Barbara Smith + Blog

Handmade 2.0

FRAMING · THE ART OF JEWELRY
On view at Museum of Contemporary Craft January 19, 2008 – May 11, 2008
The genesis of this exhibition comes from Metalsmith Magazine’s annual Exhibition in Print, curated in 2007 by
internationally known design curator Ellen Lupton and published by the Society of North American Goldsmiths.
Museum of Contemporary Craft is excited to present this work as one component of a multi-faceted investigation
of art jewelry that, at once, acknowledges the growing interdependence in the visual practices of art, craft and
design, and poses theoretical questions about the way contemporary art jewelry is presented for the public to
experience.
For example, how is the distance from the viewer negotiated between objects appearing on a printed page versus
those installed in a Museum setting? Art jewelry is made with a relationship to the body in mind, yet is often
shared with audiences in formats that do not create opportunity for physical interactivity. With Framing · The Art
of Jewelry, the Museum juxtaposes this exquisitely curated selection of objects – presented on pedestals, under
vitrines and in print – with a distinctly different experience of art jewelry. Touching Warms the Art (January 19 –
March 23, 2008) is a juried selection of international art jewelers that welcomes audiences to touch and try on
the pieces, thereby fully activating them as the artists intended. The Museum’s simultaneous pairing of these
exhibitions broadens the audience’s perception of art jewelry – allowing for precious awe and separation as well
as direct engagement and play – and creates an awareness and new understanding of art jewelry that, up until
now, only collectors of art jewelry have had the opportunity to experience.

Artists featured in this exhibition include:
Harriete Estel Berman · Melanie Bilenker · Alexander Blank · Kristine Bolhuis · Helen Britton · Sigurd Bronger · Angela Bubash ·
Betty Cooke · Marilyn da Silva · Donna D’Aquino · Iris Eichenberg · Diane Falkenhagen · Angela Gleason · Linda Kaye-Moses ·
Susan Kingsley · Esther Knobel · Steven & William Ladd · Victoria Lansford · Seung-Hea Lee · Keith Lo Bue · Louise McClure ·
Bruce Metcalf · Maria Nuutinen · Ruudt Peters · Karen Pontoppidan · Sharon Portelance · Lauren Schlossberg · Deganit Stern
Schocken · Nicola Scholz · Constanze Schreiber · Jill Schwartz · Sam Shaw · Sondra Sherman · Kiff Slemmons · Barb Smith ·
Bettina Speckner · Johan Van Aswegen · Lisa Walker · Lynda Watson · Pauline Wiertz · Roberta & David Williamson · Liaung
Chung Yen