Main Gallery
Iced Vovos 2005
Maker: Niki Hastings McFall
Materials: phosphorescent plastic flowers, mother of pearl
Courtesy of the Artist
Lost and Found Series 2005 2005
Maker: Renee Bevan
Materials: silver, bronze; oxidised, gold plated
Courtesy of the Artist
Pure Thoughts 2004
Maker: Shelley Norton
Materials: plastic bags
Courtesy of the Artist
A Leading Role 2005
Maker: Tracey Clement
Materials: dvd
Courtesy of the Artist
The Route Of All Evil 2005
Maker: Leola Le Blanc
Materials: urethane 280 PMC Dry
Courtesy of the Artist
I Think You're Growing On Me 2005-2007
Maker: O'Connor & Gough
Materials: mixed media
Courtesy of the Artists
Ex-Voto 2005
Maker: Andrea Daly
Materials: sticking Plasters
Courtesy of the Artist
Thirteen Little Fetishes 2005
Maker: Ilse-Marie Erl
Materials: sterling silver, safety pins
Courtesy of the Artist and Anna Miles Gallery
The HOLE Project 2006
Maker: Stella Chrysostomou
Materials: mixed media
Courtesy of the Artist
Index Of Refraction / Shiny Things That People Want 2005 - 2007
Maker: Deborah Crowe
Materials: mixed media
Courtesy of the Artist
Embroidered Louis Comfort Tiffany precious and semi-precious jewels 2005
Maker: Sandra Bushby
Materials: mixed media
Courtesy of the Artist and Anna Miles Gallery
How To Make A Necklace From A Frock 2005
Maker: Fran Allison
Courtesy of the Artist
Romancing The Stone 2005
Maker: Lang Ea
Materials: dvd
Courtesy of the Artist
Dressed To Kill - This Town Ain't Big Enough For The Both Of Us 2006
Maker: De Goldi & Corbishley
Materials: mixed media
Courtesy of the Artists
Self Portrait of Breast 2003
Maker: Emily Bullock
Materials: mixed media
Courtesy of the Artist
My Invented History 2004
Maker: Victoria McIntosh
Materials: mixed media
Courtesy of the Artist
Ring 2005
Maker: Jennifer Laracy
Materials: mixed media
Courtesy of the Artist
Hoodwink 2006
Maker: H&M
Materials: mixed media
Courtesy of the Artists
Brooches 2006
Maker: Arti Sandhu
Materials: mixed media
Courtesy of the Artist
Now Lakha-Ha (900,000 Rupee. Necklace) 2006
Maker: Arti Sandhu
Materials: mixed media
Courtesy of the Artist
Recall 2005-2006
Maker: Altagracia-Malcolm-Milbank
Materials: mixed media
Courtesy of the Artists
Jewellery Installation 1997-2005
Maker: Lisa Walker
Materials: various materials
Courtesy of the Artist
Trui 2006
Maker: H&M
Materials: mixed media
Courtesy of the Artists
Baubles 2005
Maker: Pippi Tetley
Materials: mixed media and wooden shelf
Courtesy of the Artist
Jewellery Out Of Context
10 March 2007 - 05 April 2007
Makers:
Fran Allison, Colleen Altagracia, Renee Bevan, Emily Bullock, Sandra Bushby, Stella Chrysostomou, Tracey Clement, Grant Corbishley, Deborah Crowe, Andrea Daly, Tony De Goldi, Lang Ea, Ilse-Marie Erl, Chelsea Gough, Niki Hastings McFall, Jennifer Laracy, Leola Le Blanc, Ross Malcolm, Gina Matchitt, Victoria McIntosh, Carolyn Millbank, Shelley Norton, Gabby O'Connor, Arti Sandhu, Matthijs Siljee, Pippi Tetley, Hanne Van Beek, Lisa Walker
Jewellery Out Of Context (JOC) was originally curated by Peter Deckers and Dr Carole Shepheard as an exhibition for the 2006 International Jewelers and Metalsmiths' Group of Australia conference. JOC ‘Junior' has recently been revised as a touring exhibition and will later be traveling to Canada, The Netherlands and Germany. Objectspace is the New Zealand venue for the exhibition. The installations comprising JOC further the discourse around jewellery, enabling contemporary practice in New Zealand to be stretched beyond traditional boundaries.
We occupy a time when the wearable object is often a commoditized branding concept, replicated through cheap materials and labour. Jewellery is witness to this one-upmanship. The recent fashions for 'bling' or boutique labels venturing into high-end priced watches and jewellery are obvious examples of how conventions around adornment are manipulated, emphasizing our collective focus on the body as site.
The curatorial brief for JOC involved makers unraveling the conventions of jewellery, albeit within a much more individual and purposeful aesthetic framework than the above examples. The curators note, "JOC is born from the desire to communicate the unique issues related to jewellery and adornment, in formats with and different from itself. The aim was to reveal and unravel the many facets related to the formation and organisation of the jewellery discourse."
The makers in JOC subject jewellery practice and body adornment to conceptual artistic processes. In this exhibition precious materials are not treated as sacrosanct or hierarchical. Instead the emphasis is on context. "What is precious and what is non-precious seen through the eyes of artists will transform relationships and positions of normality. It is made special by the reflection of who we are and what we like to be."
As important as it may be to open new doors in the search for meaning, it is however also part and parcel of any aesthetic practice to leave some stones unturned. Cultural theorist Jonathan Culler fittingly observed, "problems always arise within the framework of a set of assumptions, and a new theory can only challenge or explain those assumptions." Finally, on this note JOC generously invites us to take some time to reconsider objects traditionally ‘made to wear.'