'Picasso to Koons: Artist as Jeweler' Comes to the Museum of Arts and Design

The exceptional and little-known works of wearable sculpture presented this fall in Picasso to Koons: Artist as Jeweler will reward viewers with new insights into the creative wellsprings of such artistic giants as Georges Braque, Max Ernst, Lucio Fontana, Louise Nevelson, Anthony Caro, Yoko Ono, and Anish Kapoor. Organized by the Museum of Arts and Design, in collaboration with guest curator Diane Venet, Picasso to Koons opens on September 20, 2011 and runs through January 8, 2012.

Encompassing some 187 jewels by 128 artists, Picasso to Koons is drawn from the holdings of a host of noted collectors, artists, and artist estates. 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.

"We are thrilled to present a jewelry exhibition like this one, which in addition to being so visually engaging, reveals the more personal side of so many great artists," says Holly Hotchner, MAD's Nanette L. Laitman Director. "As the only museum in the country with a collection of contemporary art jewelry on permanent display, the Museum of Arts and Design has long championed jewelry as an art form in its own right as part of our mission to break down what we see as the false hierarchies dividing the various realms of material creation: art, design, and craft."

"I first became fascinated with artist-made jewelry when my then-beau rolled a thin piece of silver around my finger to form a wedding ring," said exhibition curator Venet. Since then, she has acquired artist made jewelry created by her husband's confreres, a group that has included Arman, César, and Mimmo Rotella, 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."

Picasso to Koons: Artist as Jeweler will be accompanied by a fully illustrated, 240-page catalogue, with essays by Adrien Goetz and Barbara Rose, published by Flammarion/Rizzoli.

Picasso to Koons: The Artist as Jeweler is generously underwritten by Nancy Brown Negley, with additional support from the Inner Circle, a leadership Museum support group.