Striking Gold: Fuller at Fifty by Fuller Craft Museum

STRIKING GOLD

museum

Let the art touch you

$24.99 ISBN 978-0-934358-07-1

52499

9 780934 358071

FULLER CRAFT MUSEUM

fullerCRAFT

STRIKING

GOLD Fuller at 50

STRIKING

GOLD Co-curated by BETH MCLAUGHLIN & SUZANNE RAMLJAK

Fuller Craft Museum September 7, 2019â&#x20AC;&#x201D;April 5, 2020

Fuller Fuller at 50 at 50

Contents

Directorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Foreword D E N I S E LE BI CA

We Are What We Make ST UA RT KE ST E N BAU M

Gleam in the Eye: The Promise of Gold

Of Heaven and Earth

S U Z A N N E R A M LJA K 10

BE T H M CLAU G H LI N 16

PL ATES 25

A FUL L E R C H R ON O LO GY 82

E XH IB IT I ON C H E C K LI ST 86

Exhibition Artists Curtis Arima Boris Bally Timothy Berg & Rebekah Myers David Bielander Jana Brevick Kathy Buszkiewicz Kat Cole Andy Cooperman Sophie Coryndon Claire Curneen Olga de Amaral Bouke de Vries Peter Diepenbrock Georg Dobler Karl Fritsch Susie Ganch Luis Gispert Caroline Gore Lisa Gralnick Isca Greenfield-Sanders Chris Gustin Matthew Hansel John Hatleberg Tom Herman / Seven Fingers Takefumi Hori Mary Lee Hu John Iversen Consuelo Jimenez Underwood

Daniel Jocz Lauren Kalman Susan Kingsley Lisa Kirk Esther Knobel Otto Künzli Hew Locke Nancy Lorenz Anina Major Märta Mattsson Esperanza Mayobre Barbara Nanning Rashaad Newsome Gary Noffke Ted Noten Cornelia Parker Rolando Peña Mark Reigelman II Gerd Rothmann Bernhard Schobinger Paul Scott Anthony Sonnenberg Roy Superior Frank Tjepkema Jennifer Trask Shinji Turner-Yamamoto Adam Whitney Grethe Wittrock

DENISE LEBICA

Director’s Foreword

Milestones are markers, indicating progress toward a destination and recognizing a significant stage in the development of one’s path. They reflect and honor the past, celebrate the present, and inspire us to envision a future of possibility. As 2019 marks Fuller’s fiftieth anniversary, we commemorate this landmark moment in our history. In 1946, with generosity and vision, geologist Myron Fuller established a trust to bring a cultural center to the City of Brockton. Built in 1969, The Brockton Art Center-Fuller Memorial opened in a distinct modern building serving the community through lectures, exhibitions, and collections, and the institution later became known as the Fuller Museum of Art. The permanent collection over time offered a variety of artworks—painting, prints, as well as a significant collection of studio craft. In 2004, the museum’s mission was revised to become solely a contemporary craft institution and Fuller Craft Museum was born. In the fifteen years since, Fuller Craft Museum has been internationally recognized as one of the leaders in the field of contemporary craft, offering exhibitions that provoke, inspire, and educate. It has continued to serve the community through programming that is welcoming and inclusive. Our permanent collection represents the very best in contemporary craft, reflecting innovation and diversity. This important work dovetails with our collective efforts over the preceding thirty-five years and ultimately unites us. Our institution was built by individuals with the foresight to realize the need and importance of the arts to our community, and it has been sustained by the many curators, administrators, artists, and donors who have crossed our path. We are grateful for the vision of those who came before us and thankful for the current Board of Trustees, staff, volunteers, and supporters who give tirelessly to drive the museum’s mission forward. Together we honor this fifty-year testament to the power of the arts. Join us in the celebration of this gilded year by welcoming Striking Gold: Fuller at Fifty, an exhibition that explores gold through the work of 57 fine art and contemporary craft artists. This companion catalogue goes deeper still, offering three insightful essays to expand our understanding of the included artworks and the many ways in which gold affects our lives. Maine poet laureate and longtime museum friend Stuart Kestenbaum offers a poetic meditation on the meaning of making and museums, and the

intersection of the two. Curator and art historian Suzanne Ramljak examines our ongoing love affair with gold through a phenomenological lens. Finally, Fuller Craft Museum Chief Curator of Exhibitions and Collections Beth McLaughlin provides an art historical context for gold and guides us through contemporary approaches, including the glittering objects in Striking Gold. Like all successful undertakings, this project required a strong team of individuals willing to lend their support, expertise, and hard work. On behalf of Fuller Craft, I would like to acknowledge the generous sponsors that made Striking Gold possible: Hamilton Company Charitable Foundation, Caroline R. Graboys Fund, Jonathan Leo Fairbanks Exhibition Fund, the Gretchen Keyworth Exhibition Fund, and the Joan Pearson Watkins Estate. Further thanks are extended to exhibition co-curators, Suzanne Ramljak and Beth McLaughlin, for executing this important project, which has been years in the making. They have done an extraordinary job commemorating our fiftieth anniversary while exploring the many facets of gold that make it such a precious commodity. I also thank Stuart Kestenbaum for his lyrical contribution to this catalogue. I graciously acknowledge the galleries and collectors who have kindly entrusted us with the care of their objects for the exhibition. Many heartfelt thanks are also due to the exhibiting artists for their generous participation in Striking Gold. The boundless talents of the creative community, and those who support them, are the foundation of our work at Fuller Craft. Further acknowledgements go to the many others who have worked to bring this project to life. Special thanks go to Registrar and Collections Manager Jackie Lupica, Curatorial Associate Charlie Pratt, Associate Curator Michael McMillan, Preparator Bill Wilson, and Museum Technician Shawn Cambra for their tireless behind-the-scenes efforts. Gold is one of the first materials with which humans created art objects and functional ware, and it is a particularly fitting media to spotlight during this milestone year. Harkening back to the roots of our institutional founder, geologist Myron Fuller, Fuller Craft Museum is honored to present Striking Gold: Fuller at Fifty. Onward to the next fifty!

STUART KESTENBAUM

We Are What We Make Humans are makers. In the long and continuing journey of our evolution, we have used our ingenuity and creativity to ensure our survival. Craft making has become a poignant metaphor for how we understand our relationship with the material world. Images of the potter at the wheel, the weaver at the loom, a metalsmith at the forge, all resonate with us. They allow us to create a past where our ancestors could literally hold the earth in their hands and make order, make a world that made sense. It’s a harmonious vision. Craft is a metaphor that says that we can be in a sympathetic relationship with our planet. Of course, it’s a more complex story than that when we consider the ways that we extract materials and use resources and labor. But even though our past is complex—and it’s a good bet that our future will be equally complex —the maker gives us hope that we can be partners; we can pay attention to what we make, how we make it, and be aware of the impact that our making has. Implicit in every object is the lesson that we never accomplish anything on our own. We learned from someone who learned from someone else who learned from yet another person. It’s as if we are hand-inhand with everyone who went before us. The museum itself is a kind of object—an object that is full of objects—and celebrating Fuller’s fiftieth anniversary is a reminder that organizations are made too by ingenious and creative humans. To make an institution—beginning with Myron Fuller’s philanthropic vision, to today’s exhibition Striking Gold: Fuller at Fifty, to the work of the future that has yet to be made—takes a persistence of vision and sense of purpose that is like any creative process. There’s the bold leap when the decision is made to create something. Then, like a maker, an institution needs to pay attention to what necessary steps it must take to fulfill its promise. It owes its existence to the work of those who went before—trustees, members, donors, makers, staff, volunteers, and the community. Its existence isn’t static—it honors its past yet also looks to the future. An institution must not just survive—it must thrive, and by doing so give its community a renewed sense of possibility. Striking Gold: Fuller at Fifty celebrates a golden anniversary with gold itself. As a craft material, gold is like a Rorschach test of how we look at who we have been and what we are becoming. Does it represent wealth, scarcity, greed, perfection, environmental degradation, a celebration of a maker’s skill? It is all of these at once. Perhaps it says that there is no action we can take that is without consequence. While we are celebrating the museum and the skill and artistry of makers, we may also be creating a new metaphor for craft—one that says that every day we confront the consequences of our actions, whether it’s how we envision and lead our institutions or how we act in the world. Makers know this intuitively. They understand that we are holding our future in our hands.

