Unexpected Pleasures
dal 3/12/2012 al 2/3/2013
Segnalato da
3/12/2012
Unexpected Pleasures
Design Museum, London
The art and design of contemporary jewellery. The exhibition celebrates jewellery from the point of view of both the maker and the wearer featuring prominent UK and international jewellers.
Unexpected Pleasures presents the world’s most surprising works of
contemporary jewellery. It challenges the conventional function of jewellery
as a symbol of status, sentimentality and taste – forcing the limits of human
adornment. Can a ring manufactured to mimic a finger blister be considered
a thing of beauty? Does the migration of the iPod from the pocket to the
lapel cross the role of industrial designer with jeweller? Does plastering gold
leaf to the gums mean the beginning of true self-expression and the ‘end of
the trend’?
This exhibition celebrates jewellery from the point of view of both the maker
and the wearer. It considers the pleasures of wearing jewellery and the
many meanings associated with jewellery which are at times unpredictable
and, in turn, unexpected.
The contemporary jewellery movement, which started in the late 1970s, saw
a radical rethinking of jewellery and its social context. New processes and
experimentation questioned the relevance of precious materials and shifted
the role of preciousness from financial value to personal association.
Curated by jewellery designer and maker Dr. Susan Cohn, this exhibition
offers a survey of contemporary jewellery at a time when investment and
personal ideas of ‘value’ are under scrutiny.
The exhibition will feature prominent UK and international jewellers
including Wendy Ramshaw, renowned for her complex geometric designs
and Hans Stofer who trained in Precision Engineering and produces
irreverent, intricate wire form jewellery, the avant-garde designs of
Alexander Calder, Gijs Bakker’s conceptual adornments and Dorothea
Pruhl’s delicate abstract pieces.
It is presented through a number of themes: Worn Out - celebrating the
experience of wearing jewellery, Linking Links - looking at the ways in which
meaning and narratives are expressed in jewellery and A Fine Line –
offering insight into the origins of contemporary jewellery today, highlighting
key instigators of the contemporary jewellery movement.
The exhibition features over 130 jewellers including the following.
UK based jewellers featured in the exhibition:
• David Watkins
• Wendy Ramshaw
• Caroline Broadhead
• Hans Stofer
• Mah Rana
International jewellers featured in the exhibition:
• Otto Kunzli
• Gijs Bakker
• Ted Noten
• Helen Britton
• Paul Derrez
• Dorothea Pruhl
• Esther Knobel
• Mari Funaki
• Karl Fritsch
• Lisa Walker
Image: Hard Wear by Lauren Kalman, 2006
Press enquires, image and interview requests:
Design Museum
Claire Thomas, Press Manager, Design Museum.
Tel: +44 (0) 207 940 8787 Email:claire@designmuseum.org
Press preview: Tuesday 4 December at midday
Design Museum
28 Shad Thames - London SE1 2YD United Kingdom
Daily 10am - 5.45pm
Last admission 5.15pm
The Design Museum is open on all bank and national holidays, except 25 and 26 December.
£8 adults
£7 concessions
£5.50 Students