Intimate Relationships. The 2nd Vonmo Contemporary Art Jewelry Exhibition 2021

中文版 - Chinese version      

Artist list

Marta Armada Rodríguez, Kim Buck, Cristina Celis, Xiao Chen, Zhuyun Chen, Yujing Cheng, Mara Colecchia, Xiahan Dai, Corrado De Meo, Emer, Esteban Erosky, Justine Fletcher, Maria Rosa Franzin, Arata Fuchi, Lodovica Fusco, Jie Gao, Imma Garcia Prado, Hao Gu, Francesca Guarnieri, Qi Han, Margit Hart, Shuyao Hong, Yuxin Jia, Maria Kiialainen, Nga Ching Ko, Ariel Lavian, Felicia Li, Lena Lindahl, Jiuyang Liu, Xinqian Liu, Yiqing Liu, Ao Luo, Hui Lyu, Yingchen Lyu, Mavis Ma, Chuchu Mao, Quanqing Mao, Mette Olsen and Tinne Delfs, Ming Gu and Licheng Liu, Clizia Moradei, Viktoria Münzker Ferus, Rachel Ouizemann, Mariagiorgia Pacini, Yiji Pan, Xiaoyi Qu, Ping Shao, Catarina Silva, SimpKK, Philipp Spillmann, Masha Starikova, Maja Stojkovska, Mingrui Sun, Shiyao Sun, Yu Tan, Huazhen Tuo, Aiqing Wang, Hongxia Wang, Kezhen Wang, Jiaheng Wu, Pei Wu, Chenxi Xu, Yao Xue, CongCong Yan, Naiyue Zhang, Nannan Zhang, Shaokun Zhang, Yi Zhao, Tingyu Zheng, Shuyue Zhou, Zihan Zhou, Karin van Paassen

The 2^nd “Intimate Relationships” VONMO International Contemporary Art Jewelry Exhibition in August 2020 was launched by VONMO Culture（万木文化）and curated by Felicia Li, the director of VONMO Studio. By June 20, 2021, after 1,046 communications by email over 10 months, we had received 539 pieces of works from 137 artists of 22 countries worldwide. Committed to professionalism, fairness, impartiality and openness, six artists of the international jury had selected 67 artists and 191 excellent shortlisted works with a great effort. Finally, 210 high-quality exhibits from 73 artists will be exhibited in Beijing and Shanghai successively in October 2021. Jewelry artists from all over the world had created their works around the theme (during 2020 and 2021) and demonstrated “intimate relationships” by means of jewelry. Photographs shot by the artists that support the logical concept behind the jewelry works also had been presented simultaneously.
 
In the "Intimate Relationship", nobody is wrong, because everyone treats each other in the name of love which is relatively selfish. There is seldom great love in this relationship, so misunderstanding and resentment will arise. In fact, this relationship also means "my body is different from yours". It’s just like two intersecting geometric shapes, in which some parts fit well, some opposite, some can't be touched anyway, and others that seem to fit together, but fragmented when magnified… So it becomes difficult to tell, from a single aspect, whether we’re happy or painful in the "Intimate Relationship". In this exhibition, with your body as a carrier, you can express the inmost emotion through your jewelry, reinventing yourself in the theme of "Intimate Relationship".
 
 To the audience, contemporary art works often appear unattainable and hard to understand. Contemporary art jewelry items, likewise, are always kept in spotless showcases, where they rest in spotless state, to be viewed reverently from a distance. While artists have given a long description of each work, it's hard for the audience to carefully read so many lengthy words at the exhibition, or to quickly understand the logic and intention of each work, and therefore, the audience can hardly feel a strong resonance with the artists. So, the 2021 “Intimate Relationship“ VONMO Contemporary Art Jewelry Exhibition is intended to, for the first time, reinterpret “intimate relationship” in a comprehensive form of “jewelry works+photographs”: Art jewelry is the condensation of “intimate relationship”, while photographs are an interpretation of “intimate relationship”. It is hoped that in this way, the audience can quickly grasp what the artists intend to get across.
 
