Perspectives from Gallerists. Interview with Geraldine Fenn and Eric Loubser from Tinsel Gallery

Today, we discuss with Geraldine Fenn and Eric Loubser, the owners of Tinsel Gallery, founded in 2006 in Johannesburg. As the leading gallery for contemporary jewellery promoting Southern African artists, Tinsel is committed to growing the audience for contemporary jewellery within their country and internationally.

For the past three years, Tinsel has participated in Frame in Munich alongside other international galleries, aiming to broaden its audience, fairly small for art jewellery in South Africa.  The gallery always displays a selection of pieces and has also their workshop space. 


Which artists and/or pieces have particularly marked you in your discovery of contemporary jewellery?
We both have been interested in contemporary jewellery since we were students, the kind of work we were introduced to then – by legends like Herman Jünger, Otto Künzli, Wendy Ramshaw, Felieke van der Leest and Kim Buck – left lasting impressions on us. Seeing some of their work, and meeting some of them!, in the flesh in Munich, has been a real thrill.


Tinsel Gallery Exhibition Space


How would you describe the artist-gallerist relationship, and what roles do each play for those who want to know more? How do you expect an artist to approach your gallery to be represented by you?
We are on both sides of that relationship, which can be tricky, but it also makes us more aware of how we do things and areas we could be better at. The work is the most important thing, so for an artist approaching us, the first thing to do is show us their work, and if we like it, we can build a relationship from there.


As art jewellery practitioners yourselves, does it influence or alter your perception of your role as gallery owners?
Yes, it does. We mainly have to accept that we can’t do as much as we’d like to as gallerists because we just don’t have the time. We also cannot always be objective, since we are promoting our own work alongside that of other artists.


On the other side, can you tell us about your clientele? What type of people are you targeting, and who is interested in your selection? Does it happen that customers buy something purely for investment? 
Truthfully, we don’t sell a lot of art pieces to local South African buyers because there simply isn’t enough interest, or rather the people interested don’t have the money to buy, and those with money are not into this kind of jewellery (I’m sure this is not a problem unique to us!). That is why we have been exhibiting more overseas than locally, and we are building up a nice client base of European and American collectors. What we really love about this tiny niche field of art jewellery is that the collectors are just as passionate about the work as we are, and they wear it, which is existentially important for a jeweller.


Do you feel that the state of South Africa plays a role in supporting establishments that promote arts and crafts?
In theory, it should, and there are pockets of engagement with and financial support of the arts, but it is woefully inadequate. We have strong institutions in this country, but they have become hollowed out by corruption, so a lot of funding for the arts comes from the private sector rather than the government.
It is a great shame, because we have so much talent here, and not nearly enough support for nurturing it.


You occasionally lecture at the Universiteit Stellenbosch. Does the gallery have a relationship with the University? If so, how is this maintained?
We have both taught there in the past, and Eric studied at that department, but we haven’t done any teaching there in a while. We do still have a good relationship with them because we show work by several of the current and former teachers there, as well as alumni.

Stellenbosch tends to produce more jewellers who go into the contemporary side of the field because they are part of a fine arts department, whereas the courses at the other local teaching institutions are historically more technical in their approach. We do have a good relationship with all the departments and we try to create opportunities for the students by introducing foreign artists who might want to come and do workshops with them, for example.


As a gallery with a physical static point of sale with a strong position in promoting South African artists, I noticed that you are frequently participating in other contemporary jewellery fairs or festivals (Frame, Parcours Bijoux). I find it important to share the observation made by John Martin in the New York Times in 2018:
'Collectors aren't going to galleries anymore; they're going to art fairs.'  What do you think about this? 
For us that’s definitely true because art jewellery is such a niche part of the jewellery world, and we have very few collectors here, so it makes sense to go to fairs overseas. Frame in Munich is the only one we’ve exhibited at as a gallery so far, and we can realistically only manage to do one a year because of the costs and time involved. That one made the most sense for us because Munich Jewellery Week is so well attended by collectors. The other shows we were involved in last year – Parcours Bijoux at Galerie Objet Rare in Paris and Smiley Faces at Galeria Alice Floriano in Brazil – we did as individuals, not Tinsel.
I think it’s the same for any artist: you need to pursue as many opportunities as possible to show your work to the right audience.


Gallery Tinsel at Frame 2024 in Munich


In today's context, virtual space serves as a place of exhibition.
I’m wondering, what is your opinion on the digitisation of exhibition methods? Are people more open to discovering a piece virtually? Do you consider it a tool or a real way to exhibit? How do you value the experience of putting on sale pieces at Klimt02?
I think digital platforms are a useful tool, but I don’t think they can replace physical exhibitions, particularly for art jewellery because it has such an intimate relationship to the human form: you need to put a piece on, feel the weight of it and how it sits on your body, touch the surface of it and hear how it might jangle to really appreciate it.

There are also so many spontaneous conversations that arise out of that between the gallerist/maker and the viewer/wearer/collector, and that interaction can’t really happen in the online space.


How do you value the experience of putting on sale pieces at Klimt02?
For us, it’s always good to have another avenue to show work to potential clients, so we appreciate having pieces for sale on Klimt02, although we haven’t sold anything that way yet.


After years of curating and presenting your gallery in various contexts, what do you think can be improved in the contemporary jewellery art world, particularly in relation to the art market?
Sometimes, the contemporary art jewellery world can feel like a bit of a bubble, like we’re all making work to show to each other rather than to a broader public. It can be nice because it's comfortable – everyone in the club shares a particular passion, and they’re all happy to talk about it tirelessly – but like any club, it can also be exclusionary and too inward-looking to be truly dynamic. I think it needs to be opened up to more makers from outside of the European epicentre who would perhaps have fresh perspectives and shake things up a bit. I also think it would be good for us to show work in different contexts, like fine art galleries and fairs, in order to expose it to a much bigger audience.

Art jewellery tends to fall between categories - too arty to be part of the fine or fashion jewellery world and too functional to be considered fine art – but that can be a strength rather than a weakness. I think people who are interested in fine art would also be interested in art jewellery, but if it doesn’t get exhibited in places that they might see it they won’t know it exists.


Tinsel Gallery jewellery pieces on display


Could you share some of the highlight events planned for Tinsel Gallery in the upcoming year?
Last year was a pretty big one for us, so we don’t want to over-commit ourselves this year, but there are still lots of exciting things happening: we showed at Frame at the beginning of March which was great, and we both will have work on show at the Lisbon Biennale (at the main Madrugada exhibition and on a show curated by Alice Floriano) in June.

We are also talking with a Scandinavian artist about doing a show here at the end of the year, and we are working on a collaboration with some phenomenal crafters in Zimbabwe, which we hope to show next year at Frame.