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Women’s Tales: Four Leading Israeli Jewelers
Racine Art Museum
441 Main Street, Racine. 262-638-8300
Through January 21, 2007
Pretty jewelry? Baguettes and brilliant stones are nowhere to be
found in this museum. Vered Kaminski, an artist highlighted in
the exhibit Women’s Tales: Four Leading Israeli Jewelers at the
Racine Art Museum (RAM), explained further: “You don’t see this
kind of jewelry in the (American) movies...or fashion shows.” This
international debut exhibit continuing through January 21, 2007
presents body ornaments by four outstanding Israeli women
displaying their forward thinking concept of jewelry as
contemporary craft through four mini retrospectives.
Three of the women visited the RAM this November to discuss
their individual artistic process. Esther Knobel, Vered Kaminski,
and Deganit Stern Schocken journeyed from Israel in
collaboration with the Israel Museum, Jerusalem (IMJ) while
Bianca Eshel-Gershuni, in her seventies, stayed behind. These
artists view jewelry beyond precious metals and gems. Each
artist translates ideas and process into an art form Americans
are unfamiliar with. “Amazingly you will not see pieces like this
anywhere else in the U.S.,” commented Stern Schocken.
Trained in Europe and following that vision, these women view
jewelry as an artistic expression focused on the idea, process,
construction and use of inexpensive and/or unusual materials.
The concept and meaning of an individual piece is valued above
expense. Commercial opportunity or worth is secondary to
esthetic and intellectual appeal. Included in these concepts are
autobiographical stories of the women’s lives in Israel, past and
present, who they are now as women, wives, and mothers.
Examining the tiny pins of recycled tin, necklaces woven with wire
and native Israeli stones, elaborate rings with found objects from
city streets for two fingers, and bracelets of copper and sterling
silver fashioned as chain link fencing a person might wonder if
this jewelry was created to be worn. Knobel explained,
“Everything here is meant to be worn. The jewelry exists,
becomes the best, when worn on the body.” Stern Schocken
followed her thought, “Sometimes the jewelry seems difficult to
wear, not because it is too big, or too heavy, but because of the
meaning. You must like to look at it as art, see things you wound
not used to see, as in a necklace of a cross. For a Jewish person
like me, the piece is difficult to wear. Not because of the color or
weight, but because of the meaning.”
Bruce Pepich, Executive Director and Curator for Collections at
the RAM, says American audiences will be challenged by the
exhibit, but charmed as well. He recently recalled several women
attending the show who asked him, “Where did all the pretty
jewelry go?” “Right here, in the cases,” he replied. Their
expectations included treasures and tiaras royalty might wear.
Pepich then explained each jeweler’s creative and esthetic
statement.
Each woman, each artist has her own unique perspective. Eshel-
Gershuni works with mythology and a myriad of found objects in
her fantastical creations. Kaminski is motivated by industrial
materials, mathematical structures and processes combined
with stones off the playgrounds even as her native Israel remains
at war. Stern Schocken holds an architectural degree and views
jewelry as “buildings on the body” with longer necklaces
becoming “like streets, and the streets become cities on the
bodies.” Knobel’s inspiration is often nature, utilizing laminated
or dried organic elements, as well as the “discipline and
boldness of her profession.” Pepich then reiterated, “That the
jewelry comes more alive when it’s worn. But it’s also great to
leave out on a table, as art, when it’s not worn.”
Pepich was indeed excited that this exhibit, conducted in
cooperation with IMJ and three years in the making, is the first
international show for the RAM, which coincides with another first
for the institution. That first is an exquisite published book, in hard
and soft cover, detailing each artist and her work, the entire show,
available at the RAM Museum Store. These books were also
distributed throughout the U.S. building the RAM’s reputation
nationwide as one of the leading American contemporary craft
museums in the county.
This groundbreaking exhibit, Women’s Tales, elevates jewelry to
an art form equal to sculpture or painting inspiring the audience
to contemplate how these artists convey the conflict of everyday
life in Israel. These esthetic statements detail unique stories,
experiences, and artistic process related through tiny pieces of
jewelry. Some are “pretty,” as in Knobel’s Daisy Wire, a silver and
18K gold necklace from 1993. Others are subtly stunning,
engaging or intriguing. And yet, these pieces demand to be worn.
Knobel’s necklaces and pins with laminated petals, and Stern
Schocken’s architectural necklaces are available for wearing at
the museum shop. There is indeed “pretty jewelry” produced in
this expressive exhibit at the RAM by four outstanding
contemporary Israeli jewelers.
- Peggy Sue Dunigan
Comments? Email comments@susceptibletoimages.com
Racine Art Museum
441 Main Street, Racine. 262-638-8300
Through January 21, 2007
Pretty jewelry? Baguettes and brilliant stones are nowhere to be
found in this museum. Vered Kaminski, an artist highlighted in
the exhibit Women’s Tales: Four Leading Israeli Jewelers at the
Racine Art Museum (RAM), explained further: “You don’t see this
kind of jewelry in the (American) movies...or fashion shows.” This
international debut exhibit continuing through January 21, 2007
presents body ornaments by four outstanding Israeli women
displaying their forward thinking concept of jewelry as
contemporary craft through four mini retrospectives.
