Gijs Bakker and jewellery. Retrospective survey of Bakker’s jewelry design
Exhibition
/
12 Apr 2006
-
04 Jun 2006
Published: 04.05.2006
Oratorio di San Rocco
- Mail:
- serviziomostre
comune.padova.it
- Phone:
- 049 8204527
- 049 8204539
- 049 8204545
- Management:
- Mirella Cisotto Nalon

He is not searching for the ideal piece of jewelry. On the contrary, his designs stem from his interest in what happens in the world around him.
Designer Gijs Bakker (1942) is considered to be a pioneer in the field of jewelry design. He can be proud of his long, productive career, which is by no means at an end. The SM’s – Stedelijk Museum ’s-Hertogenbosch – owns an important collection of Bakker’s jewelry and will pay exclusive attention to this aspect of his design work in a retrospective exhibition. This exhibition and the accompanying publication have not been prompted by an anniversary or any other occasion meriting commemoration. According to the museum, ‘It is the consistent quality of his designs and the huge influence and significance of Gijs Bakker in this field that justify a retrospective exhibition at the moment.’
Trained as a jewelry designer at the Rietveld Academy in Amsterdam, this discipline has always remained the ‘core-business’ in Bakker’s career. He quickly made his mark on the development of jewelry design in the Netherlands. Initially working with Emmy van Leersum (1930-1984), he wrested jewelry from its purely decorative status and gave it a meaningful place in the world of art and design.
His attention to the concept and intrinsic meaning of jewelry has remained constant and is manifested as a constant factor in his oeuvre. Gijs Bakker is not searching for the ideal piece of jewelry. On the contrary, his designs stem from his interest in what happens in the world around him. He repeatedly seeks an appropriate form and experiments with materials and techniques.
Gijs Bakker seldom designs a single piece of jewelry but virtually always produces a series in which one idea is developed in different ways. This is sometimes a formal starting point, as in the series of aluminium jewelry (1967-71). Most of his work, however, is based on a theme, such as the enormous neck jewelry comprising laminated photographs of regally worn necklaces (1977), the series of brooches combining photos of sports celebrities with precious stones, or the ‘Holy Sport’ (1998) and ‘Car Crash’ (2001) series. In this connection, Bakker’s statement, ‘I don’t wear jewels, I drive them’, is indicative of his engagement with jewelry. A review of the last 45 years produces a fascinating survey that can be read as a cultural diary. A portrait of an era, a mentality can be discerned in each series, which in Bakker’s work is often depicted with a critical undertone.
His constant drive to revitalize his work does not just have a passive, uncontrollable influence on the professional field of jewelry. Gijs Bakker is too strong-willed to leave innovation to chance. In co-founding the Chi Ha Paura…? Foundation, he deliberately created a framework in which he challenges other designers and artists to produce new ideas, materials and techniques. What Droog Design (which Bakker also co-founded) is to product designers, Chi Ha Paura…? is to jewelry designers.
In addition to his unique pieces of jewelry, Bakker repeatedly feels the urge to make mass-produced, well-designed jewelery. Whether he is embracing the ideals of the modernists in this need or whether it is inspired by the idea of democratization that his generation strived for, Gijs Bakker has never limited his activities to his own studio and likewise never extolled fine handwork. With his collaborative projects and urge for renewal, he has always been a cultural entrepreneur to the core.
The work of Gijs Bakker is abundantly represented in the collection of the SM’s - Stedelijk Museum ’s-Hertogenbosch. In addition to the many pieces of jewelry, the collection includes the complete archives relating to this jewelry. His work is one of the reference points for the Dutch part of the jewelry collection of the SM’s.
From the outset Bakker’s work has attracted international attention and it is found in numerous public and private collections. Although publications about his work, such as ‘Gijs Bakker Ontwerper - Solo voor een solist’ (Gijs Bakker Designer - Solo for a soloist) and ‘Objects to use’, do exist, a comprehensive overview of his jewelry oeuvre has been lacking. Bakker’s jewelry has been dealt with in depth in all kinds of publications, both Dutch and international, but until now there was no single coherent review focused exclusively on this specialism. The publication accompanying the exhibition fulfils this need. With an extensive introduction by Ida van Zijl, a complete overview of his oeuvre to date, a biography of the designer and a bibliography, this is a standard work on one of the Netherlands’ most important jewelry designers.
Trained as a jewelry designer at the Rietveld Academy in Amsterdam, this discipline has always remained the ‘core-business’ in Bakker’s career. He quickly made his mark on the development of jewelry design in the Netherlands. Initially working with Emmy van Leersum (1930-1984), he wrested jewelry from its purely decorative status and gave it a meaningful place in the world of art and design.
His attention to the concept and intrinsic meaning of jewelry has remained constant and is manifested as a constant factor in his oeuvre. Gijs Bakker is not searching for the ideal piece of jewelry. On the contrary, his designs stem from his interest in what happens in the world around him. He repeatedly seeks an appropriate form and experiments with materials and techniques.
Gijs Bakker seldom designs a single piece of jewelry but virtually always produces a series in which one idea is developed in different ways. This is sometimes a formal starting point, as in the series of aluminium jewelry (1967-71). Most of his work, however, is based on a theme, such as the enormous neck jewelry comprising laminated photographs of regally worn necklaces (1977), the series of brooches combining photos of sports celebrities with precious stones, or the ‘Holy Sport’ (1998) and ‘Car Crash’ (2001) series. In this connection, Bakker’s statement, ‘I don’t wear jewels, I drive them’, is indicative of his engagement with jewelry. A review of the last 45 years produces a fascinating survey that can be read as a cultural diary. A portrait of an era, a mentality can be discerned in each series, which in Bakker’s work is often depicted with a critical undertone.
