Aaron Faber Gallery Announces May Exhibition
“Dramatic Jewelry: The Five Masters”
Also Book Signing by Acclaimed Jewelers Tom and Jutta Munsteiner
and Afternoon Lecture with Legendary Jeweler Michael Good
In the world of women’s fashion, there's beautiful jewelry, there’s memorable jewelry, and then there's dramatic jewelry - those statement-making works of wearable art that encourage both compliments and query. Throughout the month of May, Aaron Faber Gallery, located at 666 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY, will present the latter in an exhibition that explores the striking works of five legendary international jewelry artists known for their sculptural aesthetic, vivid color machination, and dynamic gem play. “Dramatic Jewelry: The Five Masters” showcases the extraordinary works of British jeweler, Charlotte De Syllas; Italian jeweler,Paolo Marcolongo; American jeweler, Michael Good; and German jewelers Peter Schmid of Atelier Zobel and Tom and Jutta Munsteiners.
The exhibition opens 3pm on Thursday, May 9th, 2013 with a book signing hosted by Tom and Jutta Munsteiner, honoring Wilhelm Lindemann’s literary work, “Munsteiner: The Young Generation Tom + Jutta Munsteiner”. Also in attendance will be Bernd Munsteiner, the “Picasso of Gems” and father to both Tom and the optical style of the “fantasy gem cut”.
On Saturday, May 18, 2013 from 2pm to 5pm, Aaron Faber Gallery will also present an “Afternoon with Michael Good”, a reception and lecture where the famed jeweler will discuss his life, his work and his upcoming sold-out workshop at the 92nd Street Y.
Both events are free and open to the public.
THE ARTISTS
· Charlotte De Syllas is widely acknowledged as one of the finest artist-jewelers working in Britain today. Acclaimed for her daring design and technical bravura, her work is admired for an inspired use of color and a sculptural elegance of spectacular forms. Her distinctive combination of gemstone and metal are achieved through an innovative three-dimensional approach to fine carving, where complex structure integrates into the design with deceptive simplicity.
De Syllas is well represented in the permanent collection of the Victoria & Albert Museum, London. She won the Goldsmiths’ Company award in 2007, the Jerwood Prize for Jewellery in 1995, and a major scholarship by the Queen Elizabeth Scholarship Trust in 1999. Her work is primarily in private collections.
· Michael Good is an American institution, known equally for his life’s work as a sculptor and jeweler as well as his passion to teach and share his art. Good was first taught elementary jewelry making techniques by a sculptor for whom he worked with in New York City. For the next ten years, he would continue making jewelry by invention, experimentation and through lessons from books.
Under the tutelage of famed master metalsmith, educator and author, Heikki Seppa, Good was introduced to a new metalsmithing vocabulary, and began exploring form with direct metal techniques. Good subsequently developed a signature style called “anticlastic raising”, which has come to define his jewelry and sculptures as light, flexible and incredibly fluid. Good has since won several prestigious awards, including Intergold, Diamonds Today, and Diamonds International.
· Paolo Marcolongo is an artist, sculptor, curator and teacher. He studied sculpture at Venice Art Academy; in 1984, became an instructor at the Pietro Selvatico School; and in 1996, started teaching at the Padua Art State School ‘Amedeo Modigliani’, where he remains today. From 1996 to 1998 he was curator of "Pd 362", an art gallery of contemporary jewels in Padua. From 1996 to 2002 he organized International Summer workshops on the contemporary jewel for the Cultural Association "La Corte", at Sambruson-Dolo in Venice.
Marcolongo’s ‘Shadow Breath’ blown glass rings and necklaces are original, compelling wearable sculptures of remarkable form combined with experimental color implications in Murano glass. As he notes, “There are very fast but really strong moments, where the blown glass and the eye play a very decisive role on the artifact.”
· Tom & Jutta Munsteiner represent a German perspective of avant-garde traditions in gem cutting and goldsmithing. Tom is a fourth generation gem sculptor, whose designs are coveted worldwide by collectors, museums and jewelry designers. Jutta is a master goldsmith and designer, who collaborates with partner and husband Tom to create the formidable, one-of-a-kind jewelry for which the duo is celebrated. Tom’s father, Bernd Munsteiner, is the legendary gem sculptor who revolutionized the gem cutting industry of the 1960s by introducing a cutting style characterized by bold, geometric, precise cuts often giving gemstones a kaleidoscope appearance.
Tom and Jutta both received master’s degrees in gem cutting and goldsmithing, respectively, after ten years of study and apprenticeships. In 1997, Tom took over the Munsteiner atelier from his father, where he and Jutta continue to create their sought-after designs. Their work is in the Museum of Fine Arts Boston, and the Museum of Art and Design New York.
· Peter Schmid of Atelier Zobel creates dramatic, modern jewelry in precious gems and metals, recognized worldwide for their unique aesthetic. On one level, his jewelry functions as pure sculpture, where scale is crucial to the viewer; and on another level, the theatricality and extravagance of each piece serves to draw attention and commendations to the wearer. There’s a great sense of fun in Schmid’s play with scale and size; an enjoyment of color and pattern for its own sake and a true pleasure in jewelry as ornament.
Peter Schmid studied goldsmithing at the School for Design and Jewelry in Schwabisch-Gmund, Germany, and then apprenticed to his famed mentor Michael Zobel, who founded the Atelier in 1970. Schmid’s work is in the Museum of Art and Design New York and Museum of Fine Arts Boston as well as many private collections.
About Aaron Faber Gallery
Aaron Faber Gallery was founded in 1974 to present the work of studio jewelers, those artists creating one-of-a-kind jewels that are inspired by creativity and originality, made in the artist’s studio and imbued with the artist’s spirit, concept and style.
The gallery, owned by Edward and Patricia Faber is located on West 53rd Street down the block from the Museum of Modern Art, where its contemporary interior is the backdrop for changing exhibitions by studio jewelers as well as permanent collections by the gallery’s artist group. For more information, please visit www.aaronfaber.com.
