Jewellery Week!
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The creation of this Current Obsession Paper x Munich Jewellery Week 2021 came in the light of cancellations and postponements of exhibitions and fairs around the world. Facing the uncertainties of the current situation we decided to invite the MJW community to contribute to a beautiful, printed publication, designed and published by Current Obsession, and delivered directly to the doorsteps of potential visitors who aren’t able to travel to Munich.
Through an open call, artists, curators, academies, and cultural institutions were invited to create exhibitions on the pages of the Current Obsession Paper, just as they would in a space in Munich. In typical MJW fashion, no project or a piece of jewellery was edited out. Because this is what we all love about MJW — its openness, and the way it celebrates all jewellery. The democratic and everexpanding nature of MJW is reflected by the size of this publication — the bulkiest one we have ever made (256 pages!) and its unbounded design – where every page could become a potential cover, or just be pulled out and hung on your wall as a poster, to engage with the work and get inspired.
HOW TO READ THIS PAPER The Paper comes in several sections.
1 EXHIBITIONS IN PRINT — the one you are holding in your hands — consists of submitted exhibitions by artists, curators, galleries and cultural institutions from around the globe: from New Zealand to Denmark, from Mexico to South Korea, and everywhere in between, these manifestations of jewellery are beautiful editorials, staged exhibition spaceenvironments, fictional stories and more.
2 JEWELLERY ENVIRONMENTS — you will find 160 individual jewels submitted to us via the MJW Basic Campaigns hiding inside eight incredible commissioned illustrations designed by Théophile Bartz, Benjamin Langford, Jānis Melderis, MITSUME, The Scissorhands, Thami, Andrew Tseng and Elvis Wesley. The invited image-makers created fictional environments — underwater and outer space worlds, fantastical characters, architectural and urban landscapes, — with techniques ranging from analogue and mixed media collage, digital illustration, to rendering and digital handsculpting, to create their posters. In a truly interdisciplinary collaboration, we have paired each image-maker with jewellery that fits their overall aesthetic, speaks the
same language, or touches upon same themes. These glossy universes can be found wrapped around and folded into the Paper.
3 CURRENT OBSESSION CONTENT — our traditional CO Paper features commissioned articles, think-pieces, and interviews with artists, think pieces, and advertorials to give you a scoop of not only what is happening in Munich right now, but also in the bigger Contemporary Jewellery world.
4 A collaboration with CRUCIBLE — a platform curated by a collective of African, Caribbean and Asian heritage womxn artists Finchittida Finch, Kalkidan Hoex and Roxanne Simone — is the one we are particularly proud of. Crucible features work by individuals and communities that identify as black, brown, people of colour women/womxn artists, thinkers, community groups, collectives, jewellers, writers, experiencers, academics, philosophers, storytellers and truth-seekers — all full of creative agency and free self-expression. Crucible as a space was developed in response to the urgency for dialogue surrounding unheard voices and becomes a vessel for exploring the nuances of intersectional identities by empowering those who come together here.
For everyone: As we tried our best to keep this paper diverse, relevant and entertaining, we hope that we have given you enough creative ways to read it and engage with it. It is a tangible, embodied content, and that was of the utmost importance for us. We are obsessed with the idea of seeing these pages hanging on your studio walls, pasted on your mood boards, collaged and mixed with whatever it is you are doing!
So, we ask you to show us the way you read your Paper, take a picture of what you end up doing with it and post it. Don’t forget to add #howireadmypaper, so we can repost!