SUZANNE RAMLJAK

Gleam in the Eye T H E P RO M I S E O F G O L D

Beauty is nothing other than the promise of happiness. - STENDHAL

Our relationship with gold is unlike any other material on Earth. At root is a seemingly primal attraction that has fueled the course of civilization. The allure of this metal has reigned over every culture, century, and continent. Evidence for gold’s unanimous appeal can be found throughout world literature and in the annals of history. Gold has thus earned the rare distinction of being a universal object of desire. As with all human universals, understanding can be sought within the deep evolutionary past of our species. Much has been written about the monetary value of gold and the perennial quest to gain wealth through this means. While gold’s draw as a form of currency is undeniable, the lust for gold is not the same as that for money. The rewards of money are extrinsic, tied to other ends and aims, whereas gold has proved desirable as an end in itself. It is significant in this regard that three-fourths of the world’s gold is used for purposes of pleasure, rather than for currency or industry. This fact underscores gold’s value apart from any monetary worth. And it shifts our investigation from economics to aesthetics, from bullion to beauty. Indeed, the material properties of gold have exerted a powerful force beyond all price and reason. Immense agency has been attributed to the substance, which has been blamed for countless unscrupulous deeds. Scholars of this precious metal have oft noted the potent spell it has cast. Peter L. Bernstein’s study, The Power of Gold: The History of an Obsession, unfolds a breathtaking story of “fascination, obsession, and aggression provoked by this strange and unique metal.”1 In Bernstein’s account, as in many others, gold is shown to wield an intoxicating influence over a susceptible human race.

1 Helladic, Mycenaean, Kantharos (drinking cup), ca. 1550–1500 bce. gold, 3.25 x 6.75 x 3.5 in. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Rogers Fund, 1907

Clues to gold’s ceaseless grip can be detected in Homo Aestheticus by Ellen Dissanayake, who argues for art’s essential function from an evolutionary standpoint.2 Dissanayake identifies artistic creation with acts of “making special,” a need she locates at “the biological core of art, the stain that is deeply dyed in the behavioral marrow of humans everywhere.”3 She further asserts that the means we use to make things special are themselves inherently pleasing or “protoaesthetic.” Possessing traits that humans are predisposed to like, gold qualifies as such a protoaesthetic element. (Fig. 1) For Dissanayake, these inviting characteristics would have been selected during the course of “human evolution as

indicating that something is wholesome and good: for example, visual signs of health, youth, and vitality such as smoothness, glossiness, warm or true colors, cleanness, fineness, or lack of blemish….”4 This list of agreeable features reads like a customized description of gold, and it is no surprise that golden accents and gilding are the ultimate signifiers of specialness. From the perspective of evolutionary aesthetics, with an eye to biological efficacy, gold holds forth a glimmering promise of “health, youth, and vitality.” Regardless of the form gold takes, or in which context it appears, the medium remains the message. Probing gold’s unique materiality—its gloss, warm hue, and incorruptibility—

helps account for the life-affirming pull of this metal. Each of these physical aspects corresponds to a larger elemental property: water, sunlight, and purity. An anatomization of gold may rightly begin with the most basic feature of metals, their luster or shine. This gleam is a winning tool in gold’s arsenal of beauty. It has long been known that humans are ineluctably drawn to shiny things, like moths to a flame. However, the reasons for this hardwired attraction have not been well understood. In 2013, an international team of researchers set out to “test the hypothesis that the preference for glossy stems from an innate preference for fresh water as a valuable resource.”5 Their various experiments, some even conducted with blindfolded subjects, demonstrated a clear association between shininess and wetness. Ultimately, the scientists (who published their results in the Journal of Consumer Psychology) unearthed a profound truth beneath all glitzy surfaces, concluding, “It is humbling to acknowledge that despite our sophistication and progress as a species, we are still drawn to things that serve our innate needs—in this case, the need for water.”6 (Fig. 2) Every metal partakes of a glossy finish and all metallic elements in the periodic table have a cool silvery hue, with the exception of gold and reddish copper. Gold’s warm color distinguishes it from other shiny kin, and its yellow radiance has been linked with the sun since the origins of ancient astrology. The chemical symbol for gold, “AU”, derives from the Latin aurum or aurora, which means “shining dawn.” Like a sunrise, gold generates a steady glow that leaves us basking in its light. The cause of gold’s distinct sunny hue lies in the laws of physics, within the metal’s atomic structure. Gold’s particular pattern of electron oscillation absorbs blue and ultraviolet light, which does not get reflected back from the yellowish substance. The golden sheen that we so highly prize emerges from this dance of electrons. Another of gold’s defining features, its untarnishability, also owes its existence to the metal’s singular chemistry. Gold is one of the most stable and non-reactive materials on Earth, and does not readily respond to other chemicals. Virtually indestructible, all the gold ever extracted from

2 Photo: Petr Kratochvil, licensed under Creative Commons

3 Titian, Danae, 1544â&#x20AC;&#x201C;46, Oil on canvas, 47.25 x 67.75 in. National Museum of Capodimonte, Naples

the ground still exists in pristine condition. Pure gold is also immune to oxidation, which spells the ruination of iron and other metals. Imperishable, gold never disappears. As if by magic this precious metal survives through the millennia, repeatedly melted and reborn without loss of character or charisma. Gold’s incorruptible nature has led many cultures to believe that it holds the key to eternal life, invested with powers to halt the ravages of time. Being highly resistant to the oxidizing process behind both rust and cell degeneration, gold is further thought to contain the answer to immortality, a quest that spurred the art of alchemy. In ancient China, the Middle Ages, and beyond it was hoped that ingesting this metal might impart longevity, and today colloidal gold is used in numerous health and beauty products. Gold also figures in cross-cultural legends of the mythical Fountain of Youth, alleged to preserve life and restore youthfulness to all who drink or bathe in its waters. This intimate union between gold and life is conveyed within the Greek myth of Zeus and Danae. (Fig. 3) In this epic love story, the supreme deity Zeus is smitten by the matchless mortal beauty of Danae, a Peloponnesian Princess. Danae was imprisoned by her father, in order to preempt an oracle’s prophecy that he would be killed by a grandson. The ever-cunning Zeus penetrated Danae’s prison tower in the guise of a golden shower, impregnating her through this sumptuous means. Gold here serves as an agent of pleasure, and the liquid conveyer of new life. This commingling of human and divine, consummated through gold, bore the son Perseus, one of the great heroes of Greek literature. Gold and the beautiful also feature prominently in another Greek myth, The Judgment of Paris. In this beauty contest between three Olympian goddesses—Aphrodite, Athena, and Hera—a golden apple is bestowed upon the chosen winner. Aphrodite is aptly declared the fairest, albeit due to some background scheming and with grave historical consequence. In a similar vein, gold itself is the winning contender in the beauty pageant of worldly goods and has duly held the title through the ages.

It may seem curious that a prime source of pleasure and luxury would resonate so vitally about human survival. The trinity of life, beauty, and pleasure is more integral than might first appear, and converges in our sensual experience of gold. Oscar Wilde, the consummate aesthete, understood this intricate bond, as stated by a figure in his novel The Picture of Dorian Gray: “Pleasure is Nature’s test, her sign of approval.”7 The same character also pronounces, “Pleasure is the only thing worth having a theory about.” Wilde’s claim could rightfully be amended to include theories about gold and our undying desire, revealed in these pages, for this warmly inviting metal. Notes 1 Peter L. Bernstein, The Power of Gold: The History of an Obsession (New York: John Wiley & Sons, 2000), p. 5. 2 Ellen Dissanayake, Homo Aestheticus, Where Art Comes From and Why (New York: The Free Press, 1992). 3 Ibid., p. 42. 4 Ibid., p. 53. 5 Katrien Meert, Mario Pandelaere, and Vanessa M. Patrick, “Taking a shine to it: How the preference for glossy stems from an innate need for water,” Journal of Consumer Psychology, 24: 195-206. 6 Ibid. 7 In Oscar Wilde’s 1890 novel, these lines belong to the character of Lord Henry Wotton.

