Nexus. Connections of Material and Messages in Contemporary Jewelry

Artist list

Inbar Avneri, Berna, Wenyin Jiang, Daria Lutskevich, PhaniaC, Lamia Saab, Austin Turley, Nana Watanabe

Connecting matter and message is one of the great goals of contemporary art. The communication behind each piece, behind the details that observing and wearing it can transmit to us, is in itself the strongest intention that one can imagine. So, as artists do, the purpose of this exhibition is also to transmit communication, to turn on a light and emphasize three aspects: matter, messages, and connections. Consider them as unitary aspects rather than correlated, and trying to separate them in an operation of alchemical inspiration is an act destined to failure, precisely because of its abstract, conceptual, and artificial nature, but full of the possibility of opening a discourse on what is, beyond the simple formal essence.

The MATERIAL section focuses on the use of materials and techniques in contemporary jewelry. We present examples of jewelry made with traditional and unconventional materials. Austin Turley uses glass and other industrial materials to create jewelry that explores themes of presence, memory, language, and time. PhaniaC, on the other hand, uses agglomerates of materials, such as ceramics and metals, to create jewelry that reflects her Mediterranean identity. Nana Watanabe, the artist behind ARRO, creates volumes and shapes by cutting and assembling empty fabric stiffened by stitching and embroidery. Daria Lutskevitch's work is strongly linked to the history of her land, bringing back and exalting a material, black oak wood, so linked to its soil and the millenary aging on the territory.

In the MESSAGE section, on the other hand, we have selected the work of Lamia Saab, so strong in asserting and launching social and political messages, hiding them inside surfaces, structures, and scenarios. Wenyin Jiang lightens the structures, giving moments and movements to her works, cinetizing with forms with a strong connection to basic energy structures. The fairy tales built by Inbar Avneri are part of the story of her wearable objects, true creatures of message, inspired by myths and legends. For A Little Piece of C, the brand of the Lebanese artist Berna, Arabic calligraphy and its wonderful formal implications are a source of inspiration.

What the exhibition seeks to confirm (or perhaps not) is that there is no message in jewelry without matter and that simple matter is not enough without being supported by an adequate message.
Hoping that the observer can reveal the final answer, we document this incessant research, which has brought such strong and unique sensitivities and sensations to our gallery.