Evert Nijland, Mercurius & Psyche Jewellery

Evert Nijland (b. 1971) is one of the leading jewellery artists of his generation. Trained in the Conceptual Art and Minimalism of the 1990s at the Gerrit Rietveld Academie in Amsterdam, he developed a flamboyant and exuberant style, which drew on (art-)historical resources yet is thoroughly anchored in the present.
A typical characteristic of Nijland is working with a variety of artisans. It enables him to integrate such diverse materials as porcelain, wood, textile or steel into his works.
His use of glass in jewellery, in particular, is unparalleled. Montages of images are a particular highlight, in which jewellery from works of Western art is superimposed, serving Nijland as both a reference and a source of inspiration.
The extensive essay by Ward Schrijver describes Nijland's working process and positions the artist's jewellery among the fine and the applied arts.

Texts in English & Dutch
 

About the author

Ward Schrijver is an art historian and architect living in the Netherlands. He collects contemporary jewellery and has designed and curated museum exhibitions and published many articles about jewellery. He taught at the Design Academy Eindhoven as assistant to Gijs Bakker.
Since 2007, he has co-owned Galerie Rob Koudijs in Amsterdam and been its spokesperson.