xoxo CO Team
PARTICIPATING ARTIST
Adi Farber, Adriana Almeida Meza, Agathe Saint Girons, Aimee Petkus, Aişegül Telli, Alejandra Campos Taylor, Aliona Pazdniakova, Alison Macleod, Ana Escobar, Ana Margarida Carvalho, Ana Nadjar, Anat Aboucaya, Andrea Silva Olavarría, Andrea Wagner, Anina Löwe, Anna Davern, Anna Lewis, Anna Ray, Anna Storck, Anna-Cara Keim, Annie Huang, Annika Ingelaere, Annora Poppe, Ariel Lavian, Arielle Brackett, Ashley Nettye Pollack, Attua Aparicio, Áurea Praga, Barbora Opátová, Batami Kober, Beiya Yang, Bin Dixon-Ward , Birgit Thalaub, Blanche Tilden, Bo Zhang, Bridget Kennedy, Burcu Buyukunal, Burcu Sulek, Camilla Andreani, Camilla Luihn, Canan Durukal, Carlie Barrett, Carlos Silva, Carolin Denter, Carolina Donoso, Caroline Bach, Casey Newberg, Cassondra Justine, Catalina Brenes, Catherine Truman, Cecilia Roccatagliata, Charlotte Vanhoubroeck, Chloe Rose Taylor, Chloe Valorso, Claire McArdle, Claire Webb, Clarisa Menteguiaga, Constanza Bielsa, Cruceru Silvia, Daniela Rivera, Daria Borovkova, Dawoon Jeong, Deniz Turan, Ela Bauer, Ela Cindoruk, Ella Fearon-Low, Ella Heidi Sand, Ellen Sisti, Emily Cobb, Emma Fielden, Erika Jordán, Ester Sposato- Friedrich, Esther Heite, Eva van Kempen, Ezgi Okur, Faye Hall, Feyzal Başkurt, Filiz Ates, Floor Mommersteeg, Franziska Lusser, Fulya Oberascher, Funlola Coker, Gabriella Goldsmith, Gésine Hackenberg, Gina Melosi, Gina Myungji Cheun, Gina Nadine Müller, Gözde Erdogan, Grace Lillian Lee, Greg Scheirlinckx, Gulnur Ozdaglar, Hakan Aktug, Heather Woof, Helena Bogucki, Hilde Dramstad, Hillary Davenport, Hyun-Seok Sim, Inari Kiuru, Inga Tomilina, Işıl Özçam, Jaesun Won, James Betts, Jana Machatova, Jantje Fleischhut, Jasmin Schlesiger, Jean Lin, Jeannette Jansen, Jekaterina Smirnova, Jenny Kåberg, Jeongwon Lee, Jess Dare , Jessica Joy Esparon, Ji Young Kim, Jihye Kang, Jillian Moore, Jiun-You Ou, Jivan Astfalck, John Sullivan, Joo-hyun Lee, Joohee Han, Josef Friedrich, Josh Bass, Joyce Marin, Julia Obermaier, Julie Blyfield, Jun Suk Min, Junmin Bae, Karen Kriegel, Karin Herwegh, Katarina Thorstensson, Katia Rabey, Keren Gispan, Ko Lim, Kristin Beeler, Kun Zhang, Kyeok Kim, Lada Klats, Laura Stachon, Lavinia Rossetti, Leslie D. Boyd, Levan Jishkariani, Leyla Taranto, Liam Benson , Liliana Ojeda, Lina Peterson, Lindsey Fontijn, Lingjie Wang, Lisa Kraushaar, Lisa Scherebnenko, Lital Goldenberg, Lola Greeno, Loreto Fernández, Luci Jockel, Madeli Viljoen, Mallory Weston, Mando Bee, Manfred Bischoff, Manon van Kouswijk, Maree Clarke, Margherita Berselli, Margherita Bersel, Margherita Potenza. Margo Orlovik, Marguerite Bones, Maria Eife, Maria Konschake, Maria Walker, Marie Therese Wolf, Marta Costa Reis, Martin Carreño, Matilde Mozzanega, Melanie Bilenker, Melanie McPherson, Melina Rapimán, Melissa Chen, Mia Copikova, Michal Bar -On Shaish, Michelle Currie, Mies Nobis, Mila Wielusinska, Milena Djukanovic, Mira Kim, Mónica Díaz, Monica Perez, Monica Rodriguez Heyer, Monique Lecouna, Mor Hirsch, Morgane de Klerk, Namkyung Lee, Nanette Pengelley, Nanna Obel. Natascha Frechen, Natalia Saldias, Nazan Pak, Nga Ching Ko, Nina Lima, Noa Liran, Noelle Labharte, Oblik Atelier, Oles Tsura, Oliver Mauerhofer, Pamela De La Fuente, Pascale Durandin, Patricia Iglesias, Paul Derrez, Paulina Latorre, Pei Wu, Pennie Jagiello, Peter Dvorak, Peter Hassenpflug, Peter Machata, Pía Walker, Putte Helene Dal, Q Hisashi Shibata, Rachel Darbourne, Rita Soto, Rivkah Procaccia, Ruth Leslie, Ruudt Peters, Samantha Dennis, Sarah Montagnoli, Sarah Rachel Brown, Satomi Kawai, Sayara