BETH MCLAUGHLIN

Of Heaven and Earth

The material of gold was formed billions of years ago from colliding stars. Although it was not discovered by humans until 4,000 BCE, its radiant beauty has seduced us ever since. The precious metal has incited battle, adorned the body, stimulated worship, traded as currency, inspired masterpieces, and caused the rise and ruin of kingdoms. Gold is also synonymous with fiftieth anniversary celebrations. The association dates to a Germanic tradition from medieval times in which, after fifty years of marriage, a husband would gift his wife a golden wreath to symbolize eternal devotion. As Fuller marks its own fifty-year anniversary in 2019, we too turn to gold to commemorate this milestone with Striking Gold: Fuller at Fifty. This landmark exhibition celebrates the museum’s rich past as we plan for our brilliant future – and shines a light on all things golden. Gold is a chemical element, with a place on the periodic table and a list of physical properties—warm color, non-reactivity, radiance, durability, malleability, and relative purity in its natural form. These inherent qualities have made gold exceptionally valuable throughout the ages, extending its influence far beyond the geological. Gold’s unique material properties have fueled creative activity, and its singular characteristics continue to attract contemporary artists and craftspeople, such as those in Striking Gold. In order to situate contemporary work in a proper context, one must consider gold’s creative trajectory. The element’s prominence in art historical canons dates to Ancient Egypt, the first gold-producing state with access to abundant reserves. Egyptian metalsmiths were among the first to create gold objects and their labors often aimed to invest royalty with divine attributes, as in golden funerary adornments that were thought to transfer gold’s durability to the pharaohs and protect them in the afterlife. (Fig. 1) During the Inca empire in South America, gold was believed to be the tears of the sun and was widely used to create objects that would bring the Incan peoples closer to their god, Inti. While Spanish conquerors looted most of their gold in the 1500s, legends persist of vast troves of hidden booty still waiting to be found in the treacherous Llanganates mountain range of Ecuador.

1 Broad Collar with Falcon-Head Terminals and Vulture Pectoral, ca. 1479–1425 bce. These two funerary emblems customarily adorned the body of a woman’s mummy. Collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Gift of Fletcher Fund, 1920.

The advent of Christianity and the banishing of pagan gods caused a shift away from gold worship, and extravagant religious displays fell out of favor. Later, the Catholic Church again embraced gold as a symbol of god’s light, as evidenced in gilded icon paintings, incandescent altarpieces, and shimmering mosaics that illuminated church interiors during the late Middle Ages and early Renaissance. Over the centuries, gold’s associative properties extended beyond the sacred and into the political realm to signify wealth, power, and status. The love affair with this seductive material

carried into the 20th century as artists continued to push technical boundaries and explore its full associative range, from Gustav Klimt’s splendorous Golden Phase (Fig. 2) to Piero Manzoni’s canned Artist’s Shit valued at its weight in gold. With its lasting beauty, workability, and conceptual plasticity, it is no wonder that the radiant material continues to inspire creative inquiry today. Research for Striking Gold yielded an abundance of talented artists working with gold in a myriad of ways. The curatorial focus favored artists who centralize the

2 Gustav Klimt, Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I, 1907, oil, silver and gold on canvas, 54 x 54 in., Collection of Neue Galerie, New York.

metal in their practice—technically, aesthetically, or conceptually. The 57 participants work in both fine art and craftbased media, from painting and photography to jewelry and large-scale sculpture. Many examine art historical traditions, while others experiment with new combinations of materials—rubber, cement, ceramic, paper—and take full advantage of the metal’s multimodality. Exhibition themes address gold’s layered histories, symbolism, and natural properties that have captivated humankind since the first pair of eyes was laid upon the element.

For thousands of years, gold has stored value, backed economies, and governed the rise and fall of currencies. Although gold has long since been abandoned as the foundation of most monetary systems, it remains a value standard, as explored in several of the works in Striking Gold. In Lisa Gralnick’s Part I: Commodification and Sensible Economy of her Gold Standard series, the artist reconstructs quotidian items in plaster and registers their market price through an

equivalent value in gold. Gralnick’s works such as Revolver and Tiffany Ring challenge what constitutes preciousness in an object. Grethe Wittrock’s lush shimmering textile, Gold Reserves, references the artist’s Danish heritage and the shipment of Danish gold reserves to New York for safekeeping during World War II. Nancy Lorenz investigates the matter’s elemental nature with her minimalist painting, Au 79 Gold, part of a 2015 series on the periodic table of elements. Through a process of water gilding on unprimed burlap, Lorenz offers an opulent take on Japanese brush painting. Barbara Nanning’s gilded glass work Verre d’églomisé No. 15, expands the material possibilities of gold, while resurrecting a nearly forgotten technique—verre églomisé—to capture the radiance of pure sunlight. Japanese American artist Shinji Turner-Yamamoto likewise mines the metal’s history in his ongoing sculptural series Pentimenti. His unique process of growing and gilding crystals on architectural and geological fragments beautifully references the precious metal’s alchemical past. It is hard to imagine a contemporary gold exhibition without textile artist Olga de Amaral, and Montana 17 is a resplendent example of the Columbian artist’s signature tapestries. With a richly layered surface of woven strips and heavy gilding, the work reflects de Amaral’s emotional ties to her native homeland—its landscape, culture, and art historical traditions. Further connections to time and place are revealed in Isca Greenfield-Sanders’s Golden Parachute, a reinterpretation of a vintage World War II photograph depicting a figure ominously adrift against a gilded backdrop. A riff on the modern term for a corporate safety net, Greenfield-Sanders’s unexpected narrative links wartime and job loss, along with their tenuous outcomes. Contemplating another of life’s milestones is Cornelia Parker’s Wedding Ring Drawing (Circumference of a Living Room). To create this metaphorical powerhouse, the artist melted down two wedding rings and pulled a 40-foot long strand to approximate the circumference of an average living room. The resulting loops of golden thread suggest the twists and turns of romantic love, marriage, and domestic life.

Along with meditations on matrimony, job loss, and homeland, Striking Gold offers several works that explore gold for its spiritual associations. Consuelo Jimenez Underwood’s tapestry, Virgen de Guadelupe (Spirit) from her Rebozos for our Mothers series, conjures the spirituality of Mexico’s patron saint with a heavenly golden glow. John Hatleberg serves up a cautionary tale against pagan idolatry in his biblically inspired sculpture, Golden Calf. Roy Superior’s meticulously crafted The Angler’s Shrine also addresses secular worship through a miniature gilded fishing hut that consecrates the sport of fly fishing.

Human avarice has been a driving force in culture for millennia. Gold has long been the material frontman provoking this greed and its resultant displays of wealth and power. Many artists in Striking Gold invite us to question the desire for material goods and the contemporary hierarchy of values, all while attracting our gaze with their works’ beauty. Otto Künzli confronts our irrational worship of gold with his minimalist bangle Gold Makes You Blind, which conceals a gold ball beneath a black rubber sheath, depriving us of visual access to the prized metal. Susan Kingsley’s Priceless Charm Bracelet further questions gold’s preciousness by presenting ostentatious price tag charms that remain blank and mute as to their true monetary value. The tradition of using golden adornment to convey social status and wealth runs throughout civilizations, from Egyptian rulers’ bodily adornment to the hip-hop bling of today. Luis Gispert’s mixed-media painting, Jimmy Page, gives this relationship a rock and roll spin, presenting asphalt embedded with snaking gold chains, the cast-off relics of a more decadent time. Also referencing street iconography is Frank Tjepkema’s cruciform pendant Bling Bling. Composed of seven paper-thin layers of photo-etched logos—including Coca-Cola and Gucci—the neckpiece is a commentary on obsessive shopping and brand worship. Kathy Buszkiewicz further examines ideas of conspicuous consumption with jewelry pieces composed of U.S. currency,

3 Alfredo Jaar, From the series Gold in the Morning, 1985. Courtesy of the artist, New York.

including her ring Omnia Vanitas VIII. More overt still is Karl Fritsch’s three golden rings that both validate and propagandize the individual with their incised, cheeky slogans—Du Bist So Toll (You Are So Terrific), Rich Gang, and Praying Hands (Honda, Mercedes, BMW…). Matthew Hansel probes the transience of wealth with his Frame I; as this felled baroque frame melts away, so too our value systems and the permanence of what we hold dear. Multidisciplinary artist Rashaad Newsome likewise contemporizes cultural traditions with his golden throne Andinkra. His interpretation of the Asante Golden Stool—a symbol of Ghanaian royalty dating to the 1670s—integrates art historical and pop culture references, while pointing to the cultural co-optation of marginalized communities and social power structures. Striking Gold includes the critique of other, more dangerous, cultural artifacts. Peter Diepenbrock’s American Obsession

and Ted Noten’s Uzi Mon Amour cast a golden glow on firearms to malign our blind worship of these lethal weapons. Preserved in elegant casings designed to entice, the gleaming guns probe society’s deadly presumptions about beauty, power, value, and greed.

