Por gracias recibidas: Exvotos de joyeros contemporáneos

Ex-votos are not jewels per se, yet their materials, size, concept, and symbolic value make them precious, inviting us to view them as jewelry. “Jewelry” can be defined as any metal ornament designed to be worn on the body, but the term “contemporary jewelry” is also the name of a little-known new discipline that uses jewelry as a form of artistic expression, subordinating the techniques of the trade to the message the artist wants to convey. Contemporary jewels are not little art objects; their value is not determined by the scale. Contemporary jewelry amounts to art because it is conceived as such, and the human body is entailed in the concept in as much as it supports it. This book is a reflection on the social and cultural aspects of ex-votos, features technical and historical information about this tradition in Argentina -especially on Sergio Barbieri’s collection- and showcases contemporary ex-votos by nine Argentine jewelers.


Book contributors:
Corina Mascotti, Mónica Lecouna, Jorge Castañón, María Laura Licandro Alcántara, Rita Bamidele Hampton, Patricia Tewel, Carolina Luzardo, Lourdes Chicco Ruiz and Paula Gallardo.

Antique ex-votos collection: Sergio Barbieri
Photography: Carolina Colmenero (Jewelers at their ateliers) Negro Karamanian (Studio photos)
Design of publication: Marcelo Morán and Leonor Barreiro
Editorial coordination: Ana Basarte


Text in Spanish (English booklet optional).
 

About the author

Jimena Ríos
Jewelry maker, studied at the Escola Massana School of Art and Design in Barcelona, Spain. Her final degree project tutor was Manfred Bischoff at Alchimia Contemporary Jewelry School in Florence, Italy. She furthered her education attending workshops by Dorothea Prühl, Ted Noten, Pilar Cotter, and Iris Eichenberg. Her work has been exhibited at specialized galleries such as Marzee in the Netherlands, Pieces of Eight in Australia, and museums such as MAD in the USA. It has also been featured in Collares (2016, Promopress, Barcelona), Anillos (2010, Promopress, Barcelona), Jewellery Using Textiles Techniques: Methods and Techniques: Design and Make (2009, Paperback, London). In 2013 she founded Taller Eloi in Buenos Aires, Argentina, to teach jewelry and organize workshops. She has given lectures about contemporary jewelry history and seminars on narrative jewelry in Argentina and abroad.