Unlike other forms of art, contemporary jewelry is a conscious choice of wearer, regardless of material, size, rules, and restrictions. Then the motivation for designing and the logic concept behind jewelry is absolutely critical. Indeed, it takes arduous efforts to produce resonance with audience, so as to enable them to understand the creative motivation. However, it might be a kind of emotional restriction if an exhibition only seeks to resonance for minds. It is hoped that the vehicle of this exhibition will guide audience to take a deep dive into the ideas of the artists and own more self-judgements and free interpretations at the same time.

Through the internet, conversations between artists, intimate subjects living in cities or countries with various customs and different historical backgrounds, the creators have miraculously created diverse and unique jewelry works from sketches till the works by means of searching for material, numerous experiments, and necessary technical methods. Although centered on the same theme, the works covered almost all directions in the field of jewelry such as conceptual jewelry, technical jewelry, fashion jewelry and high-end jewelry. Perhaps this is the reason why contemporary jewelry is now booming in China and fitting in people of different status and tastes.
 
Based on a study of the conceptual content of the jewelry works of the artists, “Intimate Relationships” Exhibition will be divided into four chapters using the track of life as a logic: 「Origin · Kinship」, 「Hormone」, 「External Things」, 「Self-Reinvention」. The jewelry artists expressed the inextricable family ties, the bonds of deep and lasting love, the links of unforgettable friendship and struggling with their own relationships through the language of jewelry. The Exhibition fully reflects the artists’ thoughts on the relationships in the human world and the profound influence of the development of emotions on the creation of jewelry.

 
Chapter One 「Origin-Kinship」
OPEN CALL was launched truly due to the ingrained influence of family of origin. From the perspective of creative motivation of the artists, it is also the most touching direction indeed. Many artists were suffocating with agony and even broke down and cried throughout the whole process of creation. The identification and bond from kinship tend to be an emotional relationship that words cannot convey, so the artists must go through an extreme adventure that tortures their minds for they use a rational way like jewelry-making to express something emotionally.
 
Chapter Two「Hormone」
What we call love in intimate relationships is usually defined as the satisfaction brought by partner’s behavior to the other. Falling in love, getting married, growing old, dispute, betrayal or breakup can all be part of partnership, even if it is an unpleasant conflict or uncomfortable situation. Therefore, whether having the ability to love and to be loved has implanted into the jewelry.

Chapter Three「External Things」
“Physical intimacy and intellectual intimacy” decide how to build a harmonious atmosphere of the society. In the space we live in, from the daily objects within our reach, the pets we keep company day and night, the friends we banter with, to the contradictory feelings of giving and taking that arise when we interact with society and nature...there are so many “relationships” arousing multiple interlocking relationships, all of which are the challenges we face every day.

Chapter Four「Self-Reinvention」
It seems that we are much more emotionally mature when we dealing with self- “intimate relationships” compared with external “intimate relationships”. Inner maturity is gradually developed from individual development (of course, people that are naturally emotionally stable and free of desire are not included). Being in touch with oneself in solitude and meeting the needs of oneself is a way to become true “self”.

>> Click here to check the complete artist shortlist


Beijing Exhibition
Venue: Building 7, langyuan vintage, Tonghui Hebei Road, Chaoyang District, Beijing.
Opening ceremony: 4 Oct, 4 pm.
Hours: 14:00-22:00, 4 Oct (No entry after 21:00 and the site will be cleared at 22:00). 10:00-22:00, 5 - 8 Oct (No entry after 21:00 and the site will be cleared at 22:00).

Shanghai Exhibition
Venue: M50 Creative Park: Building 7, No.50, Moganshan Road, Putuo District, Shanghai.
Hours: 13 - 17 Oct, 10:00-20:00

Ticket Purchase Channel
1. Online ticketing channel: official WeChat account of VONMO-studio（VONMO-studio）
2. On-site ticketing at the entrance to the exhibition hall.
QR code to the Vonmo studio WeChat store:










Single ticket: 88 RMB/Each; Couple ticket: 66 RMB/Each .
Free admission for seniors over 70 years old, military personnel and people with disabilities, who should come with valid ID!

>> Click here to check complete Ticket policy



Sponsor: Vonmo Studio
Jury Committee (alphabetical order):
Catarina Silva, Portugal.
Hongxia Wang, Denmark.
Kim Buck, Denmark.
Maria Rosa Franzin, Italy.
Kezhen Wang, China.
Yi Zhao, China.