20/20

Artist list

Julia Baudler, Ignasi Cavaller, Julie Decubber, Patrícia Domingues, Sophie Hanagarth, Nils Hint, Lucie Houdkova, Hee-ang Kim, Akiko Kurihara, Tithi Kutchamuch, Yojae Lee, Niklas Link, Makiko Mitsunari, Deborah Rudolph, Carina Shoshtary, Klara Sipkova, Christoph Straube, Esther Suares Ruiz, Thanh Truc Nguyen, Jing Yang

A vase that’s not a vase; street art into beating heart; cannibalizing rings, and invisible spoons! Put on your specs, get out your magnifying glass, take part in our Who Made Me? quiz matching up cryptic clues with work by jewellers that love to confound expectations. Discover the provocations and pleasures to be experienced on looking at art jewellery really closely with 20/20 vision!

With an international reputation for showcasing and creatively engaging the public in the best in radical jewellery, Kath Libbert Jewellery Gallery celebrates her twentieth birthday with a fantastical array of art jewellery selected from around the globe. 

When is a vase not a vase? When it is also a necklace! Jing Yang from China presents her provocative series ‘I am not a vase’ challenging traditional notions of beauty. She says: “in China, a beautiful yet stupid woman is dubbed 'a vase'- gorgeous, but hollow.” Jing’s vases break apart to become necklaces taking on new forms and meanings.

Award winning artist Carina Shoshtary, of German Iranian origin collects thousands of shards of graffiti – an extraordinary material which she transforms and transplants into new emotionally charged jewellery such as her ‘Heart Tree’ neckpiece – a powerful convergence of humanity and nature.

Sophie Hanagarth, Switzerland/France, winner of the coveted Herman Hoffman prize with work in museum collections worldwide, including the V&A, seduces with her ‘Lipstick’ rings which gobble up fingers – a celebration of sensuality and a reflection on its darker side.

Tithi Kutchamuch, Thailand, an MA graduate of The Royal College of Art collects throwaway plastic spoons from everywhere she visits in the world. Travels with my Spoon a series of darkly oxidised silver flower brooches is the result, but can you spot the spoons? “Transforming them by melting and casting using precious metals the integrity of the spoon is re-written, its new life is born, disposable becomes collectable, the mass produced becomes a unique one-off.”
 
Yojae Lee, turns her magnifying glass onto the abundant vivid insect life of her native South Korea presenting us with outsize facsimiles of praying mantis, grasshoppers and beetles exquisitely crafted from frog skin, leather, silver and clay – delicate brooches that crawl onto the wearer revealing up close and personal their strangeness and hidden beauty.

20/20 is an diverse exhibition drawing together in art jewellery from around the world also including Estonia, Japan, Colombia, Portugal, Czechoslovakia and Menorca - all which rewards closer scrutiny.

Kath Libbert, the gallery's founder says: ‘it has been a privilege to be situated in this very famous Victorian mill – a beacon of contemporary art and design including the world’s largest collection of work by David Hockney – a perfect place from which to introduce radical art jewellery to a wide range of visitors!


About Kath Libbert Jewellery Gallery:
Since 1996 this leading contemporary jewellery gallery has been set within Salts Mill, home to the world's largest collection of work by David Hockney. Open daily, it specializes solely in contemporary jewellery, silver and metalsmithing showcasing diverse collections by over seventy renowned designers and emerging talents from Britain and abroad. Starting out selling from a table top at The Corn Exchange in Leeds in 1994 whilst working as an NHS psychologist Kath Libbert’s now renowned gallery was described in The Times Luxx Magazine as For clients who want jewels that push boundaries…the antidote to the high street.

The gallery organizes a number of major exhibitions each year, some of which have been supported by funding from Arts Council England and the Crafts Council in recognition of the important role they play in showcasing the very best of British and international talent in Yorkshire and the UK. Much of the work on show pushes and blurs the boundaries between art, jewellery design and fashion resulting in jewellery that is, perhaps, best described as wearable art. Pieces are often created using a surprising range of materials and techniques.

Salts Mill is a magnificent Victorian textile mill built by Sir Titus Salt in the centre of Saltaire, the model village he built to house his mill workers. Saltaire, which is surrounded by stunning scenery, was awarded World Heritage Status in 2001. Salts Mill was restored some 30 years ago to show the world's largest collection of works by the artist David Hockney - born in nearby Bradford. Along with Kath Libbert Jewellery Gallery, the Mill is also home to Salts Diner and a number of other designer shops and galleries.