From Picasso to Koons, the Artist as Jeweler
March 15–July 21, 2013
Bass Museum of Art
2100 Collins Avenue
Miami Beach, FL 33139
From Picasso to Koons, The Artist as Jeweler is organized by French curator and jewelry collector Diane Venet. The exhibition of some 200 works by 135 artists is an intimate, often whimsical side of some of the greatest artists of recent times, each offering a singular vision of adornment. The exceptional and little-known works of wearable sculpture will reward viewers with new insights into the creative wellsprings of such artistic giants as Andy Warhol, Georges Braque, Louise Bourgeois, Lucio Fontana, Salvador Dalí, Louise Nevelson, Man Ray, Anthony Caro, Yoko Ono and Anish Kapoor.
French Venet first became fascinated with artist-made jewelry when her-then-beau sculptor Bernar Venet rolled a thin piece of silver around her finger to form a wedding ring. Since then, she has acquired jewels made by her husband’s confreres, a group that has included Arman, César, Mimmo Rotella, and Villéglé, and she has commissioned pieces by Kader Attia, John Chamberlain, Wim Delvoye, Orlan, and Frank Stella. “I’m careful to ask only those artists whom I think will find the request challenging and fun,” says Venet. “It’s important they recognize that the jewel should be seen as an extension of their art-making.”
While many of these wearable sculptures are crafted out of precious materials, what makes them so compelling is the beauty and candor of the artistic expression. Often conceived for a lover or a cherished family member or friend, a number of these pieces reveal a surprising tenderness or whimsy. The wearable sculptures will be presented in three groupings—the Early Masters, Representational, and Abstraction—with sections devoted to the human figure, nature, Pop subjects, words, geometry, and new technologies and materials. From Picasso to Koons, The Artist as Jeweler was previously on view at the Museum of Arts and Design in New York, Benaki Museum in Athens, Greece and Valencia Institute of Modern Art (IVAM) in Valencia, Spain.
From Picasso to Koons, The Artist as Jeweler is accompanied by a fully illustrated, 240-page catalogue, with essays by Adrien Goetz and Barbara Rose, published by Flammarion/Rizzoli.
About the Bass Museum of Art
Located in Miami Beach, the Bass Museum of Art offers a dynamic year-round calendar of exhibitions dedicated to our mission: “we inspire and educate by exploring the connections between our historical collections and contemporary art.” This includes art from our permanent collection of Renaissance and Baroque paintings, sculpture, textiles and Egyptian Gallery. Artists’ projects, educational programs, lectures, concerts and free family days complement the works on view. Additionally, the museum opened the Lindemann Family Creativity Center in January 2012. The center is the home of the museum’s IDEA@thebass program of art classes and workshops. The museum was founded in 1963 when the City of Miami Beach accepted a collection of Renaissance and Baroque works of art from collectors John and Johanna Bass, and renamed the collection that was housed in the Miami Beach Library designed in 1930 by Russell Pancoast to the Bass Museum of Art. Architect Arata Isozaki designed an addition to the museum between 1998 and 2002 that doubled its size from 15,000 to 35,000 square feet. For more information, please visit www.bassmuseum.org.
