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Thierry Bontridder

Jeweller
Published: 11.06.2025

Bio

Thierry Bontridder, sculptor and creator of contemporary jewelry, was born in Brussels in 1956. After studying sculpture, he studied contemporary jewelry with Émile Souply at the Institut des Arts et Métiers in Brussels, where he teaches from 1998 to 2020.

Statement

Since 1982, Thierry Bontridder has been noticed for the originality of the jewelry he designs with unusual materials: acrylic glass, nylon, corian and in particular titanium. Fascinated by this metal with iridescent colors, the artist multiplies his creative research in the realization of his jewels and his sculptures. Individual and group exhibitions in Belgium and abroad follow one another at a steady pace. His artistic work gradually shifted from jewelry, in essence sculptural, to sculpture itself, leading to monumental works of public art.
 
His jewels are in the same line as his sculptures, with simple curves and shapes, games of translucency and opacity, subtle dialogues between light, space and colors. Their highly constructed character and monumentality are much more a matter of sculpture than of goldsmith work. Its ornaments in acrylic glass or titanium capture and transform the light from which it becomes an element in its own right.

Thierry Bontridder belongs to these designers, whose technical expertise is the interpreter of the material. Its requirement of formal acuity calls for appropriate, if not sophisticated, procedures. But the technique is only an instrument in the realization of a formal «idea». Technical rigor becomes poetry of pure forms where materials are exalted

