Exhibition - Mirror-Mirror

 

I admit I’d never heard of Suzy Solidor.

She died many years ago yet the memory

of her full and satisfying life has inspired a

jewelry exhibition lauding her drive and spirit.

 

Mirror-Mirror is currently showing at Velvet da Vinci

in San Francisco, California.

Originally on view last month in

Cagnes-sur Mer (near the French Riviera),

Mirror-Mirror is described as an exhibition

in homage to Suzy Solidor (1900-1983).

 

A singer, model, writer, actress and nightclub owner

Suzy Solidor was an iconic figure of the

Parisian nightlife during the thirties and forties.

Two of the many things for which she

was known included posing for some of the most

celebrated artists of the day (Pablo Picasso,

Georges Braque, Jean Cocteau and

Tamara de Lempicka), and collecting over

200 paintings done of herself.

 

Let's just say she had a very high opinion of herself.

This jewelry exhibit is described as,

Twenty-nine artists from fourteen countries have accepted our invitation to study - and creatively respond to - the life of Suzy Solidor. We believe that their propositions constitutes a tribute to her singular life, and that they are best read in dialogue with the paintings presented in the Castle. A distorted mirror of that collection of portraits, this collection of objects prolongs it (some of the jewels are portraits themselves) but 'exceeds' it as well. Indeed, the practices represented in Mirror Mirror (jewellery, object, installation) are not mimetic; their point is not to resemble the 'sitter', but to outfit her fictions of identity: "I am a pirate / a singer / a (wo)man eater / a brittany gal who fled her native Saint-Malo…the better to ply Parisians with nostalgic shanty songs." The conceit that this jewellery is for someone specific in turn allows the makers to pretend that it is someone's: their pieces at once designate and invent new Suzy fictions. What better medium indeed than jewellery to fuel her mild mythomania?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As a side note, I could not resist including

this 1932 photo of Suzy Solidor

wearing bracelets that were created

  for her by Coco Chanel.

 

 

 

See more of the Mirror-Mirror exhibition
at Velvet da Vinci's website.

 

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Exhibition - Signature: Myung Urso Jewelry

Myung Urso expresses herself with

a unique point of view.

Using simple techniques with simple materials

she designs and creates as she works

rather than planning and conceptualizing

every step of the way.

Her work is currently showing at Velvet da Vinci gallery

in an exhibit called, "Myung Urso: Signature."

My jewelry as an art expression transforms itself from my imagination and observations from life. It figuratively shapes itself from either abstraction or illusion through the use of black and white Asian calligraphy and hand stitching applications. Calligraphy in my South Korean culture is considered as an art form rather than a skill. The brush stroke freely expresses its strength and the water-based ink reveals the depth of contextual images. Sewing is a technique regarded as a common daily life skill for women in the culture.

She uses natural dyed silks, thread,

sterling silver and lacquer to create

these pieces.

Bits of calligraphy can be seen in this piece.

The hand of the maker

is always apparent in her work. 

 The exhibit will run from

February 1 through February 29, 2012.

There's more to see at Velvet da Vinci

and Myung Urso websites.



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Exhibition - Under That Cloud

It was one year ago, April 2010, and a news

flash bombarded our awareness saying the
skies over Europe were closed due to a
volcanic eruption in Iceland. Many European jewelry
artists were in Mexico City having just
attended a major Latin American jewelry
conference, and over the course of a week of
being stranded due to the grounding of
their homebound flights, they came together to do
what one might expect them to do: create a
jewelry exhibition inspired by the events
they were experiencing.

"Under That Cloud" is an exhibition of jewelry
by 18 international artists who had been stranded
in Mexico City under the Icelandic volcanic ash cloud.
It will run at the Velvet Da Vinci gallery in
San Francisco, California
from April 13 - May 29, 2011.

Participating artists include:
Agnieszka Knap, Andrea Wagner, Benjamin Lignel,
Caroline Broadhead, Cristina Filipe, Gemma Draper,
Janina Stübler, Jiro Kamata, Jorge Manilla,
Jürgen Eickhoff, Karin Seufert, Lucy Sarneel,
Manon van Kouswijk, Nanna Melland, Nedda El-Asmar,
Ramón Puig Cuyàs,
Sarah O'Hana, and Tore Svensson

This show is curated by Jo Bloxham, and she provides
the explanation of how and why it came to be:

“. . .  It had been a wonderful experience, and I felt sad that this cloud, which was holding me prisoner, would overshadow the memories of my time there. Then, it all became clear. Why not make something positive out of this? The idea for a new exhibition was born . . . ”

Now, one year later, we see the fruits of their labor.


Here are a few examples.

These are brooches by
Karin Seufert of Germany.

This is a necklace by
Nedda El-Asmar of Belgium.

 

 
 
This necklace was created
by Lucy Sarneel of
the Netherlands.
 

 
 
The exhibition has already traveled
to Munich last month. 

Hopefully, it will travel further after its run at
Velvet da Vinci is completed. If you get the
opportunity to see it in person, please leave a
comment and let our readers
know what you think

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