Summer has just started, but the calendar for new and exciting exhibition that will only start in Autumn is almost ready. If you plan to visit Paris this September, take note of the "Dans la ligne de mire, scènes du bijou contemporain en France" exhibition at Les Arts Décoratifs.
One of the most exciting things about contemporary jewellery remains the fact that many pieces are suspended between art and fashion and can be showcased in a display cabinet or can be worn to make a statement.
"Dans la ligne de mire" will feature seventy jewellers and silversmiths invited to show their most recent creations alongside Medieval/ Renaissance, 17th/18th/19th Century, Art Nouveau/Art Deco, Modern and Contemporary works.
The event will look at the role of adornment through the luxury industry in France, while examining also the social aspects linked with jewellery through videos, documentaries, photographs and advertising campaigns, allowing visitors to ponder about the changes the role of jewellery went through in the last twenty-five years.
The pieces will be scattered here and there in the museum rooms, and engage in a dialogue with the objects surrouding them (in some cases the pieces will be accompanied by multimedia installations), in this way visitors will also be invited to join in a sort of treasure hunt.
Most of the designers included were trained in art schools, but left behind more conventional materials employed for jewels to inject in their handmade pieces their personal and critical views, questioning issues such as social status and codes, commercial values, aesthetic challenges and more conceptual aspects linked to their lives rather than their practices.
While some designers conceived their jewellery as pieces to shock and amaze, others hide in them symbolic and deeper meanings, generating for example contrasts between rich and poor/conventional and unconventional materials (David Roux-Fouillet's silkworm cocoon piece is definitely among the most unusual ones).
The exhibition will also feature Haute Joaillerie pieces created by Shaun Leane for Boucheron, Pierre Hardy for Hermès and Victoire de Castellane for Dior. Among the other highlights included there will be several interventions by designer Arik Levy inspired by his previous project for Swarovski's Crystal Palace, and a final showcase dedicated to jewellery inspired by military uniforms and camouflage, revolving around the issues of power and violence and addressing body changes and modifications through piercing, tattoo and scarification.
Dans la ligne de mire, scènes du bijou contemporain en France, Les Arts Décoratifs, 107 rue de Rivoli, Paris, 19th September 2013 - 2nd March 2014
Image credits
All images courtesy of Les Arts Décoratifs
1. Marion Delarue, Cracheh 1, collar brace, lacquer tube 2011 © Marion Delarue
2. Emmanuel Lacoste, tongue jewel, fine gold, 2006. Photography by Andreas Licht
3. Aoi Kotsuhiroi, Forbidden colours, Urushi lacquer, cherry wood, horn, kangaroo leather © 2012 Aoi Kotsuhiroi
4. Laurence Verdier, Dans le nid (In the nest) necklace, broken plate shards, cotton yarn, 2012. Photograph by Stefano Forlini
5. © Patrick Veillet
6. Florence Croisier, Dynjandi 1, chainmail dress, blue anodised titanium, 2012. Photograph by Jean-Michel Vergès
7. David Roux-Fouillet, silkworm cocoons © David Roux-Fouillet
8. Gilles Jonemann, 1925 Tribute to Joséphine necklace, glass balls, steel cable, plastic bananas, 2013 © Gilles Jonemann
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