In 2017, the World Gold Council reported that approximately half of all gold mined is for the jewelry industry, making it the single largest use of gold.1 Yet most consumers do not know where the gold comes from or how it is excavated. Irresponsible gold mining remains one of the most destructive industries in the world, contaminating drinking water, wreaking ecological havoc, and displacing indigenous communities. (Fig. 3) It is a dirty business, and this “dirty gold” has fueled creative efforts that raise critical questions:

What are the real costs of gold mining? And who pays the ultimate price? Hew Locke’s Columbus, Central Park depicts a public statue of the problematic figure Christopher Columbus, heavily adorned with chains, beads, medals, amulets, cowries, and coins. Combining photography with mixed media, Locke both glorifies and scorns humanity’s vainglorious quest for material riches. Venezuelan artist Rolando Peña offers testimony to the devastating infiltration of crude oil in consumer society through his arresting Black Gold Fire video installation. Likewise, Esperanza Mayobre’s deeply personal sculpture I cannot connect nostalgia with current reality (Acro Minero I) investigates the environmental and human implications of mining in her native Venezuela. Along with these cautionary tales, there are messages of hope and resolve in Striking Gold. The rare metal’s immutable and reusable properties are explored in Jana Brevick’s Everchanging Ring series. As the artist reworks the same chunk of metal for various consumers, she offers a meditation on the relationship between maker, user, and the material that binds them. Susie Ganch calls attention to the respiratory damage of gold mining with her underfired, flaking Soot Balls, marked strategically with touches of gold. Ganch, along with Christina Miller, founded Radical Jewelry Makeover (RJM), a community mining and recycling initiative that calls attention to mining issues and encourages more sustainable jewelry-making practices. RJM Project participants, including artists Curtis Arima and Adam Whitney, transform broken cast-offs into new works of art, emphasizing innovative design and the life cycle of objects.

King Midas was a Greek mythological figure with the power to turn everything he touched to gold, hence the term “golden touch” or “Midas touch.” Today “Midas touch” refers to an ability to achieve monetary success, but the transformative and redemptive potential of gold inspires creative endeavors as well. Anthony Sonnenberg’s satirical self-portrait Character Study for King Midas caricaturizes the mytho-

logical figure, with baroque headpiece and lush adornment. Continuing in this allegorical vein, David Bielander offers his own gilded Trojan Horse with the Cardboard Crown, Cardboard Bracelet, and Cardboard Ring. Seemingly constructed from a throwaway material, the luxe surfaces negate the banal substrate. Likewise, Lisa Kirk enlists gold to immortalize the common tortilla chip to create Chimes, a delicate shimmering mobile that embodies our cultural veneration of junk food. Mark Reigelman’s The Golden Axe looks at a different type of modern-day affliction. The gold, glass-encrusted hand tool references the tale of the “Honest Woodcutter,” a fable that promotes honesty before egocentricity and over-protectionism. The dazzling treatment of the everyday implement glamorizes it while rendering it ineffective as a chopping tool. Claire Curneen, Anina Major, and Boris Bally each introduce gold in their sculptural forms to indicate internal states of transformation. While the individual artworks navigate different conceptual realms—Curneen’s Mary Magdalene, religious iconography; Major’s Weight in Gold, decolonization and body politics; and Bally’s Seed brooches, veneration for growing life—each uses the beguiling metal to build the narrative strata. Environment and place are engaged in artist-team Timothy Berg’s and Rebekah Myers’s gold-inflected Site Unseen series. Their sculptures appear simultaneously vast and diminutive, sample sections of imaginary landscapes that facilitate our relationship to nature. Takefumi Hori charts his surroundings with his vigorous Gold on Gold #32 painting. The Brooklyn-based artist draws on Japanese calligraphy traditions and gold’s symbolic power to express both the energy and excess of New York City. In metalsmith Kat Cole’s series Oil and Water, the Texas artist transforms and probes imagery of her home state’s iconic oil industry, as in the twinning neckpiece Black Gold: Mitosis. For Gary Noffke, the preciousness of gold does not preclude function, even when used by four-legged friends as in Sister’s Bowl, designed for the artist’s dog. (Fig. 4)

Caroline Gore’s photographic landscape interventions insert the permanence of gold into impermanent landscapes to memorialize a sense of place. Likewise, Sophie Coryndon stops time with her exquisitely rendered Hoard VI. Inspired by the global crisis of honeybee extinction, the artist has crafted an abandoned “ghost ship” hive, a defunct site of golden honey production. Bernhard Schobinger’s Grass Ring demands of the wearer an eco-commitment. A promise ring of sorts, the jewelry piece cements our relationship to the natural world as it According to the Urban Dictionary, the phrase gilding the lily gilds and wraps the finger with grass, a ubiquitous natural means “to adorn unnecessarily something already beautiful,”2 element. Tom Herman and John Iversen’s nature-inspired brooches—Teasel Brooch and Leaf #3 respectively—also and indeed, one may question the logic of beautifying what nature has already made perfect. Several artists in Striking Gold strengthen the wearers’ bonds with nature through the placement on the body of enchanting metal flora. Mary seek not only to improve upon the natural world, but also to Lee Hu, best known for her woven wire technique, uses the preserve its comeliness with a golden “kiss.” With a staunch disregard for the preciousness of gold, Noffke concentrates on balancing form and function, material and history. Also exploring form versus function is Daniel Jocz, whose flamboyant Amphora is an outsized interpretation of a Greek vessel used for storing and transporting liquids. The Massachusetts artist, who creates both jewelry and large sculptures, playfully inverts the scale and materials in both fields.

4 Gary Noﬀke, Sister’s Bowl, 2008, 18K green gold, 4 x 9 x 9 in., Collection of the artist.

malleability of gold to capture the complex exoticism of flowers, as in Orchid brooch, which artfully replicates the splendor of the natural world. Insects have found a place throughout art history, both physically and symbolically, and entomologic references abound throughout the Art Nouveau and Art Deco periods. Märta Mattsson and Georg Dobler embrace these traditions, using their practices to elevate pestilence to art. Mattsson’s ethereal Cicada Neckpiece exists at the intersection of attraction and repulsion, while Dobler’s Gold Deer Beetles brooch strikes a similar balance between the grotesque and the beautiful. Kintsugi (golden joiner) is a Japanese art form of repairing cracked or smashed pottery with gold, silver, or platinum. Rather than something to conceal, breakage is seen as central to an object’s life history and creation. U.K. artist Paul Scott recontextualizes historic ceramics in this Japanese tradition, using liquid gold to collage cast-off tableware fragments into fresh forms. Former ceramics conservator Bouke de Vries similarly infuses renewed meaning into broken pottery with The Repair II, an artful mending of an 18th-century Chinese porcelain soup tureen. Chris Gustin’s Vessel with Fold #0826 features a more modest kintsugi approach with just a sliver of gold applied to repair a kiln mishap. In these cases, the artists transmute objects’ imperfect histories from demise to resurrection, affirming that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. In a similar reparative mode, artists Esther Knobel and Jennifer Trask both stitch and mend with golden thread. Knobel’s A Kit for Mending Thoughts delves into the direct relationship between head and hand, and the restorative potential of their interplay. Trask’s haunting Suture is composed of four deer skulls stitched with 18K gold thread and mounted with clock parts on a mirror stand, offering a multilayered meditation on nature, vanity, and mortality.

