FEATURE
ART JEWELLERY
Art Jewellery
Why the distinction?
Italian artist Paolo Canevari said the most important inspiration for an artist’s work is
“people’s way of thinking”. That is a good starting point for explaining ‘art jewellery’,
says jewellery curator Elisabetta Cipriani. By LEWIS CATCHPOLE
‘Art jewellery’ is one of the names given to jewellery
created by studio craftspeople. As the name suggests,
art jewellery emphasises creative expression and
design, and is characterised by the use of a variety of
materials, often commonplace or of low economic
value. In this sense, it forms a counterbalance to the
use of ‘precious materials’ (such as gold, silver and
gemstones) in conventional or fine jewellery, where the
value of the object is tied to the value of the materials
from which it is made.
London-based artist Simone Brewster sees jewellery,
by its very definition, as an artform in itself and
believes it is a “shame” that there has to be a division
between art jewellery and jewellery to begin with. “If
you look into the history of jewellery it was such a
high craft, it still is, but it was such a high level craft
but what has really happened is that is has stopped
representing the things it did in the past. Artisans
‘‘
Artisans who
still continue
to explore the
boundaries of
jewellery get
called
‘art jewellers’
‘‘
“These are wearable sculptures which engage with our
thought-process, with our emotions. The value is not
about whether it has diamonds or rubies, but about
the fact that it’s done by an artist and that it carries
a story.”
Since she was a child, Cipriani has always had a
passion for jewellery. Before coming to London to
open her gallery, she used to work at the Museum
of Contemporary Art in Rome and was co-curator
working with “important” artists. “When I moved
to London,” she says, “I wanted to do something
that was different. I knew about artists making
jewellery, like Picasso. I started to look at it from
a distance, and I started to invite the artists I met
in Rome, at the museum, to collaborate with me
and that’s how it started. Today I continue working
with artists that I like, that’s the main thing. I don’t
follow any logical plan.”
Simone Brewster
18 JEWELLERY FOCUS
December 2018 | jewelleryfocus.co.uk