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| Dear ,
Fresh for March 2010, we present the newsletter. In this letter AJF member Ahna Adair looks at Gijs Bakker's Chi ha paura . . .? project, where mostly non-jewelry designers create provocative pieces of production jewelry. Yumi Janairo Roth reviews an exciting exhibition of very talented newcomers all five years out of school. And our intrepid blog editor Damian Skinner interviews Benjamin Lignel about his groundbreaking show of French art jewelry. Take a look.
We are also proud to announce that Marthe LeVan, editor at Lark Books, has joined the hardworking AJF Newsletter team. Welcome Marthe! Thanks to you all.
Mike Holmes |
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 A LETTER FROM THE AJF BOARD CHAIR
Recently I was dreaming that the AJF board members were players on a sports team and we were wildly ecstatic. We were on a winning streak but our fans and all the members of our club were sitting on the sidelines without making any noise. It was actually a bit of a nightmare if I'm honest. Right now the board is so excited and working so hard to create an interesting and entertaining organization for you but I am wondering - where are you? Without your membership we won't be able to keep doing what we do, or respond to your curiosity about art jewelry. We need not only you but everyone else you know who is even slightly interested. Please join us! Click here to join or renew.
The evidence of our new direction is now becoming apparent. We have made a start with the newly active blog on the AJF website. Our blogger Damian Skinner, has been entertaining and educating us about what is going on in the wide world of jewelry. You really should check it out. We also joined Facebook! Thank you Sienna Patti, a new board member for the encouragement to step into the world of networking. The 'friends' we have made in such a short time has been an appreciated gesture of support for our work.
At SOFA NY the AJF sponsored speaker this year is Rock Hushka from the Tacoma Museum of Art. He will be giving a talk, co-sponsored by SNAG, called 'Holding Objects: What it means to wear jewelry - The psychoanalytic mechanisms' on Friday 16 April at 11.15 am. A separate email will be going out to members about the VIP reception preceding this talk.
Plans continue for our trip to London and shortly you will have the itinerary.
Our Emerging Artist Award, which is now in its eleventh year, has just opened for applications and you can read all about it on our site. (Click here) Do you know any jeweler who qualifies? Please send them the link. They could receive $5000 and real boost at a critical time in their career.
Wishing you all the best,
Susan Cummins
Chair, AJF Board |
 THE AJF BLOG
We started with a wimper, or maybe it was more of a mewling sound like a sick and slightly sad kitten, but we told ourselves that at least we started and that was something. It didn't take long before a reader made their way to our revamped blog, only to quickly exit when they saw the kind of jewelry we were praising. But, as Kevin Costner found out in Field of Dreams, if you build it they will come, and as new blog content started arriving in the AJF inbox, we realized there are some heavy hitters on the contemporary jewelry team.
We looked at bling in San Francisco, trashed LL Cool J's taste in jewelry, discovered that they award jewelry wearers in Korea, became amateur anthropologists to find out why people wear jewelry, spanked the sparkle of diamonds, took a train to Kranitzky and Overstreet, rejoiced with Racine Art Museum, adorned the Middle East, went on a journey with Tina Rath, found a ring for every finger, got shocked by electric jewelry, asked who's afraid of production jewelry, received guests from Israel, chatted with the crème of the European jewelry community, and celebrated multiples . . .
To visit the AJF blog, click here.
Damian Skinner |
 EXHIBITION REVIEW: Designers on Jewellery: Twelve Years of Jewellery Production by Chi ha paura...?
by Ahna Adair
Designers on Jewellery: Twelve Years of Jewellery Production by Chi ha paura...? opened last month at the San Francisco Craft + Design Museum and is on display until May 16, 2010. Click here to read this review. |
 EXHIBITION REVIEW: to be: (determined) - an exhibition of the first five
by Yumi Janairo Roth
to be: (determined) - an exhibition of the first five presents a broad survey of contemporary metalsmithing at The Hatton Gallery at the Colorado State University. Exhibition organizer Haley Bates and jurors Sarah Turner and Maria Phillips state that 'the exhibition showcases artists within the "first five" [years since completing training within the field of jewelry and metalsmithing]: it is an exhibition which offers a moment to encourage momentum, and is an occasion to recognize new developments in the field of jewelry and metalsmithing. Click here to read the review. |
 AJF INTERVIEW: Benjamin Lignel
by Damian Skinner
Benjamin Lignel is curator of Also Known As Jewellery*, an exhibition of French contemporary jewelry that has been traveling the world.
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