Installation view. Photo: John Lake
Installation view. Photo: John Lake
Installation view. Photo: John Lake
Lauren Kalman, But if the Crime is Beautiful - Strangers in the Garden (installation view), 2016. Courtesy of the artist. Photo: John Lake
Installation view. Photo: John Lake
Noon Passama, Extra Button (installation view), 2010-2011. Courtesy of the artist. Photo: John Lake
Installation view. Photo: John Lake
Lauren Kalman, But if the Crimes is Beautiful... Strangers to the Garden, 2016, Inkjet Print. Courtesy of the Artist and Sienna Patti USA.
Precious things aren’t always made from precious materials—and jewellery is no exception.
The intimacy of jewellery worn on the body gives us a unique way of showing who we are and what’s important to us. This exhibition expands on our associations with adornment: drawing out how ideas of value have changed in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries.
The Language of Things features over 100 artists from Europe, America, Asia, Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand whose work reveals how personal meaning develops from the often unusual materials and processes used in the field of contemporary jewellery. Visitors can expect to see beautifully crafted, wearable pieces as well as installation, photography and video, including a necklace made of scissors; a woman covered in brass leaves and a screening of jewellery appearances in films over the last 80 years.
At the heart of the exhibition, will be an installation by Berlin based Yuka Oyama called Helpers—Changing Homes, made especially for The Dowse during her Te Whare Hēra Residency. Featuring a video of a performance of wearable jewellery made from cardboard ‘moving’ boxes: her installation playfully mimics hermit crabs swapping shells to find new ‘homes’ which are a better fit. Through it, Oyama helps us think about immigration and how the objects we carry with us help create a sense of home.
The contemporary jewellers in this exhibition make pieces that comment on social, cultural or political matters through the materials that they choose to work with. Their themes include the shifting perception of precious materials such as gold, vanity, gender stereotyping, associations with place and our relationships with accessories, the environment and each other. Using our inherent understanding of jewellery as a symbol of personal expression to explore these ideas, The Language of Things also prompts us to reflect on how we ‘read’ the materials that surround us in daily life.
Contemporary jewellers in The Language of Things include Bernard Schobinger; Conversation Piece (duo), Daniel Kruger, David Bielander, Dorothea Prühl, Gerd Rothmann , Gijs Bakker, Helen Britton, Jiro Kamata, Karl Fritsch, Lauren Kalman, Liesbet Bussche, Lisa Gralnick, Mia Maljojoki, Moniek Schrijer, Noon Passama, Otto Künzli , Renee Bevan, Sharon Fitness, Susan Cohn, Suska Mackert, Ted Noten, Réka Lörincz and Zoe Brand.
The Dowse is grateful to all the artists and supporters who have made this exhibition possible especially The Rotasa Collection, USA; The Powerhouse Museum, Sydney; The Josef and Anni Albers Foundation, USA and CODA, The Netherlands. Exhibition sponsors and partners include Creative New Zealand, Blumhardt Foundation, Massey University, Asia New Zealand Foundation, Goethe-Institut, Handshake, Fab Lab Wgtn, and Allied Pickfords.
IN THE MEDIA
Dowse exhibit will look at how contemporary jewellery is close to our hearts, Wenman, Eleanor. 11 December 2017
Yuka Oyama: Helpers – Changing homes, Garland Magazine, January 2018
What is close to your heart?, Regional News , 6 March (p27)
Otto Kunzli - The Language of Things, Saturday Morning on RNZ, Retreived17 April 2018
Three picks from Director of The Dowse Art Museum, Article Magazine. Retreived 11 May 2018
Attuning to People, Places and Things: Neck Adornment and Contemporary Art, The Pantograph Punch, Victoria Wynne-Jones. Retreived 5 June 2018
Us Versus Them In The Contemporary Jewelry World, Art Jewelry Forum, Kevin Murray, retrieved 21 June 2018