Montemurro, Sehee Um, Selen Ozus, Senay Akın, Setareh Shojaee, Seulki Lee, Shadi Lolaki, Sharareh Aghaei, Sharon Stampfer, Shin- Ryeong Kim, Sian Edwards, Sibille Santucci, Silke Spitzer, Silvia Bellia, Silvia Weidenbach, Simon Marsiglia, Simón Mazuera, Snem Yildirim, Sofia Hallik, Sofia Zakharova, Soh Ri Yi, Soizig Carey, Soledad Avila, Sonja Keppler, Soohyun Chou, Sophia le Roux, Stav Bozaglo, Stefania Piccoli, Stephanie O’Brien, Stephie Morawetz, Susan Macleod, Tamar Paley, Tanel Veenre, Tengely Nóra, Thea Tolsma, Tianyi Tia Liang, Tiffany Parbs, Tzu-Yun Hung, Typhaine Le Monnier, Valentina Michaelis, Valeria Martinez, Valérie Wagner, Vanessa Zöller, Vania Ruiz, Vendula Fabiánová, Vicki Mason, Victor Hahner, Viktoria Schumann, Viviana Arévalo, Vivien Bedwell, Vesal Bahmaninik, Wensi Huang, Yael Olave, Yann Ceuleers, Yasmin Vinograd, Yongjin Chung, Yookyung Song, Yoonjung Choi, Yotam Bahat, Youjin Um, Youngim Lee, Yuye Zhang, Zoe Brand, Zoe Robertson, Zoë Veness
INSTITUTIONS AND GALLERIES
Australian Design Centre, Baltimore Jewelry Center (Shane Prada and Lydia Martin), Brooklyn Metal Works, Estonia Academy of Arts, Galerie Beyond, Galerie Elsa Vanier, Gilded Pear Gallery, Hochschule Trier Campus Idar-Oberstein, House on Mars gallery, Incorporation of Goldsmiths, Local Heroes, London College of Fashion, New Paltz MFA Metal Program, ORFÈVRE, Periscope Design & Neo Craft Gallery, PXL- MAD School of Arts, Quittenbaum Gallery, School of Design | Pforzheim University Germany, Tyler School of Art and Architecture
CURATORS
Anneleen Swillen, Avi Vinograd, Darja Popolitova, Illaria Ruggiero, Katherina Perlongo, Mala Siamptani, Sarah Darro
1.DINNNER’S READY!!
AGATHE SAINT GIRONS
Or the learning of the mother tongue
Behind the apparent flightiness of the words that French mothers shout day in, day out - Dinnnner’s readyyy! - is the name of an exhibition in which Agathe Saint Girons introduces us to her vision of the of influence of her family life on her artistic career. As the jeweller says: Before naming the pieces that make up this exhibition, I immersed myself in a deep reflection on my feelings of impatience, amazement, losing myself… I pondered on everyone’s place in the family and addressed my doubts on how to design my own family journey...
Fluctuating between humour and causticity, the pieces’ names are either keywords or a play on words in order to defuse the influence of the subject. Bracelet Resistance, for example, evokes both the opposition and the constancy necessary for raising children, the ring Driving me round in circles or the necklaces Keyhole make it possible to turn the annoyances of everyday life into sweetness and laughter.
Each jewellery piece takes its name from the following text by Agathe:
…Unbelievable…. What A Rabble in this Gilded Cage… I am on a learning journey, flabbergasted, stunned at the hurricane generated by the advent of these Two Wonders who have been Piggybacking on my back for fifteen years and Driving me round in circles just for some pieces of Sugar Candy.
Constantly around, they maliciously spy in on everything with their Eye of Moscow pressed up to the Keyhole.
@agathesaintgirons_paris
@galerie_elsavanier
www.astg.org
www.elsa-vanier.fr
No more privacy, no more secrets in this Merry Maze, except at night where the Silence, essential to my artistic production, meets no Resistance…
But, for My Little Pippins, I want to be a Rock and mend all their little scratches with Magic Bandaids. Under Pressure, your Once a Mother, always a Delight cannot bear to live without you.