His constant drive to revitalize his work does not just have a passive, uncontrollable influence on the professional field of jewelry. Gijs Bakker is too strong-willed to leave innovation to chance. In co-founding the Chi Ha Paura…? Foundation, he deliberately created a framework in which he challenges other designers and artists to produce new ideas, materials and techniques. What Droog Design (which Bakker also co-founded) is to product designers, Chi Ha Paura…? is to jewelry designers.
In addition to his unique pieces of jewelry, Bakker repeatedly feels the urge to make mass-produced, well-designed jewelery. Whether he is embracing the ideals of the modernists in this need or whether it is inspired by the idea of democratization that his generation strived for, Gijs Bakker has never limited his activities to his own studio and likewise never extolled fine handwork. With his collaborative projects and urge for renewal, he has always been a cultural entrepreneur to the core.
The work of Gijs Bakker is abundantly represented in the collection of the SM’s - Stedelijk Museum ’s-Hertogenbosch. In addition to the many pieces of jewelry, the collection includes the complete archives relating to this jewelry. His work is one of the reference points for the Dutch part of the jewelry collection of the SM’s.
From the outset Bakker’s work has attracted international attention and it is found in numerous public and private collections. Although publications about his work, such as ‘Gijs Bakker Ontwerper - Solo voor een solist’ (Gijs Bakker Designer - Solo for a soloist) and ‘Objects to use’, do exist, a comprehensive overview of his jewelry oeuvre has been lacking. Bakker’s jewelry has been dealt with in depth in all kinds of publications, both Dutch and international, but until now there was no single coherent review focused exclusively on this specialism. The publication accompanying the exhibition fulfils this need. With an extensive introduction by Ida van Zijl, a complete overview of his oeuvre to date, a biography of the designer and a bibliography, this is a standard work on one of the Netherlands’ most important jewelry designers.
Necklace: chroom collier
Gijs, Bakker
Necklace / neckpiece: chroom collier, 1969
Ton Baadenhuysen
© By the author. Read Klimt02.net Copyright.
Piece: shoulder piece
Gijs, Bakker
Piece: shoulder piece, 1967
Photo: Mathijs Schrofer
© By the author. Read Klimt02.net Copyright.
Necklace: embrace
Gijs, Bakker
Necklace / neckpiece: embrace, 1982
Photo: Jos Fielmich
© By the author. Read Klimt02.net Copyright.
Brooch: Ferrari Dino 206 SP 1966, 2007
Mixed media
Photo by: Rien Bazen
From series: I Don’t Wear Jewels, I Drive Them
© By the author. Read Klimt02.net Copyright.
Brooch: The Tongue
Gijs, Bakker
Brooch: The Tongue, 1985
Photo: Rien Bazen
© By the author. Read Klimt02.net Copyright.
Oratorio di San Rocco
- Mail:
- serviziomostre
comune.padova.it
- Phone:
- 049 8204527
- 049 8204539
- 049 8204545
- Management:
- Mirella Cisotto Nalon
-
Con-tacto. Centro de Diseño, Cine y Televisión. Degree Show 2020
24May2021 - 21Jun2021
Centro de Diseño, Cine y Televisión
Mexico City, Mexico -
Simply Brilliant. Artist Jewelers of the 1960s and 1970s
27Mar2021 - 27Jun2021
Pforzheim Jewellery Museum
Pforzheim, Germany -
Keramiek Triënnale 2021
07Mar2021 - 30May2021
CODA Museum
Apeldoorn, Netherlands -
Masterpieces in Miniature. Treasures from the Rosalinde and Arthur Gilbert Collection
05Mar2021 - 15Aug2021
DIVA. Antwerp Home of Diamonds
Antwerp, Belgium -
Poetic Ceramics by Judith Bloedjes
28Feb2021 - 20Jun2021
CODA Museum
Apeldoorn, Netherlands -
Freaks, Skulls and a Mad Family
27Jan2021 - 20Feb2021
Platina
Stockholm, Sweden -
Course Review: Stone Cutting with Zhenghong Wang
26Jan2021 - 26Feb2021
China Academy of Art
Hangzhou, China -
Course Review: Fundamentals of Modeling with Zhenghong Wang
26Jan2021 - 26Feb2021
China Academy of Art
Hangzhou, China -
Invisible Thread
22Jan2021 - 27Feb2021
Bayerischer Kunstgewerbeverein
Munich, Germany -
Preziosa Young 2020 in Barcelona
13Jan2021 - 03Feb2021
Hannah Gallery
Barcelona, Spain -
Like Silk
12Jan2021 - 12Feb2021
EASD València
Valencia, Spain -
HomeWork by Melanie Bilenker
08Jan2021 - 11Feb2021
Sienna Patti
Lenox, United States -
An Octopus's Garden of Silly Delights by Ulvi Haagensen x Morfosis by Ihan Toomik and Andreas Kivisild
06Jan2021 - 27Feb2021
A-Gallery
Tallinn, Estonia -
Fables for the Times. Presentation of Artist in Residence Program Revive in Ten
25Dec2020 - 05Jan2021
MEI-BO Art Museum
Shanghai, China -
Schmuckmelange. Die KunstModeDesign Herbststrasse. Degree Show 2020
21Dec2020 - 31Dec2020
Die KunstModeDesign Herbststrasse. Evening College JewelleryDesign
Vienna, Austria