Glass in Czech Jewelry – traveled exhibition
« … the notion of “Czech jewelry” is spontaneously evocative of glass pearls from the town of Jablonec and Bohemian garnets. These two jewelry materials owe their fame to long tradition and wide distribution. Although contemporary glass production in the Czech Republic is far from what it used to be in the late 19th and the early 20th centuries, this notion has been still fixed in our consciousness. All over the world people look for the old “original Jablonec glass pearls” and try to imitate their quality. There is a boom of shiny cut glass in jewelry and fashion not only as an accessory, but also directly in combination with textile-woven, glittering glass on the body. »
Artists:
Václav Cigler, Petr Dvořák, Stanislava Grebeníčková, Kateřina Handlová, Jan Hásek, Svatopluk Kasalý, Jaroslav Kodejš, Zdenka Laštovičková, Martina Mináriková, Martin Papcún, Jiří Šibor, Markéta Šílená, Blanka Šperková
Blanka Sperkova - Necklace 2008 – silvered finger knitted wire, clear & blue glass chips
Jan Hasek - Blown sand-blasted glass, steel – hair jewelry 1991- 1 & 2
Katerina Handlova – ‘coral’ necklace 2007 – Glass-rocailles, lamp-worked beads
Martina Minarikova – ‘Crystals’ necklace w/ removable brooches 2008-Glass, silver, stainless steel, hematite, calcite
Petr Dvorak - Lamp-worked glass, Bohemian garnets, titanium – necklace 2009
Zdenka Lastovickova – ‘Dream’ necklace 2008 – Lamp-worked glass -wound beads w/ Bohemian garnets, gold foil, cast gilded silver
Svatopluk Kasaly - Untitled, Necklace 2000 – cut-polished glass, gilded brass
Václav Cigler – wearable object- optical glass, chromium plated silver
Glass in Czech Jewelry – Curator’s Comment
« The works of Czech jewelry artists using glass in contemporary jewelry are presented to the general public very rarely. Therefore the invitation of the Viennese Gallery V&V, which initiated this inspiring project, attracted attention of most of the addressed artists.
The exhibition features in total 13 artists differing in age, professional experience as well as development of their opinions over the course of their career. It can be said that the exhibited works constitute a comprehensive overview of the most interesting items created in this specific sphere.
The theme of the exhibition is glass as an original integral part of jewelry. Glass in its variations refers not only to its physical qualities such as fragility or hardness, but primarily its changeable optical and visual beauty, which provides it with a spiritual quality.
The exhibiting artists present outcomes of their work based on individual approach, representing their personal experience during glass processing. Using unique techniques they record changes of physical qualities and often reach surprising results.
The characteristic features of glass are its optical qualities, its exceptional color scheme and the possibility of achieving lustrous shine. Casting of glass achieves a matted surface,sometimes wrinkled by the artist’s intervention, thereby maintaining the latent mystery of the glass matter.
Our admiration for transparent hand-made glass beads in connection with Bohemian garnets may result in an intuitive experience—like our encounter with other works of modern art.
The presented jewelry pieces certainly stand out in their original approach and visual language, physically uniting both content and form.
The ultimate purpose of the jewelry piece is its specific presentation when it is eventually worn by a person. The body becomes a moving “carrier” of the work and animates not only the piece of jewelry itself, but also supports and develops the kinesthetic perception of viewers and the person wearing it.A great advantage for all exhibiting artists was the accessibility of using all available technologies of this industry, drawing experience from the rich arts and crafts tradition and the history of glass manufacturing in the Czech regions. Some of the exhibiting artists were influenced not only by artistic processing of glass as we know it from the tradition of preceding generations, but also by the production of Czech artists who attained international esteem with their glass sculptures. They improve established procedures by experimentation, extending the way glass is used regardless of the context of contemporary art jewelry.
This exhibition represents a beneficial step in the field of art which successfully develops the continuity of processing glass, a field often neglected both by curators and the public.
The exhibition providess insight into the phenomenon of Czech glass jewelry, extending awareness of an object which is worn and seen. » (Jiří Šibor)
Tschechisches Zentrum (Czech Centre)
Prinzregentenstrasse 7
80538 München/Munich – Germany
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