KGB in Lisbon

KGB stands for an international group of jewelers consisting of Kim Buck (Denmark), Tore Svensson (Sweden) and Karin Seufert (Germany).

The capitals represent the cities they come from: Kim lives in Copenhagen (København), Tore in Gothenburg and Karin in Berlin.

By now it feels familiar to them to travel and exhibit together as their cooperation already came about several years ago with their first group exhibition in Copenhagen. Meanwhile, their project has been shown in Gothenburg, Berlin, and Gent and now moves on to Lisbon, where KGB will stage another vivid exhibition of their typical work.

Kim will present his latest body of work, which bears the title “crossing borders”. Its underlying concept is Europe's deposit-refund system for bottles and cans. While this cleverly thought out system is meant to ensure the refilling and recycling of beverage containers to save our surroundings and spare nature it usually breaks down as soon as one country's container crosses another country's border. Beer cans, which are typical recycling products, are the basic material Kim uses for his project. Each pendant consists of one can and is made by a special lost wax casting method.
 
Tore, who works with the properties of series to clarify and deepen his ideas, will show jewelry with a specific focus on color. The pieces in his series function as vehicles for color and for the atmosphere of different tints. The brooches and rings made of steel – one of Tore's preferred materials – create a space for the color. The deep blackness of the steel and its colorful inside make for a strong contrast, while his jewelry pieces made of wood are solely about color. They are color “with a little attachment”, which makes them wearable. Minimalistic shapes are used to support the color perception.
 
In the realization of Karin's concepts PVC plays an important role. It is a neutral, unencumbered, memory-free material, which hides its own nature and therefore lends itself perfectly to new purposes. One of the projects Karin will show in Lisbon is the stone series, brooches, which due to their elementary forms and rounded shapes remind one of the pebbles. All brooches are built up exclusively of small (punched out) circles of PVC while the material itself yields a variety of expressions depending on different treatments. In contrast to these simple shapes, Karin will display her flower brooches, which are complex and opulent in their appearance.