On Jewellery. A Compendium of international contemporary art jewellery

‘On Jewellery’ offers a comprehensive overview of the tendencies and role of contemporary international jewellery art from the 1960s to today, shown within the context of corresponding trends in art and society. This publication is dedicated to themes such as interdisciplinary collaboration, new means of presentation and contextualisation. It also incorporates photography and the relationships between jewellery and the body, jewellery and ornament and new interpretations of traditional technical skills. Furthermore it considers aspects such as terminology and strategies, positioning, prejudices and the significance of content with regard to jewellery. On this basis this publication offers a synopsis of what jewellery art is and what it can be. Its aim is to reveal the characteristics, language and potential of jewellery. A directory of jewellery galleries, museums and interesting websites make ‘On Jewellery’ a compact handbook of contemporary jewellery art.

Artists (a selection):
Pia Aleborg (1974 SE) | Gijs Bakker (1942 NL) | Peter Bauhuis (1965 DE) | Dinie Besems (1966 NL) | Melanie Bilenker (1978 US) | Manfred Bischo! (1947 DE) | Frédéric Braham (1967 FR) | Helen Britton (1966 AU/DE) | Octavia Cook (1978 NZ) | Giovanni Corvaja (1971 IT) | Hilde De Decker (1965 BE) | Pierre Degen (1947 (CH/UK) | Paul Derrez (1950 NL) | Iris Eichenberg (1961 DE/US) | Naomi Filmer (1969 UK/IT) | Warwick Freeman (1953 NZ) | Gésine Hackenberg (1972 DE/NL) | Stefan Heuser (1978 DE) | Hermann Jünger (1928-2005 DE) | Lauren Kalman (1980 US) | Esther Knobel (1949 PO/IL) | Daniel Kruger (1951 ZA/DE) | Otto Künzli (1948 CH/DE) | Sari Liimatta (1977 SF) | Suska Mackert (1969 DE) | Bruno Martinazzi (1923 IT) | Nanna Melland (1969 NO) | Bruce Metcalf (1949 US) | Marc Monzó (1973 ES) | Iris Nieuwenburg (1972 NL) | Ted Noten (1956 NL) | Yuka Oyama (1974 JP/DE) | Ti!any Parbs (1971 AU) | Ruudt Peters (1950 NL) | Susan Pietzsch (1969 DE) | Dorothea Prühl (1937 DE) | Ramón Puig Cuyàs (1953 ES) | Philip Sajet (1953 NL) | Marjorie Schick (1941 US) | Robert Smit (1941 NL) | Bettina Speckner (1962 NL) | Hans Stofer (1957 CH) | Emmy van Leersum (1930-1984 NL) | Lisa Walker (1967 NZ) | Christoph Zellweger (1962 CH)...

Contents 
Introduction
I. The Meaning of Jewellery
II. A Short History of Jewellery and Photography
III. Beyond the Showcase
IV. Reading Jewellery
V. On the Fringe
VI. The Body
VII. Jewellery and Ornament
VIII. Jewellery and the Tradition
IX. Collecting Jewellery
Museums
Galleries
Websites
Index
Acknowledgements
About the author
Photo credits

 

About the author

Liesbeth den Besten is chairwoman of the Françoise van den Bosch Foundation for contemporary jewellery, member of the advisory board of the Chi ha paura…?–Foundation for serial jewellery and one of the founding members of Think Tank, a European Initiative for the Applied Arts.