Annette Dam: More or Less

Artist list

Annette Dam

An exhibition about precious gems, daisy brooches and copying. A big, raw diamond that looks more like a piece of dirty salt, rather than an expensive gem. A flat ring made of gold, with a hole in it, where the diamond should sit. Jewelry artist Annette Dam, who last year was formally recognized for her fabulizing talents with the Saint Loye Award, completely defies the conventional wisdom of VALUE in her new exhibition More or Less.The exhibition consists of several jewelry series, each with their own title and peculiar approach, such as the above mentioned diamond ring. Another group of pieces plays on the famous daisy brooch series by renowned jeweler Georg Jensen, seeking to explore the gray zone between fertile sources of inspiration, and generic replicas. In other words, perfection, reproduction and convention of tastes, are subject to debate, as reflected by Annette Dam’s choice of title, turning architect Mies van der Rohe’s mantra upside down: Less is More or More or Less?

It all depends on the eye of the beholder. Here, the artist challenges her audience to contemplate upon the individual pieces, to trace their process from the original idea to the jewelry to which they evolved. Clues tell the story about tradition, material status, and value. All the pieces at the exhibition encapsulate process and reflection, joined by gestalt, mounted on large mood boards, demonstrating an artist who comments, nuances upon, and ironizes over the concept of “jewelry”. After all, what is best, most precious and aesthetically beautiful? Decide yourself, at Goldfingers Gallery.