The human body naturally contains trace amounts of gold, and the element is so essential to human life that we would die without it. Gold also benefits our outer selves as a popular ingredient in today’s cosmetics and beauty treatments.

Several artists in Striking Gold go beyond skin deep in their investigations of gold and the body. Approaching gold as a signifier of power, wealth, and adoration, Lauren Kalman conflates the human form with gilded adornment to question current ideals concerning class, identity politics, and consumer culture. In her recent series, But if the Crime is Beautiful, Kalman gilds and positions her own body within orchestrated environments to interrogate these constructs. German artist Gerd Rothmann’s gold skin portraits – Skinprint Bangle and Fists Necklace – straddle the physical and spiritual realms to simultaneously define and elevate the wearer. Andy Cooperman’s brooch, Feel the Burn, is a “retinal selfie” based on a doctor’s drawing of the artist’s repaired retina, charting his physical decline and repair in a golden miniature.

The contemporary artworks in Striking Gold are part of a creative trajectory that began thousands of years ago and will extend far into the future. Over the past fifty years, Fuller has undergone its own transformation, beginning as an art museum and changing to a contemporary craft institution in 2004. Gold is thus a particularly fitting optic through which to commemorate our fiftieth year. As we present Striking Gold: Fuller at Fifty, we both honor the museum’s history and reveal new perspectives on an ancient matter. Notes 1 https://www.gold.org/about-gold/gold-facts 2 https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Gilding%20the%20Lilly

Plates

NANCY LORENZ Red Gold Cardboard Box, 2016, Red gold leaf, cardboard, paulownia box, 9 x 12 x 4.5 in.

CORNELIA PARKER Wedding Ring Drawing (Circumference of a Living Room), 1996, Two 22K gold wedding rings drawn into wire, 24 x 24 in.

GRETHE WITTROCK Gold Reserves, 2008â&#x20AC;&#x201C;2009, Japanese silk yarns, konjaku root starched, various gold yarns, cotton yarn, 63 x 24 in.

ISCA GREENFIELD-SANDERS Golden Parachute, 2009, Direct to plate, photogravure and aquatint, 14 x 14 in.

JOHN HATLEBERG The Golden Calf, 2008, Natural formed elemental gold, silver, copper and meteoritic iron, 4 x 4 x 4.5 in.

ROY SUPERIOR The Anglerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Shrine, 1989, English brown oak, various exotic hardwoods, padauk, brass, bone, ebony, 23K gold, ivory, 26 x 11 x 13 in.

BARBARA NANNING Verre d’églomisé No. 15, 2012, Glass, blown, hand-formed, sandblasted, 23.5 KR orange gold, 7 x 11.75 x 9 in.

SHINJI TURNER-YAMAMOTO Pentimenti #9, 2010, 19th century Holy Cross Church plaster fragment, gold leaf, gesso, clay bole, animal glue, tree resin, 7 x 9 x .75 in.

KATHY BUSZKIEWICZ Omnia Vanitas VIII, 2004, U.S. currency, 18K gold, black pearl, 1.75 x .75 x .75 in.

LISA GRALNICK The Gold Standard Part I: #11 (Tiﬀany), 2005, Tiﬀany ring, gold, acrylic, 40 x 16 x 2 in.

OTTO KĂ&#x153;NZLI Gold Makes You Blind, 1980, Rubber, 18K gold, 3.25 x 3.25 x .5 in.

SUSAN KINGSLEY Priceless Charm Bracelet, 1999, 14K gold, 8 x 1.5 in.

RASHAAD NEWSOME Adinkra, 2017, Hand-carved mahogany stool with resin and custom automotive paint, 12.25 x 20.25 x 10.5 in.

MATTHEW HANSEL Frame 1, 2014, Wood frame, aqua resin, 12 x 30.5 x 16 in.

KARL FRITSCH Praying Hands (Honda, Mercedes, BMWâ&#x20AC;¦), 2017, 18K gold, 1 x 1 x 1 in. Rich Gang, 2017, 18K gold, 1 x 1 x 1.25 in. Du Bist So Toll (You Are So Terrific), 2017, 18K gold, 1 x .75 x .1 in.

FRANK TJEPKEMA Bling Bling, 2003, Gold-plated steel, 3 x 3 in.

PETER DIEPENBROCK America Obsession, 2016, Silicone bronze, epoxy resin, handgun, metallic leaf, mirror, 10.5 x 14 x 3 in.

TED NOTEN Uzi Mon Amour, 2009, Bag, Uzi 24K gold-plated and cast in acrylic, brass handle, engraved poem, 12 x 32.5 x 3.75 in.

LUIS GISPERT Jimmy Page, 2015, Polychrome stone, gold chains, 60 x 40 in.

HEW LOCKE Columbus, Central Park, 2018, C-type photograph, mixed media, 72 x 48 in.

ESPERANZA MAYOBRE I cannot connect nostalgia with current reality (Acro Minero I), 2017 Bricks, gold, table, 73 x 26 x 22 in.

ROLANDO PEÃ&#x2018;A Black Gold Fire, 2015, Still from video, 7:14 minutes

SUSIE GANCH Soot Balls, 2012â&#x20AC;&#x201C;2019, Enameled copper, sterling silver, gold leaf, 1 x 1 x .5 in. to 3 x 3 x 1.5 in.

JANA BREVICK Everchanging Ring, 1999â&#x20AC;&#x201C;present, 24K gold, album, Variable

ADAM WHITNEY FOR RADICAL JEWELRY MAKEOVER Ag and Au brooches, 2014, Recycled silver and gold from Radical Jewelry Makeover project, 2 x 2 x 1 in.; 1 x 1 x .5 in.

CURTIS ARIMA FOR RADICAL JEWELRY MAKEOVER Deco, 2014, Recycled jewels from Radical Jewelry Makeover project, 3.5 x 6 x 1 in.

DAVID BIELANDER Cardboard Crown, 2015, 18K gold, white gold staples, 7 x 8 x 1.25 in.

Opposite ANTHONY SONNENBERG Character Study for King Midas, 2016, Archival inkjet print, mounted and laminated on Dibond, Edition of 3, 36 x 22 in.

LISA KIRK Untitled (Chimes), 2018, 24K gold-plated Doritos, 28 x 12 x 12 in.

MARK A. REIGELMAN II The Golden Axe, 2015, Glass, silver, transparent dye, epoxy, found object, 34.75 x 7.75 x 1.75 in.

OLGA DE AMARAL Montana 17, 2003, Linen, gold leaf, parchment, acrylic paint, 53 x 29 in.

CONSUELO JIMENEZ UNDERWOOD Rebozos for our Mothers: Virgen de Guadalupe (Spirit), 2013 Fiber, woven wire, linen, silk, rayon, gold and silver threads, 70 x 20 in.

ANINA MAJOR Weight in Gold, 2019, Ceramic, gold leaf, wood, mirror, 44 x 21 x 17 in.

CLAIRE CURNEEN Mary Magdalene, 2013, Porcelain, gold lustre, 22.5 x 6.5 x 4.5 in.

TIMOTHY BERG AND REBEKAH MYERS Site Unseen: Figure 4, 2014, Slip cast porcelain, earthenware, glaze, gold luster, ash, MDF, urethane paint, 10 x 12 x 9.5 in. Site Unseen: Figure 5, 2014, Slip cast porcelain, earthenware, glaze, gold luster, ash, MDF, urethane paint, 10 x 12 x 9.5 in.

KAT COLE Black Gold: Mitosis, 2018, Steel, enamel, sterling silver, black agate, gold luster, 10 x 7 x .5 in.

ESTHER KNOBEL A Kit for Mending Thoughts, 2004, 18K and 24K gold, silver needles, mixed media, paper, 1.25 x 7 x 3 in.

JENNIFER TRASK Suture, 2014, Found objects, deer bone, 23K gold leaf, gesso, 23K gold wire, brass, 17 x 12 x 10 in.

PAUL SCOTT Scottâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Cumbrian Blue(s), Rome/Long Bridge Collage, 2016, Collage, early 19th- century Spode transferware platters, gold leaf 16 x 21 x 1.5 in.

BOUKE DE VRIES The Repair II, 2014, 18th-century Chinese porcelain tureen stand, tureen cover, mixed media, 14 x 10.5 x 10 in.