This exhibition, aimed at travelling and reinventing oneself as sales progress, was first shown in November 2019 at the Elsa Vanier gallery in Paris. It featured exorcism-like creations that fight against the impediment of being an artist when you are viscerally a wife and foster mother.
Agathe Saint Girons trained in metal and glass techniques with international jewellery designers and artists such as Ramon Puig Cuyas, Esther Brinkmann, Gilles Jonemann, Lino Tagliapietra…
In her beautiful workshop overlooking the Marne river, in the countryside near Paris, Agathe has been breathing a Provencal exuberance into her creations for over 25 years. Her one-of-a-kind contemporary jewellery pieces arise from an on-going dialogue between concept and matter and are inspired by human relationships in all their aspects, intimate, family, friendly, social, civilized or conflicting.
Agathe Saint Girons exhibited at the Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris (Exhibition MEDUSA), as well as at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs at the exhibition Dans la ligne de Mire - Scènes du bijou contemporain en France. Her creations have been acquired by several important collections.
2. COLEOPTERA
SAMANTHA DENNIS
www.samanthadennis.com.au
@smd_tasmania
Coleoptera is an exhibition that reimagines entomology practices by displaying a series of detailed brooches in the mode of hybrid, imagined and hyperbolic beetles. This work is born from a fascination with biology and taxonomy; the evolving methodologies with which Western society has sought to explain and order the phenomena of life throughout history. By adopting the aesthetics of natural history collections, Dennis aims to provoke the viewer’s curiosity and mimic the ways that museums can subvert your experience of the natural world with a dislocated yet uncanny intimacy.
This body of work was developed across residencies at the University of Tasmania and Don College, through the support of Arts Tasmania.
Fascinated by the ways society has sought to explain and order the phenomena of life, SamanthaDennis navigates themes found in natural history museums. As her childhood ambitions were tornbetween a career in natural sciences or the visual arts, her practice now bridges these two passions.Her current work examines human relations to insects, juxtaposing tropes of preciousness and desireagainst typical reactions of repulsion and fear. This approach considers how jewellery can act as a filterto mediate the relationship between humans and animals, and questions how implication of function,value and intimacy can be used to alter the way we experience insects and their environments.
3. DEPTHS OF HEAVEN
LAVIAN
Periscope Design & Neo Craft Gallery
Ben Yehudas st 176, Tel Aviv
ariellavian.com
The pandemic urged Ariel Lavian to take a step back, close down the shutters facing outward and focus on creating a new series which unfurls a new branch of his work. In his solo exhibition at Periscope Gallery, Lavian presents jewellery and other objects made of copper and silver. The technique he uses, foldforming, is based on the folding, refolding and hammering of thin metal foil. As with paper, the creasing and uncoiling give the sheets strength and three-dimensionality, while hammering them works the metals’ plasticity and reinforces it.
Just as in foldforming where the starting point is a clear and smooth sheet of metal, Lavian himself has opened a new and intriguing sheet. The social critique that emanated from his earlier work is now directed inward; Lavian has conducted a rigorous interrogation of himself in order to hone his intentions and create objects that give precise, tangible expression to his personal responses. He clears away unnecessary background noise and chooses to delve into metal working; a narrowing in that leads him to a plenitude of ideas and forms that hold a closer dialogue with the world of classical jewellery making. This current series offers lucidity and spaciousness.
The continuous hardening of the metal leads to consistent change in its surface and creates an intimacy that unites the artist with the responsive material in a delicate, mutual transformation. Some of the objects appear to be rising and blooming from secret depths and others resemble life forms that have evolved in arid, challenging conditions. The garden of works that unfolds in the space looks like an amalgamation of botanical species emerging from secret worlds that were previously visible to the eye, but can now enter the heart. 'Every movement requires its right time' (Tao Te Ching - Lao Tzu)
4. DIALOGUE OF FORMS
IŞIL ÖZÇAM
dialogueofforms.com
@dialogue_of_forms
The work of İstanbul-based designer Işıl Özçam is an attempt to find a medium between the contemporary and the traditional. Combining computer aided design and manufacturing with silversmithing techniques, she aims to create sculptural, yet functional jewellery. Her approach to design is experimental in the sense that it pushes the boundaries of material and production possibilities. She draws inspiration from the graphical effects created by irregular lines and random forms. Her design process starts with drawings on paper, proceeds with digital models on the computer, continues with 3D printing and concludes with hands-on processes.
