Exhibition In Print

After looking through Metalsmith magazine’s juried exhibition in print I came away disappointed. The exhibition entitled Saturated Color and Metal was juried by Jamie Bennett and Marilyn Da Silva. In the jurors statement Bennett and Silvia discuss how they arrived at the selected work and follow by giving a brief description of some pieces. I was rather surprised to find the descriptions lacking a strong investigation and it seems the work was chosen merely on surface value alone. This theory was enforced after reading the statement “While all the juried work had color, little was about color or demonstrated color as crucial to understanding the work’s meaning”, one would think this as strong criteria for being accepted in the exhibition, apparently not. The idea of surface value as criteria for selection is furthered by an absence of an artist statement/description to accompany work.

500 Plastic and Jewelry Designs

Last month I received a copy of Lark Books 500 Plastic Jewelry Designs in the mail. The book showcases a variety of jewelry made in acrylic, resin, and rubber. It also shows work by major players in the jewelry world such as Peter Chang, Ted Noten and Katja Prins. The great thing about this book as well as the other books in the 500 series is the variety of work shown. I was especially pleased to find many artists working with plastic as their central material. Plastic, although widely used in jewelry, is still second to metal. Often plastic is used only as an accent in a piece primarily made of metal. Pieces like Ted Noten’s Fred where cast acrylic is the dominating material have uniqueness and clarity.

Jack Prip

In June the Rhode Island School of Design held a memorial show for artist Jack Prip. Jack was the head of RISD’s jewelry and metalsmithing department from 1963-80 and just as important he was a practicing artist. I had the fortunate experience to meet Jack before his passing. During our meeting Jack shared his treasures with me including hollowware, jewelry and personal stories. Throughout his work I was able to find running themes; a dedication to craft, a sense of humor, and willingness to experiment. Some of my favorite pieces are Jack’s small containers. Addressing all areas of the containers viewers can see the strong relationship Jack had with each piece he made. It was wonderful to meet Jack and view his work. He is truly an inspiration for artists.

Caroline Ballou, Brooches, 1986

Originally I was going to begin by telling what I want to accomplish with this blog. I soon realized this was going to be difficult because I was not really sure myself. For the most part I see the blog as an outlet for me to discuss contemporary jewelry. However, I even have reservations about saying that... contemporary jewelry, because many posts will be about the history of the field. Well, maybe I will have more clarity after my first post.