CHRIS GUSTIN Vessel with Fold #0826, 2008, Anagama wood-fired stoneware, glaze, gold insert, 28 x 19 x 18 in.

TAKEFUMI HORI Gold and Gold #32, 2019, Acrylic, gold leaf, and metal leaf on canvas, 48 x 48 in.

DANIEL JOCZ Amphora, 1992, Cast fiberglass, 23K gold leaf, 90 x 42 in.

GARY NOFFKE Sisterâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Bowl (dog bowl), 2008, 18K green gold, 4 x 9 x 9 in.

CAROLINE GORE Puutarhatie/Trädgårdsvägen, Fiskars, Finland, 2007, Intervention and framed photo documentation, 10 x 14 in.

SOPHIE CORYNDON Hoard VI, 2017, Bronze, gold leaf, enamel, semi-precious stones, 16 x 12 in.

MARY LEE HU Brooch #33, Orchid, 2010, Twined 18K and 22K gold, 3.75 x 4.75 x 1 in.

TOM HERMAN/SEVEN FINGERS Teasel Brooch, 2015, 18K gold, agate, enamel, 5.5 in. tall

BERNHARD SCHOBINGER Grass Ring, 1977, 18K gold, 1 x 1.75 in.

JOHN IVERSEN Leaf #3, c. 2010, Gold plate on sterling silver, 3.25 x 1.25 in.

GEORG DOBLER Gold Deer Beetles, 2005, Gold and citrine, 1 x 5 x 1 in.

MÃ&#x201E;RTA MATTSSON Cicada Neckpiece, 2019, Cicadas, resin, crushed lava, pigments, silver, 10 x 8 x 1.25 in.

GERD ROTHMANN Fists Necklace, n.d., 18K gold, 8 x 6.75 x .25 in.

BORIS BALLY Seed: Implantation, Embryo, Sensation, Engaged, 2000, Sterling silver, 18k yellow gold, ruby, 2.5 x 2.5 x .75 in. each

LAUREN KALMAN But If The Crime is Beautifulâ&#x20AC;¦Hood (3), 2014, Inkjet print, 28 x 20 in.

ANDY COOPERMAN Feel the Burn, 2016, 14k rose gold, sterling silver, diamond set in 18K gold, 2 in. wide

A Fuller Chronology

1946

Brockton resident, as well as Brockton Enterprise publisher and owner Myron L. Fuller (1873—1960), establishes a Trust Fund with the stipulation that the money is to accrue until it reaches $1 million. (Fig. 1) Once achieved, the funds are designated for use in the creation of a Brockton art museum, history museum, children’s museum, or institution that incorporates some or all of these elements. Mr. Fuller requests simply that the newly created museum “be of the greatest possible benefit to the members of the community at large.” The cost for construction and equipment is capped at $500,000. 1964

With the $1 million mark achieved, plans move forward to build a cultural institution in Mr. Fuller’s name. After extensive research, including site visits to a variety of museums across the state, the Trustees of the Fund conclude Brockton is devoid of an arts institution to handle the approximately 400,000 citizens in the local region. Frederick P. Walkey—Director of the DeCordova Museum— is brought on board as a consultant, and he suggests that a new director be hired before the physical site is determined.

1. Myron L. Fuller (1873–1960), Photograph courtesy of the M.I.T. Historical Collection.

1965

Edouard DuBuron—former Director of Grover Cronin Galleries in Waltham, MA—is hired as the Director of the Museum, as well as the leader of the forthcoming building program. In June, a portion of D.W. Field Park is selected as the site for the museum, as it is deemed an appropriate setting for the goal of the institution to blend into its surroundings. The land is donated through the generosity of Paul Lampos, Edward W. Bernat, the Campanelli

Brothers, and the Brockton Enterprise. DuBuron selects J. Timothy Anderson & Associates of Boston (now Finegold Alexander Architects) as the architectural firm, with Doris Cole as the lead architect behind the project. The proposed building is influenced by the modernist architecture of the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art outside of Copenhagen, Denmark.

2. Brockton Art Museum-Fuller Memorial during the construction process in 1968. This photograph is by Anne Kureen, and was one of the museum’s earliest acquisitions.

3. In 1968, Salome by Elbert Weinberg (1928–1991) was the first work acquisitioned by the Brockton Art Museum-Fuller Memorial.

1967

1969

With numerous acres of the donated land being submerged underwater, a deal is reached between the Park Commission and Brockton City Council for a land parcel trade to relocate to a 22-acre lot on the western shores of Upper Porter Pond—a deal that is signed by Governor John A. Volpe in June. On November 20th, ground is broken on construction, which lasts through 1968 and costs $650,000 (approximately $4.7 million in 2019 dollars). (Fig. 2)

The museum opens as Brockton Art Center-Fuller Memorial. The Boston Globe calls it “a new jewel in the ever-expanding greater Boston art world.”

1968

Even prior to the physical opening of the museum, the first work of the permanent collection is acquired—the bronze Salome by Connecticut sculptor Elbert Weinberg (1928 – 1991)—a gift from the Stephen and Sybil Stone Foundation that remains in the museum’s outdoor courtyard to this day. (Fig. 3)

1972

In April, the first contemporary craft exhibition, entitled Things, opens at the Brockton Art Center-Fuller Memorial. Sponsored by the Massachusetts Association of Craftsmen and its President John Heller, the exhibition was a starting point for the museum’s future developments in craft. 1989

Brockton Art Center-Fuller Memorial changes its name to the Fuller Museum of Art. However, the mission of the museum remains the same.

4. Sanctuary serves as a memorial to Jennifer Atkinson who was a former Curator and Director of the Fuller Craft Museum until she passed away in 2003. Photo: Jasmine Bou-Nassif

5. 2004’s The Perfect Collection was the debut exhibition under the new Fuller Craft Museum name, showcasing work from craft pioneers in clay, glass, fiber, studio furniture and metal that had rarely been seen in the public eye.

2002

2016

Announced by Director Jennifer Atkinson, Fuller Museum of Art’s Board of Directors votes to change the focus of the museum “to shift resources and energies to the collection, exhibition, and cultural promotion of high quality contemporary craft.” (Fig. 4) Part of this decision is made through a focus group that includes Arthur Dion, Jonathan Fairbanks, Gretchen Keyworth, Chris Rifkin, and Meredyth Hyatt Moses. The new stated goal becomes to be “the premier craft museum in the New England region.”

Fuller Craft receives its largest gift to date of $1 million to support the Museum’s ongoing efforts of promoting contemporary craft.

2004

The Fuller Museum of Art formally changes its name to Fuller Craft Museum to reflect the new identity of the institution. In April, the exhibition The Perfect Collection opens, the first exhibition under the museum’s new name, featuring works of master craft artists from private collections that have seen little or no visibility in the public eye. (Fig. 5)

2019

Fuller Craft Museum celebrates its 50th anniversary and launches an ambitious fundraising campaign that includes the major exhibition, Striking Gold: Fuller at Fifty. This milestone show includes both fine art and contemporary craft objects to aptly reflect Fuller’s rich history.

