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Contemporary Swedish Jewellery
18 November 2004 - 10 January 2005 This exhibition forms part of our Scandinavian season, which started with A Touch of Finland in March this year and will continue with Contemporary Swedish Jewellery and Contemporary Glass and Ceramics from Sweden this Autumn. In 2005 flow will hold Norwegian and Danish shows of contemporary crafts.
"Contemporary Swedish Jewellery" is curated by Marie-Josè van den Hout, the director of Galerie Marzee in Nijmegen Netherlands and it is touring five countries and 7 venues.
Appreciating that van den Hout considers rings small sculptures, and necklaces akin to drawings and paintings, helps us understand her curatorial decisions.
The fifteen artists selected for this exhibition
can be loosely considered part of the Scandinavian 'New Jewellery' movement;
so we see work displaying the visually provocative expression that is its
hallmark. No
These pieces discuss perception, identity, social interaction, art theory, philosophy and sociology; consider the artistic statement of each piece asides to its wearable functionality. Van den Hout has chosen outspoken, more conceptual pieces, where we find form replaced by content. Be aware of self-referential comment on the Swedish traditions of nature and romanticism, and see this less design-orientated approach as refreshing as it is challenging.
Witness Aud Charlotte Ho Sinding's grand rubber jewellery, in particular her birds 'carried' by the wearers hand; defiantly sculptural, they question the bond between us and nature.
The relationship between us and the actual material, is provoked by Ulrika Swärd's sound pieces. Her work gives proof to organic source materials - such as metal and pearls - not necessarily being the only starting point. In contrast, Charlotte Skalegård and Anna Unsgaard's work echoes the perfectionist goldsmith techniques of past generations; in so much as their work is imbued with a real sense of artist's labour. Although their choice of materials may be stainless steel and copper, the detailed textile techniques used reference the artistic process in a very clear way.
Agnieszka Knap's leaf and flower shaped pendants have a porous enamel surface giving a scorched appearance; an interesting juxtaposition of the beautiful with the distressed.
Dental plaster is the unexpected material involved in Ida Forss's work, look out for her witty teeth necklaces. This humorous theme runs to Sissi Westerberg's brooches and bracelets, melting as they do over pocket lips. Tobias Andersson's badges in various precious and semi-precious materials will make you smile too.
Karin Johansson, Mirjam Norinder and Mona Wallström are all showing necklaces, but each so different to the next, in terms of both material and content. Similarly, Castello Hansen and Tore Svensson's rings could not be more different and unique.
Altogether a real sense of variety and edginess pervades this stimulating show.
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