Herbert Hofmann Prize 2019

The special show SCHMUCK is the annual event for many jewellery enthusiasts. At SCHMUCK, which takes place every year in Spring at the Internationale Handwerksmesse in Munich, and at the numerous events that are organized around this event, numerous jewellery enthusiasts, collectors, gallery owners and museum curators from all over the world meet.

Works by a total of 65 goldsmiths and jewellery artists from 22 countries were on show. The special show is organized as a competition, over 700 jewellery designers from 58 countries had applied for a place at the renowned special show. They were selected by this year's curator Sabine Runde from the Museum of Applied Arts in Frankfurt.
 
SCHMUCK reaches its peak with the awarding of the Herbert Hofmann Prize on Saturday. Once again, many excited guests gathered in front of the stage in hall B1 at the Fairground Munich to attend the ceremony. The winners of the Herbert Hofmann Prize in 2019 are: Junwon Jung from Korea, Misato Seki from Japan and Yutaka Minegishi from Japan. They were selected by the jury consisting of Cornelie Holzach, Sophie Hanagarth, Otto Künzli and Gert Bruckner.
 
At first glance, the high-precision objects of Junwon Jung are resistant, the jury said. They do not invite you to touch them with an organic touch. If you lift it up, you pick it up and get it moving. They open, occasionally dissolve into individual parts, revealing the hidden wear of the jewellery. Playful and experimental, these pieces of jewellery can be worn in different ways. When they are put back on the table, they return to a unity of packaging, can and the jewels hidden inside.
 
For all juries, an absolute novelty were the three simple long brooches by Misato Seki. They trigger a contemplative, concentrated looking. The finely structured gloss and the subtle color gradient of the surface create depth and the impression of elongated slit-shaped windows that open the view to another dimension, said the jury. This creates a surprising connection between a minimalist geometric shape and the person wearing the piece of jewellery.
 
Yutaka Minegishi's rings are made out of a single solid block of material. They are both geometric and organic and convinced the jury, so that they also awarded Minegishi with a Herbert Hofmann Prize. From the circular shape of the ring, he develops a monolithic-looking head. The dynamic of the form is created by the gradual rotation and winding of the material. As a result, the rings lose the coldness of the geometry and they meet the human body. Gold and amber live on color and their specific shine. The opacity of the gold is contrasted with the transparency of the amber, so that we can see through the rings of Yutaka Minegishi for the first time in these works, said the jury.