Exhibition Checklist C U R T I S A R I MA

D AV I D B I E L A N D E R

K AT CO L E

FO R R A D I C A L J E W E L RY MA K E OV E R

Cardboard Crown, 2015 18K gold, white gold staples 7 x 8 x 1.25 in. Courtesy of Ornamentum Gallery, Hudson, NY

Black Gold: Mitosis, 2018 Steel, enamel, sterling silver, black agate, gold lusterÂ 10 x 7 x .5 in. Collection of the Artist

D AV I D B I E L A N D E R

A N DY CO O P E R MA N

Cardboard Bracelet, 2015 18K gold, white gold staples 4.25 x 3.5 x 1.25 in. Courtesy of Ornamentum Gallery, Hudson, NY

Dendritic Krater, 2019 Sterling, 18k yellow gold, 14k rose gold, diamonds 1.25 in. wide Collection of the Artist

Deco, 2014 Recycled jewels from Radical Jewelry Makeover project 3.5 x 6 x 1 in. Courtesy of Radical Jewelry Makeover B O R I S B A L LY

Seed: Implantation, Embryo, Sensation, Engaged, 2000 Sterling silver, 18k yellow gold, ruby 2.5 x 2.5 x .75 in. each Collection of the Artist T I MOT H Y B E RG A N D R E B E K A H MY E R S

Better an Ounce of Luck than a Pound of Gold, 2014 Glazed ceramic, gold luster, maple, paint, lacquer, acrylic, wool felt, styrofoam 13 x 13 x 4 in. Collection of the Artists T I MOT H Y B E RG A N D R E B E K A H MY E R S

Site Unseen: Figure 4, 2014 Slip cast porcelain, earthenware, glaze, gold luster, ash, MDF, urethane paint 10 x 12 x 9.5 in. Collection of the Artists T I MOT H Y B E RG A N D R E B E K A H MY E R S

Site Unseen: Figure 5, 2014 Slip cast porcelain, earthenware, glaze, gold luster, ash, MDF, urethane paint 10 x 12 x 9.5 in. Collection of the Artists

D AV I D B I E L A N D E R

A N DY CO O P E R MA N

Cardboard Ring, 2015 18K gold, white gold staples 1.5 x 1.25 x 1 in. Courtesy of Ornamentum Gallery, Hudson, NY

Hexagonal Colony #3, 2019 Sterling, 18k yellow gold, 14k rose gold, diamond 1.25 in. wide Collection of the Artist

JANA BREVICK

A N DY CO O P E R MA N

Everchanging Ring, 1999â&#x20AC;&#x201C;present 24K gold, album Variable Collection of the Artist

Feel the Burn, 2016 14k rose gold, sterling silver, diamond set in 18K gold 2 in. wide Collection of the Artist

K AT H Y B U S Z K I E W I C Z

Double Dutch: Skip the Rhetoric, 2016 U.S. currency, wood, 24K yellow gold 46 x 8 x 1.5 in. Collection of the Artist K AT H Y B U S Z K I E W I C Z

Omnia Vanitas VIII, 2004 U.S. currency, 18K gold, black pearl 1.75 x .75 x .75 in. Collection of the Artist

S O P H I E CO RY N D O N

Hoard VI, 2017 Bronze, gold leaf, enamel, semi-precious stones 16 x 12 in. Courtesy of Todd Merrill Studio, New York, NY

CLAIRE CURNEEN

KARL FRITSCH

Blue, 2013 Porcelain, cobalt, gold luster 24 x 21 x 6 in. Courtesy of Ferrin Contemporary, North Adams, MA

Praying Hands (Honda, Mercedes, BMW…), 2017 18K gold 1 x 1 x 1 in. Courtesy of Ornamentum Gallery, Hudson, NY

CLAIRE CURNEEN

Mary Magdalene, 2013 Porcelain, gold lustre 22.5 x 6.5 x 4.5 in. Courtesy of Ferrin Contemporary, North Adams, MA

KARL FRITSCH

Rich Gang, 2017 18K gold 1 x 1 x 1.25 in. Courtesy of Ornamentum Gallery, Hudson, NY

O LG A D E AMA R A L

Montana 17, 2003 Linen, gold leaf, parchment, acrylic paint 53 x 29 in. Collection of Chris Rifkin BOUKE DE VRIES

The Repair II, 2014 18th-century Chinese porcelain tureen stand, tureen cover, mixed media 14 x 10.5 x 10 in. Collection of Ted Rowland P E T E R D I E P E N B RO C K

America Obsession, 2016 Silicone bronze, epoxy resin, handgun, metallic leaf, mirror 10.5 x 14 x 3 in. Collection of the Artist GEORG DOBLER

Gold Deer Beetles, 2005 Gold and citrine 1 x 5 x 1 in. Courtesy of the Artist and Gallery Loupe, Montclair, NJ

KARL FRITSCH

Du Bist So Toll (You Are So Terrific), 2017 18K gold 1 x .75 x .1 in. Courtesy of Ornamentum Gallery, Hudson, NY SUSIE GANCH

Soot Balls, 2012-2019 Enameled copper, sterling silver, gold leaf 1 x 1 x .5 in. to 3 x 3 x 1.5 in. Courtesy of the Artist and Sienna Patti, Lenox, MA

10 x 14 in. Courtesy of the Artist and Gallery Loupe, Montclair, NJ LISA GRALNICK

The Gold Standard Part I: #11 (Tiﬀany), 2005 Tiﬀany ring, gold, acrylic 40 x 16 x 2 in. Courtesy of the Rotasa Collection, Tiburon, CA LISA GRALNICK

The Gold Standard Part I: #19 (Revolver), 2010 Plaster, 18K gold, acrylic 7 x 8 x 14 in. Collection of the Artist I S C A G R E E N F I E L D -S A N D E R S

Golden Parachute, 2009 Direct to plate, photogravure and aquatint 14 x 14 in. Courtesy of the Artist and Paulson Fontaine Press, Berkeley, CA CHRIS GUSTIN

Vessel with Fold #0826, 2008 Anagama wood-fired stoneware, glaze, gold insert 28 x 19 x 18 in. Collection of Chris Rifkin

LU I S G I S P E R T

Jimmy Page, 2015 Polychrome stone, gold chains 60 x 40 in. Collection of Robert B. Feldman CAROLINE GORE

Puutarhatie/Trädgårdsvägen, Fiskars, Finland, 2007 Intervention and framed photo documentation

M AT T H E W H A N S E L

Once More with Feeling, 2015 Verre églomisé (gold leaf on glass over oil on canvas) 60 x 42 in. Collection of the Artist

MAT T H E W H A N S E L

M A RY L E E H U

LAUREN KALMAN

Frame 1, 2014 Wood frame, aqua resin 12 x 30.5 x 16 in. Courtesy of Wasserman Projects, Detroit, MI

Brooch #33, Orchid, 2010 Twined 18K and 22K gold 3.75 x 4.75 x 1 in. Courtesy of Mobilia Gallery, Cambridge, MA

But if the Crime is Beautiful...Composition with Ornament and Object (17), 2014 Inkjet print 20 x 16 in. Courtesy of the Artist and Sienna Patti, Lenox, MA

J O H N H AT L E B E RG

JOHN IVERSEN

The Golden Calf, 2008 Natural formed elemental gold, silver, copper and meteoritic iron 4 x 4 x 4.5 in. Collection of the Artist

Leaf #3, c. 2010 Gold plate on sterling silver 3.25 x 1.25 in. Courtesy of Ornamentum Gallery, Hudson, NY

J O H N H AT L E B E RG

DANIEL JOCZ

Birdnest, 1995 Chinese freshwater pearls, 14K and 18k gold wire and gold scrap, pussy willow branch and Australian boulder opal 8 x 4.5 x 4 in. Collection of the Artist

Amphora, 1992 Cast fiberglass, 23K gold leaf 90 x 42 in. Collection of the Artist

J O H N H AT L E B E RG

Gold Body Gems, 1994 Gold Variable Collection of the Artist TO M H E R MA N /S E V E N F I N G E R S

Teasel Brooch, 2015 18K gold, agate, enamel 5.5 in. tall Collection of the Artist

LAUREN KALMAN

But If The Crime is Beautiful…Hood (3), 2014 Inkjet print 28 x 20 in. Courtesy of the Artist and Sienna Patti, Lenox, MA SUSAN KINGSLEY

Priceless Charm Bracelet, 1999 14K gold 8 x 1.5 in. Collection of the Artist

DANIEL JOCZ

Ring, 1992 Fimo clay, dry pigment, nickel 4 x 1.75 x .75 in. Collection of the Artist DANIEL JOCZ

Maquette, 1992 Fimo clay, gold pigment powder, sterling silver base 3.75 in. height Collection of the Artist

SUSAN KINGSLEY

Gold Tooth and Fur Fetish, 2002 14K gold cast plastic human tooth models, 24K gold plating, fur, mixed media 9 x 9 x 9 in. Collection of the Artist SUSAN KINGSLEY

(Fake) Gold Ingot, 2006 Styrofoam, copper, mixed media 5.75 x 3.25 x 2 in. Collection of the Artist

LAUREN KALMAN TA K E F U M I H O R I

Gold and Gold #32, 2019 Acrylic, gold leaf, and metal leaf on canvas 48 x 48 in. Courtesy of the Artist and Arden Gallery, Boston, MA

