Almost 30 years ago, the exhibition “Den internationella smyckekonsten – Nya Smycken New Jewellery” (The International Art Jewellery – New Jewellery New Jewellery) at the Kulturhuset in Stockholm. It presented a new art jewelry that grew in Holland, England and Germany. Jewelry had gone from being purely decorative and a status symbol. The jewelry that was shown at the Kulturhuset represented a changed perception, jewelry associated with artistic content and expression. Communication was pivotal and the new jewelry stood in contrast to the minimalistic and modernistic artistic idiom that characterized Swedish art jewelry, after the war. Art jewelry has successively made great strides towards other visual art. Education in art jewelry at the Academy of Design and Crafts (HDK) in Gothenburg was meaningful. There, in 1996, the first professorship in art jewelry, in the Nordics, was established. The 2004 name change of the education at Konstfack from Metal Design to Ädellab (precious lab), also sent a signal. In summary, art jewelry has strongly developed and Swedish jewelry artists, to a great degree, are part of     Läs mer

Based on my book, Contemporary Swedish Art Jewellery (2013), three exhibitions were held with the book as the starting point, curated by Sofia Björkman in Munich, Båstad and Gothenburg. INBJUDAN Above: Auli Laitinen Above: Yasar Aydin Above: Aud Charlotte Ho Sook Sinding Above: Agnes Larsson

Art jewelry has come closer to the art world. Jewelry’s ability to communicate and bear witness of great craftsmanship makes them works of art. Here there are parallels to artistically oriented photography. Internationally, art jewelry has developed into an independent art form, known as Studio or Art Jewelry. Every year the major exhibition, Schmuck, is held in Munich with around 50 different exhibitions around the city, and the Die Neue Sammlung exhibits, in a large jewelry section, jewelry as art. The Museum of Arts and Design in New York has a permanent jewelry section with modern jewelry, since its move to Columbus Circle. Artists from different genre have, for centuries, found inspiration in nature. Flowers, leave, butterflies, snowflakes and birds return as motifs in traditional jewelry. Today, often unconventional materials are used in art jewelry, where the absolute value in weight and material cost are of lesser importance. There is a beauty in the excitement between attraction and renunciation that jewelry artists can use in artistic idioms and choice of materials. In Sweden, women have     Läs mer

The International Art + Design Fair 2005 Contemporary Swedish Silver: New Approaches to An Enduring Tradition of Craft and Design The Armory, Park Avenue Contributers, among others  Pia Aleborg Sofia Björkman Jenny Edlund Auli Laitinen Aud Charlotte Ho Sook Sinding Annika Åkerfeldt   ” The one – of- kind works on display are notable – by contrast to the severity of high Modernist Swedish Design – for sensuous, playful and surrealistic qualities. ” Ken Johnson The New York Times   The International Art + Design Fair 2005 Catalogue Images From the exhibition Above: Jenny Edlund Above: Bodil Karlsson in front of her pleats.