The world of contemporary jewelry met in Munich this year again, invading the Bavarian city neighborhoods with exhibitions, events, performances, panels and giving life to the Munich Jewelry Week 2018.
Our tour started from the Galerie Handwerk, which hosted the work of two masters of contemporary jewelry, Francesco Pavan and Tore Svensson. The idea to put them together into a single show is created to celebrate the 80th birthday of the Italian goldsmith and the 70th birthday of Swedish Tore Svensson. Both recognized by their graphic sign, their pieces stand out thanks to the visual contrast generated by colors of metals used.
Born from two different esthetic and technical approaches, Francesco Pavan is known for his love of precious metals, especially gold, and his pieces reflect a lifelong concern with the themes of geometry, space and kinetics. Tore Svensson in the mid 1980s began to concentrate on working in iron and steel by using a minimalism that evokes a spiritual dimension. When making jewelry, Svensson favors working in series that extend over several years, as if the repetition were part of bigger and more complex alphabet.
Hatara Project is back with new collections by Annea Lounatvuori, Christine Jalio, Melina Lindroos, Malene Kastalje, Jelizaveta Suska, Ginta Grube, Helmi Lindblom and Wiebke Pandikow. With Time Perception Vol.IIII they kept researching on their specific esthetic and topics like memory, tactility, play and irony.
The Chile was represented by four amazing artists, Rita Soto, Valeria Martinez, Ana Nadjar and Vania Ruiz presented at Chilean Cocktail exhibition. Each of them presenting their own subject, by exhibiting very different pieces. The work of Rita Soto encompasses techniques, history, identity, and typical materials of her homeland. Ana Nadjar leads research on plastic, as both fragile and durable material, Valeria Martinez has inspired from flowers that once a year cover the Acatama Desert, in northern Chile, while Vania Ruiz creations come from female domestic space, conceiving the ornament as a manifestation of belonging and love.
Still (A)Life is the title of the Marta Mattsson’s exhibition who presented her new collection and tackles the subject of still life with humor and originality, declined both in set up and pieces. Marta Mattsson and Anna Forsberg attempted to play symbiotically on the themes of illusion and appearance, using the typical strategy of some insects and animals to disguise themselves and pretend to be 'other' for protection purposes.
Big public (and sales) success for the exhibition Fiber World at Micheko Galerie that hosted fiber artworks made by Mariko Kusumoto.
Mariko Kusumoto’s work reflects various, observable phenomena that stimulates mind and senses; they can be natural or man-made. A playful, happy atmosphere pervades her work. She hopes the viewer experiences discovery, surprise and wonder through her work.
Works by Melissa Cameron, Anja Eichler, Catarina Hallzon, Lore Langendries, Moniek Schrijer, Anneleen Swillen, Katja Toporski, Mallory Weston, exhibited at In Touch, invite to reflect on how jewelry makers react to the increasing fusion of real and virtual worlds and the role of nature, technology, perception, as well as communication.
An intense dialogue between Nicole Schuster & Viktoria Münzker creates Biophilia. Jewelry as a medium celebrates the love of man. It examines his characteristics and limits. It embodies his ideas, materializes his thoughts and symbolizes his will. The biological impulse to protect and preserve the living space, presented in a symbol.
One of the most intriguing and divers lectures of jewelry has been made by Shelf Aware, which showcases work by 39 staff and students of the Central Saint Martins BA Jewelry Design course. They all promote an understanding of a wide variety of materials, approaches and contexts within the contemporary jewelry field. Innovation, originality and individual identity are encouraged and developed.
Popeye loves Olive Art Space hosts an exhibition platform by inviting a group of 14 Greek artists to meet the Mexican artist Jorge Manilla and to develop a joint project on Hidden Curriculum, Identity and Proxemics.
The Hidden curriculum consists of teaching items which are not officially intended and developed by school and educational system, with the intention to explore behaviors, perspectives and attitudes, in an independent way outside of an institution.
Given the growing number of artists, spontaneous exhibitions and initiatives, where it was hard to juggle, MJW was confirmed to be a self-managed, natural and genuine movement.
This is perhaps its own beauty: the freedom of expression and lack of superstructure.