From Picasso to Koons: NY exhibit shows jewelry, including wacky creations, by ... - Washington Post
"Picasso to Koons: Artist as Jeweler" features bold, whimsical and even wacky creations, all conceived to be worn, by some of the most noted artists of the 20th and 21st centuries.
Culled from private collections, the show features jewelry by 135 artists, including masters Georges Braque, Max Ernst, Alexander Calder, Salvador Dali, Man Ray, modern artists Arman, Cesar, Robert Rauschenberg, Louise Nevelson and contemporary artists John Chamberlain and Anish Kapoor.
The show will surprise many visitors because "people don't know that these artists did jewelry," said Diane Venet, the exhibition's guest curator. "It's a very intimate part of their work and their life."
Visitors also will have fun recognizing the artist in the pieces, she added.
The Stella necklace belongs to Venet. It was a gift from the artist, made in 2008 after repeated requests by her husband, French sculptor Bernar Venet, whose unique jewelry also is featured in the exhibition.
"We were at dinner and my husband said 'you know (John) Chamberlain did a piece for Diane ... It's a pity you don't do anything," she recounted.
At that, Stella got up from the table, went to a drawer, pulled out a bag and gave it to Diane Venet. Inside was the necklace.
"It's a huge pendant that looks like a bowtie," she said. It's a large piece measuring 11 inches in length and 1 5/16 inch in diameter of gold-painted titanium, delicately bent into a bow and a central gold medal knot. He designed it in the same way that he creates his sculptures, using a computer.
Two years later, Stella made a ring, in an edition of five. After that, he never did any more because "jewelry is not his thing," Venet said.
With the exception of Kapoor, Arman and Calder, who produced 1,800 pieces of jewelry in his lifetime, few of the exhibited artists are known for their jewelry. Many of the pieces were created in small editions of 10-50 with a special person in mind, as a commission or as a challenge.
"These miniature works of art . also give many artists the opportunity to test their practical ability and to confront unprecedented constraints," Venet writes in a fully-illustrated book that accompanies the exhibition.
She said her passion for artist-designed jewelry began 25 years ago when her artist husband wrapped a slender piece of silver around her finger, a wedding ring he crafted. Her collection has grown to include other pieces from him and many of the other artists in the exhibition.
She describes the works as a miniature museum that can be worn on the wrist, the neck or the finger.
"I don't wear jewelry," she said, "I wear a work of art."
29 Sep, 2011--
Source: http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t&fd=R&usg=AFQjCNGGli2QcoIC2QZnwbY3oJr9fEnfWA&url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/from-picasso-to-koons-ny-exhibit-shows-jewelry-including-wacky-creations-by-famous-artists/2011/09/28/gIQAxhKp4K_story.html
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