CV      View / hide description

Events      View / hide events

2024:
Exhibition  03 Dec 2024 - 11 Nov 2025  Thierry Bontridder. Jewelry Sculptor.
Award giving  08 Jun 2024 - 13 Jun 2024  33rd Japan Jewellery Competition by JJDA.
Received the Excellent prize.
Metropolitan Art Museum Tokyo, Japan. 
Exhibition  25 Apr 2024 - 07 May 2024  Particule[s]. As part of the Brussels Jewellery Week.
Musée des Arts décoratifs MAD, Bruxelles, Belgium. 
2021:
Exhibition  07 Nov 2021 - 21 Nov 2021  Thierry Bontridder Exhibition.
Atelier de Maurice Frydman, Bruxelles, Belgique
2019:
Exhibition  21 Nov 2019 - 31 Dec 2019  Rings.
Galerie More Upstairs by Ciel mes bijoux! , Bruxelles, Belgique.
Exhibition  05 Jun 2019 - 07 Jul 2019  Europas.
Galerie More Upstairs by Ciel mes bijoux! , Bruxelles, Belgique.
2018:
Exhibition  05 Sep 2018 - 25 Nov 2018  Objets ambigus, bijoux contemporains, une passion..
Collection de Solange Thierry-de Saint Rapt, Bozar, Bruxelles, Belgique.
Exhibition  27 Feb 2018 - 31 Mar 2018  Sculptor’s jewellery.
Galerie More Upstairs by Ciel mes bijoux! , Bruxelles, Belgique.
2017:
Exhibition  08 Jun 2017 - 31 Jul 2017  Thierry Bontridder & Christian Wuytack.
Galerie More Upstairs by Ciel mes bijoux! , Bruxelles, Belgique.
2013:
Exhibition  18 Oct 2013 - 23 Nov 2013  TWEEX 2.
2006:
Exhibition  01 Feb 2006 - 20 Feb 2006  200 Rings.
Facere Gallery, Seattle, Washington, USA.
2005:
Exhibition  01 Aug 2005 - 30 Sep 2005  200 Rings.
Sam Shaw Gallery, Northeast Harbor, Maine, USA.
Exhibition  01 Feb 2005 - 30 Mar 2005  200 Rings.
Gallery, Tucson, Arizona, USA.
2004:
Exhibition  12 Nov 2004 - 31 Dec 2004  200 Rings.
Velvet da Vinci Gallery, San Francisco, California, USA.
Exhibition  18 Oct 2004 - 04 Dec 2004  Le Bijou Contemporain.
Institut Supérieur pour le Langage Plastique (ISELP), Bruxelles, Belgique.
2003:
Exhibition  10 May 2003 - 07 Jul 2003  Bijou.
Galerie Atelier Néon, Bruxelles, Belgique.
Exhibition  29 Mar 2003 - 25 Mar 2003  Particules Elémentaires.
Atelier 340 Muzeum, Bruxelles, Belgique.
2002:
Exhibition  24 May 2002 - 28 Sep 2002  Parures Créations.
Centre Wallonie Bruxelles, Paris, France.
Exhibition  04 May 2002 - 15 Sep 2002  Triennale du Bijou Contemporain.
Musée de l’Orfèvrerie, Château de Seneffe, Belgique.
2001:
Exhibition  21 Nov 2001 - 21 Dec 2001  Adereços Criaçoes.
Galeria Contacto Directo, Lisbonne, Portugal.
1998:
Exhibition  01 Jul 1998 - 22 Aug 1998  European prize 98.
Exposition des finalistes, Palais Harrach, Vienne, Autriche.
1995:
Exhibition  07 Sep 1995 - 30 Oct 1995  7 Artistes européen invités.
Galerie Suk Kwan, Montréal, Quebec.
Exhibition  16 May 1995 - 03 Jun 1995  L’Air du Temps.
Galerie Marie Zisswiller, Paris, France.
1992:
Exhibition  22 May 1992 - 21 Jun 1992  Juwelen.
Art Forum, Pulderbos, Belgique.
1991:
Exhibition  07 Nov 1991 - 30 Nov 1991  Histoire d’un bijou imaginaire.
Galerie Pegmatite, Paris, France.
1990:
Exhibition  05 Jul 1990 - 30 Sep 1990  Thierry Bontridder.
Galerie Pegmatite, Paris, France.
Exhibition  03 May 1990 - 19 May 1990  Thierry Bontridder.
Galerie Pegmatite, Paris, France.
1989:
Exhibition  19 May 1989 - 28 May 1989  Aksente'89.
Sonderschau, Koblenz, Allemagne Fédérale.
1988:
Exhibition  14 May 1988 - 28 May 1988  Mai Bamako 88.
Centre Culturel Français, Bamako, Mali.
1987:
Exhibition  04 Dec 1987 - 16 Jan 1988  Thierry Bontridder.
Galerie Alliages, Bruxelles, Belgique.
Exhibition  20 Oct 1987 - 25 Nov 1987  Hals Arm Ohr, 25 Junger Schmuck International.
Berlin Gallery, Berlin, Allemagne Fédérale.
Exhibition  01 Oct 1987 - 11 Nov 1987  Glass made in Belgium.
Galerie Transparence, Bruxelles, Belgique.
Exhibition  09 Jul 1987 - 24 Sep 1987  Thierry Bontridder.
Galerie Pegotty, Paris, France.
1986:
Exhibition  08 Feb 1986 - 08 Mar 1986  Néonrama, Néon Dix Ans.
Musée de Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgique.
1985:
Exhibition  20 Nov 1985 - 05 Dec 1985  Bijoux de Belgique.
Galerie 585, Helsinki, Finlande.
1983:
Exhibition  24 Nov 1983 - 12 Jan 1984  Thierry Bontridder.
Galerie de l’Estrille du Vieux Bruxelles, Bruxelles, Belgique.
Exhibition  12 Oct 1983 - 16 Oct 1983  Belgium jewels today.
Inter-American Development Bank Gallery, Washington, USA.
1982:
Exhibition  27 Nov 1982 - 31 Dec 1982  Untitled.
Design Center, Bruxelles, Belgique.

Publications      View / hide publications

Book:  Thierry Bontridder. Sculptures et Bijoux Contemporains. Bontridder, Catherine.  Catherine and Thierry Bontridder:  Brussels,  2025

Related Forum:

Contemporary Jewelry Occupies a Significant Place in Contemporary Art. Thierry Bontridder interviewed by Klimt02.

Contemporary Jewelry Occupies a Significant Place in Contemporary Art. Thierry Bontridder interviewed by Klimt02

Klimt02
Interview
 / 16Jun2020

Related Events:

Thierry Bontridder. Jewelry Sculptor.

Thierry Bontridder. Jewelry Sculptor

Exhibition
 / 03Dec2024 - 11Nov2025
Musée de l’Orfèvrerie, Château de Seneffe
Seneffe, Belgium
TWEEX 2.

TWEEX 2

Exhibition
 / 18Oct2013 - 23Nov2013
Vander A Gallery
Brussels, Belgium
Bijoux d’art et oeuvres en papier.

Bijoux d’art et oeuvres en papier

Exhibition
 / 18Mar2005 - 30Apr2005
Orfèo
Luxembourg, Luxembourg

Related Publications:

Thierry Bontridder. Sculptures et Bijoux Contemporains.

Thierry Bontridder. Sculptures et Bijoux Contemporains

Catherine Bontridder
Book

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