Blemish Gilding, 2016 Inkjet print, jar, gold leaf, skin, saliva, alcohol 25 x 20 in. (print); 3 x 2 x 2 in. (jar) Courtesy of the Artist and Sienna Patti, Lenox, MA

LISA KIRK

Untitled (Chimes), 2018 24K gold-plated Doritos 28 x 12 x 12 in. Collection of the Artist

ESTHER KNOBEL

ANINA MAJOR

T E D N OT E N

A Kit for Mending Thoughts, 2004 18K and 24K gold, silver needles, mixed media, paper 1.25 x 7 x 3 in. Courtesy of the Rotasa Collection, Tiburon, CA

Weight in Gold, 2019 Ceramic, gold leaf, wood, mirror 44 x 21 x 17 in. Collection of the Artist

Uzi Mon Amour, 2009 Bag, Uzi 24K gold-plated and cast in acrylic, brass handle, engraved poem 12 x 32.5 x 3.75 in. Collection of Mike De Paola

OT TO KÜ N Z L I

1 Meter of Love, 1989-1995 Gold 900 39.5 x .25 x .25 in. Courtesy of the Rotasa Collection, Tiburon, CA OT TO KÜ N Z L I

Gold Makes You Blind, 1980 Rubber, 18K gold 3.25 x 3.25 x .5 in. Courtesy of the Rotasa Collection, Tiburon, CA H E W LO C K E

Columbus, Central Park, 2018 C-type photograph, mixed media 72 x 48 in. Courtesy of the Artist and P•P•O•W Gallery, New York, NY

M Ä R TA M AT T S S O N

Cicada Neckpiece, 2019 Cicadas, resin, crushed lava, pigments, silver 10 x 8 x 1.25 in. Courtesy of the Artist and Sienna Patti, Lenox, MA

CO R N E L I A PA R K E R

E S P E R A N Z A M AYO B R E

Wedding Ring Drawing (Circumference of a Living Room), 1996 Two 22K gold wedding rings drawn into wire 24 x 24 in. Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston. Gift of Barbara Lee, The Barbara Lee Collection of Art by Women

I cannot connect nostalgia with current reality (Acro Minero I), 2017 Bricks, gold, table 73 x 26 x 22 in. Collection of the Artist

Black Gold Fire, 2015 Still from video, 7:14 minutes Collection of the Artist

ROLANDO PEÑA

BARBARA NANNING

MARK A . REIGELMAN II

Verre d’églomisé No. 15, 2012 Glass, blown, hand-formed, sandblasted, 23.5 KR orange gold 7 x 11.75 x 9 in. Courtesy of the Artist and J. Lohmann Gallery, New York, NY

The Golden Axe, 2015 Glass, silver, transparent dye, epoxy, found object 34.75 x 7.75 x 1.75 in. Courtesy of the Artist and Heller Gallery, New York, NY

N A N C Y LO R E N Z

RASHAAD NEWSOME

G E R D R OT H M A N N

Au 79 Gold, 2017 Red gold leaf, clay, burlap, on wood panel 20 x 15 in. Private Collection

Adinkra, 2017 Hand-carved mahogany stool with resin and custom automotive paint 12.25 x 20.25 x 10.5 in. Courtesy of De Buck Gallery, New York, NY

Skinprint Bangle, 2018 Gold and orange plexi 2.75 x 2.25 x 1.5 in. Courtesy of Ornamentum Hudson, NY

G A RY N O F F K E

Fists Necklace, n.d. 18K gold 8 x 6.75 x .25 in. Courtesy of the Rotasa Collection, Tiburon, CA

N A N C Y LO R E N Z

Red Gold Cardboard Box, 2016 Red gold leaf, cardboard, paulownia box 9 x 12 x 4.5 in. Private Collection

G E R D R OT H M A N N

Sister’s Bowl (dog bowl), 2008 18K green gold 4 x 9 x 9 in. Collection of the Artist

BERNHARD SCHOBINGER

FRANK TJEPKEMA

Grass Ring, 1977 18K gold 1 x 1.75 in. Courtesy of the Rotasa Collection, Tiburon, CA

Bling Bling, 2003 Gold-plated steel 3 x 3 in. Courtesy of the Rotasa Collection, Tiburon, CA

PA U L S COT T

JENNIFER TRASK

Scott’s Cumbrian Blue(s), American Scenery, Fracked No. 8, 2015 In-glaze decal collage, gold leaf, T&R Boote Syndenhall Shape, ironstone c. 1850 16.5 x 11.75 x 1.25 in. Courtesy of Ferrin Contemporary, North Adams, MA

Suture, 2014 Found objects, deer bone, 23K gold leaf, gesso, 23K gold wire, brass 17 x 12 x 10 in. Courtesy of the Artist and Gallery Loupe, Montclair, NJ

PA U L S COT T

Suture Study 2, 2014 Encaustic, gold, wood, bone needle 7.75 x 6.5 x 2.5 in. Courtesy of the Artist and Gallery Loupe, Montclair, NJ

JENNIFER TRASK

Scott’s Cumbrian Blue(s), Rome/Long Bridge Collage, 2016 Collage, early 19th- century Spode transferware platters, gold leaf 16 x 21 x 1.5 in. Courtesy of Ferrin Contemporary, North Adams, MA A N T H O N Y S O N N E N B E RG

Character Study for King Midas, 2016 Archival inkjet print, mounted and laminated on Dibond, Edition of 3 36 x 22 in. Collection of the Artist

S H I N J I T U R N E R-YA M A M OTO

Pentimenti #9, 2010 19th century Holy Cross Church plaster fragment, gold leaf, gesso, clay bole, animal glue, tree resin 7 x 9 x .75 in. Courtesy of Sapar Contemporary, New York, NY CO N S U E LO J I M E N E Z U N D E RW O O D

ROY S U P E R I O R

The Angler’s Shrine, 1989 English brown oak, various exotic hardwoods, padauk, brass, bone, ebony, 23K gold, ivory 26 x 11 x 13 in. Collection of Fuller Craft Museum, Gift of Jay and Linda Bosniak, 2018.24

Rebozos for our Mothers: Virgen de Guadalupe (Spirit), 2013 Fiber, woven wire, linen, silk, rayon, gold and silver threads 70 x 20 in. Collection of the Artist

ADAM WHITNEY F O R R A D I C A L J E W E L RY MA K E OV E R

Ag and Au brooches, 2014 Recycled silver and gold from Radical Jewelry Makeover project 2 x 2 x 1 in.; 1 x 1 x .5 in. Courtesy of Radical Jewelry Makeover G R E T H E W I T T RO C K

Gold Reserves, 2008–2009 Japanese silk yarns, konjaku root starched, various gold yarns, cotton yarn 63 x 24 in. Courtesy of browngrotta arts, Wilton, CT

This volume is published in conjunction with the exhibition, Striking Gold: Fuller at Fifty, co-curated by Beth McLaughlin and Suzanne Ramljak at Fuller Craft Museum, Brockton, Massachusetts, from September 7, 2019–April 5, 2020. Copyright © 2019 Fuller Craft Museum Text copyright © 2019 Stuart Kestenbaum, Suzanne Ramljak, and Beth McLaughlin Design and production by Wilcox Design Printed by Kirkwood Printing This exhibition was generously sponsored by Hamilton Company Charitable Foundation, Brockton Cultural Council, Gretchen Keyworth Exhibition Fund, Jonathan Leo Fairbanks Exhibition Fund, and the Joan Pearson Watkins Estate. Front and back covers: Detail of Sophie Coryndon, Hoard VI, 2017 Page 8: Detail of Esperanza Mayobre, I cannot connect nostalgia with current reality (Acro Minero I), 2017 Page 10: Detail of Lauren Kalman, But If The Crime is Beautiful…Hood (3), 2014 Page 16: Detail of Claire Curneen, Mary Magdalene, 2013

ISBN: ISBN 9780934358071 LOC: 2019938750

STRIKING GOLD

museum

Let the art touch you

$24.99 ISBN 978-0-934358-07-1

52499

9 780934 358071

FULLER CRAFT MUSEUM

fullerCRAFT

STRIKING

GOLD Fuller at 50