The Art of Citation. An Exhibition at Solidor Art Space

Artist list

Karin Roy Andersson, Marianne Anselin, Christophe Burger, Marine Dominiczak, Karen Gay, Suzanne Otwell-Nègre, Agathe Saint Girons, Annie Sibert, Martin Spreng, Niki Stylianou, Claire Wolfstirn

In 2023, the centenary of the birth of Roy Lichtenstein (1923–1997)—an American artist, Pop Art pioneer, and master in the art of citation—provided the perfect opportunity to bring together a group of contemporary jewellery artists. They were invited to apply this very method for an exhibition curated by Elsa Vanier as part of Parcours Bijoux Paris, the triennial festival of contemporary jewellery.*

The 11 selected designers chose to reinterpret famous masterpieces by artists they admire, ranging from Van Gogh (1853–1890), Soulages (1919–2022), Magritte (1898–1967), and Calder (1898–1976) to Roy Lichtenstein himself, while two of them focused on world-renowned pieces of jewellery.

They explored multiple approaches for this creative exercise: dialogue (K. Roy-Andersson, A. Saint Girons, M. Spreng, N. Stylianou, C. Wolfstirn), connivance with Surrealism (K. Gay), emphasising a recurring element in the artist's work—such as Roy Lichtenstein's Ben-Day dots or hatching—(C. Burger, A. Sibert), or focusing heavily on structural design (M. Anselin, M. Dominiczak, S. Otwell-Nègre).

When a designer with a well-defined style cites a predecessor, they offer viewers a double pleasure: admiring the jewellery itself while guessing the cited artwork to which it pays tribute!

For the exhibition at the Contemporary Jewellery Museum of Cagnes-sur-Mer, new and completely original pieces have been added to enrich the collection, proving that this concept is a powerful creative catalyst!

*Citation is an artistic process through which an artist takes a well-known work, uses it, and transposes it, seeking new artistic forms that are uniquely their own. (Wikipedia)*

The opening reception, alongside the other exhibition A Brief History of Contemporary Jewelry, will take place on Saturday, October 24, at 11:00 a.m.