20/20/20

It will feature work by internationally recognized jewellers such as Ramon Puig Cuyas of Spain, American artist Rebecca Hannon and Canada’s Paul McClure, who recently received the prestigious Saidye Bronfman Award. It will also present jewellery by emerging young artists such as Gabrielle Desmarais, Despo Sophocleous and Anne-Marie Rébillard, all of whom have greatly benefited from Noel’s support and encouragement.

Galerie Noel Guyomarc’h is involved in a grand scheme. They want more people to know that there is an art form that you can wear. / Susan Cummins, Chair of Art Jewellery Forum, Art Jewellery Collector of the Rotasa Foundation.

When Noel Guyomarc’h first encountered contemporary jewellery, in 1992, his initial reaction was one of shock. He was working as an assistant in a jewellery boutique in Montreal, when artist Barbara Stutman walked in with a bracelet made of pink plastic tubing and silver wire. Deeply intrigued by this new piece, Guyomarc’h began looking at jewellery as more than ornamentation. He realized that it could convey a message, have meaning, and denote an entirely new approach, one both aesthetic and conceptual. In subsequent years, he met a number of artists who helped him develop his thinking on the subject and in 1996 decided to open his own gallery, devoted entirely to contemporary jewellery.

For over 20 years Guyomarc’h has acted as curator, advisor and promoter. He is widely recognized for his taste and experience and is considered one of the foremost specialists in contemporary jewellery, both in Quebec and abroad. He has organized more than 90 individual and group shows, including a number of travelling exhibitions. Guyomarc’h is regularly invited to give lectures and sit on juries, and also acts as an appraiser for the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, among others. Grego Garcia Tebar, Loro Extasiado. 2016 Methacrylate, plastic, silver, steel, cristal and elastic pendant. Josée Desjardins, Oracle. 2016 Sterling silver, orthose, China fragments and linoleum ring. In promoting exhibitions, engaging in discussion with artists and organizing creativity workshops, Noel Guyomarc’h has succeeded in encouraging many artists to pursue their exploration of the art form. He has also offered them greater visibility, both through his gallery and on the international scene, as was recently seen at SOFA Chicago.

To look at jewellery as an art object, to expose it to new sources of inspiration and to explore new ways of producing and interpreting it are just some of the approaches the gallery focuses on. It highlights artists who have an original and innovative process, who examine jewellery’s significance and impact, its relationship to the body, the potential and limitations of new materials and techniques, and who, to put it in a nutshell, strive to reinvent the art form.
From a small space in an artists’ centre on rue Ste-Catherine, the gallery moved first to 137 av. Laurier before settling on Boulevard St-Laurent five years ago. Today, it is the only gallery in Canada dedicated solely to contemporary jewellery.


20 Canadian Artists
Silvie Altschuler / Bridget Catchpole / Josée Desjardins / Gabrielle Desmarais / Christine Dwane / Anne Fauteux / Vivienne Jones / Janis Kerman / Christine Larochelle / Petra Luz / Paul McClure / Pierre-Yves Paquette / Anne-Marie Rébillard / Pamela Ritchie / Dorothée Rosen / Jan Smith / Kye-Yeon Son / Despo Sophocleous / Barbara Stutman / Lawrence Woodford.

20 International Artists
Dina Abargil / Ela Bauer / Edith Bellod / Monika Brugger / Ramon Puig Cuyas / Sandra Enterline / Grego Garcia Tebar / Rebecca Hannon / Arthur Hash / Mirjam Hiller / Yu Hiraishi / Peter Hoogeboom / Yong Joo Kim / Judy McCaig / Biba Schutz / Silke Spitzer / Luzia Vogt / Andrea Wagner / Silvia Walz / Shu-Lin Wu.