Three of the women visited the RAM this November to discuss
their individual artistic process. Esther Knobel, Vered Kaminski,
and Deganit Stern Schocken journeyed from Israel in
collaboration with the Israel Museum, Jerusalem (IMJ) while
Bianca Eshel-Gershuni, in her seventies, stayed behind. These
artists view jewelry beyond precious metals and gems. Each
artist translates ideas and process into an art form Americans
are unfamiliar with. “Amazingly you will not see pieces like this
anywhere else in the U.S.,” commented Stern Schocken.
Trained in Europe and following that vision, these women view
jewelry as an artistic expression focused on the idea, process,
construction and use of inexpensive and/or unusual materials.
The concept and meaning of an individual piece is valued above
expense. Commercial opportunity or worth is secondary to
esthetic and intellectual appeal. Included in these concepts are
autobiographical stories of the women’s lives in Israel, past and
present, who they are now as women, wives, and mothers.
Examining the tiny pins of recycled tin, necklaces woven with wire
and native Israeli stones, elaborate rings with found objects from
city streets for two fingers, and bracelets of copper and sterling
silver fashioned as chain link fencing a person might wonder if
this jewelry was created to be worn. Knobel explained,
“Everything here is meant to be worn. The jewelry exists,
becomes the best, when worn on the body.” Stern Schocken
followed her thought, “Sometimes the jewelry seems difficult to
wear, not because it is too big, or too heavy, but because of the
meaning. You must like to look at it as art, see things you wound
not used to see, as in a necklace of a cross. For a Jewish person
like me, the piece is difficult to wear. Not because of the color or
weight, but because of the meaning.”
Bruce Pepich, Executive Director and Curator for Collections at
the RAM, says American audiences will be challenged by the
exhibit, but charmed as well. He recently recalled several women
attending the show who asked him, “Where did all the pretty
jewelry go?” “Right here, in the cases,” he replied. Their
expectations included treasures and tiaras royalty might wear.
Pepich then explained each jeweler’s creative and esthetic
statement.
Each woman, each artist has her own unique perspective. Eshel-
Gershuni works with mythology and a myriad of found objects in
her fantastical creations. Kaminski is motivated by industrial
materials, mathematical structures and processes combined
with stones off the playgrounds even as her native Israel remains
at war. Stern Schocken holds an architectural degree and views
jewelry as “buildings on the body” with longer necklaces
becoming “like streets, and the streets become cities on the
bodies.” Knobel’s inspiration is often nature, utilizing laminated
or dried organic elements, as well as the “discipline and
boldness of her profession.” Pepich then reiterated, “That the
jewelry comes more alive when it’s worn. But it’s also great to
leave out on a table, as art, when it’s not worn.”
Pepich was indeed excited that this exhibit, conducted in
cooperation with IMJ and three years in the making, is the first
international show for the RAM, which coincides with another first
for the institution. That first is an exquisite published book, in hard
and soft cover, detailing each artist and her work, the entire show,
available at the RAM Museum Store. These books were also
distributed throughout the U.S. building the RAM’s reputation
nationwide as one of the leading American contemporary craft
museums in the county.
This groundbreaking exhibit, Women’s Tales, elevates jewelry to
an art form equal to sculpture or painting inspiring the audience
to contemplate how these artists convey the conflict of everyday
life in Israel. These esthetic statements detail unique stories,
experiences, and artistic process related through tiny pieces of
jewelry. Some are “pretty,” as in Knobel’s Daisy Wire, a silver and
18K gold necklace from 1993. Others are subtly stunning,
engaging or intriguing. And yet, these pieces demand to be worn.
Knobel’s necklaces and pins with laminated petals, and Stern
Schocken’s architectural necklaces are available for wearing at
the museum shop. There is indeed “pretty jewelry” produced in
this expressive exhibit at the RAM by four outstanding
contemporary Israeli jewelers.
- Peggy Sue Dunigan
Comments? Email comments@susceptibletoimages.com
| Deganit Stern Schocken, Body Piece (City), 1993 Nickel silver, stainless steel, paper, silver, and shell Photo courtesy of the Artist / Racine Art Museum. Photography: Michael Tropea, Chicago, Illinois |
| Bianca Eshel-Gershuni, Turtle, Brooch, 1998 Modeling clay, 24k gold leaf, paint, and metal 5 3/8 x 4 1/4 x 1 1/4 inches Courtesy of the Artist / Racine Art Museum. Photography: Michael Tropea, Chicago, Illinois |
| Vered Kaminski, Necklace, 1991 18k gold and stones. 6 1/2 x 6 1/2 x 3/4 inches Courtesy of the Artist / Racine Art Museum. Photography: Michael Tropea, Chicago, Illinois |
| Esther Knobel, Immigrants Brooch, 1993 Nickel silver, recycled tin can, elastic band, and stainless steel. 4 3/4 x 5 x 1/2 inches Courtesy of the Artist / Racine Art Museum Photography: Michael Tropea, Chicago, Illinois |