Fine Art PR Publicity Announcements News and Information
Fine Art PR Publicity Announcements News and Information

SOFA NEW YORK Presents Dazzling Array of Art Jewelry

New York – Opening April 20th and running through April 23rd, SOFA NEW YORK tops the list of not-to-be-missed shopping destinations for art jewelry enthusiasts-and this year’s fair will not disappoint. Visitors will set their eyes on a dazzling array of one-of-a-kind pieces conceived and crafted by a roster of internationally recognized artists, many of whose achievements grace collections in renowned museums all around the globe.

Here are some of 2012’s art jewelry highlights at SOFA NEW YORK:

Celebrated for her ingenious skill in juxtaposing diverse and surprising materials, jewelry-maker Lola Brooks of the Sienna Gallery in Lenox, Mass., communicates this aptitude through playful heart-shaped pastiches that delicately combine steel, gold, crystals, semi-precious and precious stones, erotic bows, vintage ivory flowers, and even Pepto-Bismol-pink rhinestones. Brooks also facets everyday stainless steel to resemble prized gems, and pairs inexpensive crystals with tiny diamonds “to see which comes out on top in capturing attention,” says Brooks. Her notable creations can be found in the collections of New York’s Museum of Arts and Design and the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Among the startling treats offered by Munich-based David Bielander: An eight-foot python necklace and a pearl brooch with ‘ears’ that assemble into a 3-D pig’s head. Says Bielander, whose work is sold exclusively by Ornamentum of Hudson, N.Y.: “I like to walk that fine line between jewelry that is outlandish, but also conventional enough to be recognizable.” Underlying his witty adaptations of unconventional materials is an exemplary level of craftsmanship, honed by goldsmith training in his hometown of Basel, Switzerland, and by study with influential jeweler Otto Künzli at the Academy of Fine Arts in Munich. Bielander’s works find a home in the collections of many museums, including the Schmuckmuseum-Pforzheim, the CODA Apeldoorn and the Neue Sammlung in Munich.

Represented by Gallery Loupe, a new participant from Montclair, N.J., Susanne Klemm features jewelry that came about through an art project born in Amsterdam’s infamous Red Light District. There, Swiss-born Klemm set up her atelier in one of the district’s ‘shop’ windows (bed included) to make and display new jewelry every month for a year. Klemm tried to interest the working women of the district in her contemporary jewelry, but admits, “They preferred gold and diamonds.” Klemm, who lives and works in the Netherlands, has art in the collections of Rijksmuseum, Victoria and Albert Museum and the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum, among others.

New York’s Charon Kransen Arts presents Iris Tsante and Andrea Melissa Arias, artists who challenge jewelry’s history of excess and indulgence by embracing colored pencils and crayons as their materials. Greek-born Tsante and Venezuela-born Arias both trained in the Netherlands, a world mecca for avant-garde jewelry. Also on offer at Charon Kransen Arts are works by Taiwanese-born artist Alice Bo-Wen Chang, who earned a master’s degree in architecture from Princeton University before receiving one in jewelry and silversmithing from Edinburgh College of Art in Scotland (where she continues to live and work). Inspired by tessellating patterns in Chinese and Islamic architecture and the mechanism of the sliding-tile puzzle, Chang creates jewelry for, as she describes it, “the indivisible bubble of space” between wearer and object.

Sally Rosen of Dallas’s Nexxt20 spotlights jewelry by renowned Belgian sculptor Pol Bury (1922-2005), who started his career as a Surrealist painter and went on to become one of the most recognized kinetic sculptors of the last century. Bury is also known for his jewelry, distinguished by the same playful surprises that imbue his paintings, sculpture, fountains and works on paper. Many examples of his works appear in major private and public collections around the world.

London’s Flow Gallery presents award-winning Scottish goldsmith Andrew Lamb, who spins fine wire, gold and silver into optical patterns that decorate his delicate, sculptural jewelry. Initially appearing solid, these patterns leap to life with the slightest reflection of light and were inspired by Op Art, patterns in nature and woven textiles. In 2005 Lamb was commissioned by De Beers to make the diamond-studded, silver and 18k yellow gold brooch that was presented by Queen Elizabeth II to Sir John Oxx, trainer of Azamour, winner of the Diamond Stakes at Royal Ascot. In 2010, Lamb added an Arts Fellowship Foundation in Jewellery Design to his list of achievements.

Aaron Faber Gallery of New York unveils a one-man show of 40 pieces of contemporary studio jewelry by Finland’s Juha Koskela. Though sculptural in the Scandinavian tradition of modernist jewelry, Koskela’s work also bears post-Modernist traits through surface patterning and forms abstracted from nature. Included in the show are large sculptural bracelets, sterling-silver necklaces and rings, as well as unique works incorporating mokume gane. Explains Patricia Faber: “Mokume gane, meaning ‘wood grain pattern,’ is a traditional Japanese metalsmithing technique that Koskela has completely reinterpreted for a contemporary audience.” Also presented by Aaron Faber is famed jewelry designer Peter Schmid from Germany’s Atelier Zobel, alongside many other world-famous jewelers.

The 15th Anniversary SOFA NEW YORK 2012 will open on April 20 and run through April 23 at the Park Avenue Armory, Park Avenue at East 67th Street, New York City. Fifty-five international galleries will present studio art and design for sale.
Opening Night (Invitation Only): Thursday, April 19, 5-7 p.m. Public Preview (by Ticket Purchase): 7-9 p.m.
Exposition hours: Friday, April 20: 11a.m.-7 p.m.
Saturday, April 21: 11a.m.-7 p.m.
Sunday, April 22: 12 Noon-6 p.m.
Monday, April 23: 11a.m.-5 p.m.
Tickets are $25 for a single day of general admission and $40 for a four-day pass.

For general information, visit: www.sofaexpo.com