From Bourgeois to Baldessari, last chance to see Hauser & Wirth’s unmissable jewellery show
This week presents a last chance to see Hauser & Wirth’s blinder of an artist-jewellery show at its New York outpost. Curated by the former model and London-based jewellery designer Celia Forner, The Portable Art Project is a moveable design feast of ‘wearable objects’ by 15 commissioned artists.
From Phyllida Barlow to Bharti Kher and John Baldessari, the show’s dynamism has much to do with the fact that all are currently practising artists, except Louise Bourgeois. In fact it is the asymmetric pair of silver and gold spiral cuffs Bourgeois created for the project in 2008 that is the pivot of the exhibition. These bold rope-like jewels are also central to the show’s success, being at once sensuous, covetable and wearable.
The notion of jewellery as fine art has long been a cloudy topic. But artist jewellery – pieces created for galleries by named artists – is not quite the same as art jewellery. The latter has emerged from the former as a genre generally dedicated to exploring unusual methods and humble materials, often with a socio-political bent in the Arte Povera mold. The movement gained momentum in the US in the 1950s and 60s and is often relegated to the applied arts category – or craft. As in, not as important as art.
It remains a limbo genre, due in part to the art jewellery community’s tendency to over intellectualise and add meaning. Yet, from Picasso and Ernst to Hirst and Koons, fine artists have long been happily sidetracked from canvas and bronze to the odd spot of jewellery design. This Hauser & Wirth addition to the genre bridges the gap with humour and, despite its own slight tendency towards academic worth – the pieces are billed as existing ‘somewhere between sculpture and bodily adornment’ – reveals artist jewellery as simply great design.
Whether it’s art or craft is surely not the point. And can artist jewellery really be ‘a personal connection’ between artist and wearer? Perhaps the answer is best left to the lucky owners. What this show does highlight is that artists make great jewellery because they seem to grasp that, ultimately, it is design to be worn. Hats off to Forner, whose canny collective so eloquently displays this oft-forgotten factor.
INFORMATION
‘Portable Art: A Project by Celia Forner’ is on view until 17 June. For more information, visit the Hauser & Wirth website
ADDRESS
Hauser & Wirth
32 East 69th Street
New York
Wallpaper* Newsletter
Receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories from around the world direct to your inbox.
Caragh McKay is a contributing editor at Wallpaper* and was watches & jewellery director at the magazine between 2011 and 2019. Caragh’s current remit is cross-cultural and her recent stories include the curious tale of how Muhammad Ali met his poetic match in Robert Burns and how a Martin Scorsese Martin film revived a forgotten Osage art.
-
‘I wanted to create a sanctuary’ – discover a nature-conscious take on Balinese architecture
Umah Tsuki by Colvin Haven is an idyllic Balinese family home rooted in the island's crafts culture
By Natasha Levy Published
-
‘Concrete Dreams’: rethinking Newcastle’s brutalist past
A new project and exhibition at the Farrell Centre in Newcastle revisits the radical urban ideas that changed Tyneside in the 1960s and 1970s
By Smilian Cibic Published
-
Mexican designers show their metal at Gallery Collectional, Dubai
‘Unearthing’ at Dubai’s Gallery Collectional sees Ewe Studio designers Manu Bañó and Héctor Esrawe celebrate Mexican craftsmanship with contemporary forms
By Rebecca Anne Proctor Published
-
Art takes London: Tiffany & Co, Damien Hirst and artists take over Selfridges' windows
Four British contemporary artists celebrate Tiffany & Co's pioneering history with a series of storied window displays
By Anne Soward Published
-
Late summer jewels: what to wear at Golden Hour
Late summer signals a jewellery style-shift. These independent designers have got it covered
By Caragh McKay Published
-
Shinola’s Elijah McCoy pocket watch pays homage to the pioneering locomotive engineer
Shinola continues its Great American series with the Elijah McCoy Mechanic 45mm pocket watch
By Hannah Silver Published
-
Lugano’s versatile high jewellery pieces are too good to save for special occasions
Californian brand Lugano embraces unexpected materials and cool design codes in its informal high jewellery
By Hannah Silver Published
-
‘Given hip-hop’s roots in New York, the chance to tell this story in this city is very special’
The American Museum of Natural History plays a blinder with ‘Ice Cold: An Exhibition of Hip-Hop Jewelry’, a cultural trip through jewellery design
By Caragh McKay Published
-
The American watch brands to know now
From Autodromo to JN Shapiro, American watch brands are having a moment
By Chris Hall Published
-
All smiles: How a grillz jewellery making class in London became an international hit
What started as a passion project quickly exploded in popularity. We get the story behind the grillz-making workshop at Cockpit London
By Elisa Anniss Published
-
Emerging jewellery designers to get to know
These independent, new and emerging jewellery designers and brands from New York to Paris are firmly on our radar
By Hannah Silver Published