In the Sketches collection, pieces are created with 3D printed nylon, silver and coloured stones. Large designs that would be quite heavy if they were completely metal weigh around 1,5 grams, and are also very durable and resistant. The lines that look improvised are actually planned to hold each other at certain points, allowing them to be attached to silver parts which carry the stones or touch the skin of the wearer.
5. INTEGUMENTUM
KRISTIN BEELER
BALTIMORE JEWELRY CENTER
@baltimorejewelrycenter
baltimorejewelrycenter.org
Kristin Beeler is Professor of Art and Coordinator of Jewelry and Metalwork at Long Beach City College in the Los Angeles area. Her Master of Fine Arts in Jewellery from the University of Arizona was followed by postgraduate studies at Alchimia Jewellery School in Florence and Atelier Rudee, Bangkok.
Established in 2013, the Baltimore Jewelry Center is a 501c3 educational nonprofit building a vibrant creative community for the study and practice of jewellery and metalworking for new and established artists. The Baltimore Jewelry Center is the preeminent independent jewellery and metalsmithing program in the US Mid-Atlantic.
We live in a time when memory is one of our most precious natural resources and when openness to the suffering of others is the one of the most important conversations we can have. 'New' occurs at an unprecedented rate as we search for ways to contextualize current events. Knowing how to map memory is a powerful tool for personal and cultural wayfinding. Investment in a more profound understanding of compassion may be a necessary safety net for our deeply polarised world.
Kristin Beeler’s practice includes contemporary jewellery, photographing and object-making. Archive of Rag and Bone is iterative, multimedia portraiture drawn from the repair marks of traumatic scarring. Beeler’s intention is that the work will lead audiences to complex conversations about compassion. Within the exhibition, body narratives are told through photographs, embroidered Tyvek garments, book folios in vellum and dimensional nature-morte: materials chosen to contrast polarities. Her structures are drawn from local flora, wind maps and navigational charts.
6. JOCALE
JOSEF FRIEDRICH
BIOGRAPHY: Josef Friedrich graduated from the 'Städtische Meisterschule für das Gold- und Silberschmiedehandwerk' in Munich in 2002 and proceeded to apprentice with established goldsmiths. In 2005 he won the prize 'Made' by MTV realizing his first jewellery exhibition 'Spunti di fuga – vanishing points' in Genoa, Italy. In 2010 he opened Atelier für Schmuck, now called JF DAS ATELIER since 2018.
@jf_das_atelier
www.jf-dasatelier.de/munichjewelleryweek
Although I enjoy every aspect of it, from the thoughtful selection of stones to the primordial power of melting and forging metals, the focus of my aesthetic and artistic research is the relationship people have with jewellery. I have created for and with my clients for almost twenty years, melting my artistic identity with their requests. It fascinates me how jewels, since the dawn of time, empower personality and borne emotional meaning: they are symbols, messages, memories, promises, secrets or talismans. The self-expressive customisation of my pieces reinforces those aspects. I believe that instilling the owner's identity gives the objects a soul, reversing the common course of meaning transfer: it is the owner's identity to be affirmed by the jewel and not the jewel that gives the owner an identity/status.
The geometrical design of the Jocale Necklace takes its shape from an image distortion that only the cuff´s reflecting surface will reveal. The essence of the object and its appearance are blended in a contortion that defines its aesthetic, concealing the personal, emotional values. Each Jocale is personalised to literally reflect something relevant to the owner, leaving it up to him/her to unveil it.
The Jocale presented here reveals an elephant's head: a reference to the painting Swans Reflecting Elephants by Salvador Dalí. I chose the name Jocale, a Latin term meaning 'plaything', possibly related to the etymology of 'jewellery', to emphasise the dimension of fun and joy I associate both with wearing jewels and affirming our uniqueness.
Jocale is the latest creation of Josef Friedrich (2021), part of an ongoing project premiered exclusively for Munich Jewellery Week on JF DAS ATELIER´s social media in the form of an interview and video.