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NGV acquires Lucy Sarneel work

01.10.2019


Lucy Sarneel’s ‘Like a butterfly’ necklace (similar to brooch pictured) has recently been acquired by the National Gallery of Victoria for their permanent collection.

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Lucy Sarneel, 'Like a butterly' 2015, brooch, zinc, acrylic paint, varnish, 8.9x1.9x1.0cm, photo courtesy of the artist.

Catherine Truman & Inari Kiuru works acquired by Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris

01.10.2019


(left) Catherine Truman, 'White Leaf #2', 2019, paper and cotton compound, thermoplastic, steel, 280x90x60mm, photo by Grant Hancock; (right) Inari Kiuru, 'A forest spirit visits the city alone (Navigating by the stars)', 2018, brooch, concrete, pigments, glass, mild steel, 23x110x9mm, photo by the artist.

The Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris has an enviable collection of Australian contemporary jewellery thanks to the passion and generosity of Diana Morgan AM, who has been an international advocate in this field for over 20 years. This collection recently acquired eight new works by our artists Catherine Truman and Inari Kiuru.

The works acquired include Catherine Truman’s recent, majestic ‘White Leaf’ brooch and a series of her ‘Nasturtium’ brooches, and four significant brooches from Inari Kiuru’s recent series ‘A forest spirit visits the city alone’.

Our warmest thanks and admiration to Diana for her long-time support.

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Jiro Kamata, VOICES at Alien Art Centre, Taiwan until 3 May 2020

01.10.2019


VOICES is the first major retrospective of Jiro Kamata’s work, and has recently opened at the Alien Art Centre in Taiwan.

For over 20 years, Munich based Jiro Kamata has been engaging in many aspects of ‘optic experience’. By deploying an array of expressive techniques, dominated by both reflection and communication, Jiro has carved out a unique position in contemporary craft while participating in numerous international shows. The voices that lend the exhibition its name emerge through sound, attitude, identity and expression, and point to an ongoing story that is preserved and continued.

A new book accompanies this exhibition, designed by Studio Amanda Haas, with publishing assistance by Arnoldsche Art Publishers in Stuttgart, Germany. Please contact Gallery Funaki to reserve your copy.

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Marian Hosking in ‘The flower show’ at Academy Gallery, Launceston

01.10.2019


Marian Hosking, Brooches, 2017-19, sterling silver. Photo courtesy of the artist.

“Often a garden is a shared space, not only with loved ones, but our pets, friends and neighbours. Subsequently we have taken a broad approach to shaping this exhibition and included work from three active University research sectors. Firstly, we have drawn on objects from the University Collections in the areas of science, botany, classics, rare books and art, looking for connections between the love of, and the study of, flora. Secondly, we have invited artists to respond to the idea that flowers are one of the central concerns in art, both as symbol and as subject. Finally, The flower show – birth, death and everything in between also includes works that shed some light on this fascination we all have for flowers, gardens and the societal conveyances that lay between.”

The flower show – birth, death and everything in between is presented in partnership with Blooming Tasmania and the University Cultural Collections.

Curated by Dr. Malcolm Bywaters & Dr. Kim Lehman. Text by the curators.

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Karl Fritsch & Francis Upritchard in ‘The Abyss: Strategies in contemporary art’ at Griffith University Art Museum

09.07.2019


25 July – 28 September

With the capacity to elicit simultaneous and complex experiences, artworks in this exhibition employ push-pull tensions of seduction and repulsion – towards the abject and informé, to the ornamental, erotic and transgressive, and those that consider historical grotesques to explore contemporary issues of race and identity.

Curator: Naomi Evans

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Image: Karl Fritsch and Francis Upritchard, Hand, 2019, glove, gold, white gold, gold plate, silver, amalganum, niello, diamonds, rubies, emeralds, tanzanite. Photograph courtesy of the artists.

Margaret West works acquired by the Danner Foundation

02.05.2019


Margaret West, Rosa fervida, 2004, basalt, paint, sterling silver, photograph courtesy of www.margaretwest.com.au.

It’s been an enormous privilege to assist the family and friends of Margaret West in placing four important works by Margaret in the collection of the Danner Stiftung at the Pinakothek der Moderne in Munich. The selection includes two brooches from the ‘Fatal Flowers’ series of 2004 and two 2001 brooches.

Thanks to the Danner Foundation and the wonderful staff a the Pinakothek for their wisdom and insight in adding this important Australian voice to such an impressive collection. Thanks to Otto Künzli for his advocacy and thanks to Margaret’s passionate team here in Australia.

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Blanche Tilden & Jiro Kamata featured at Corning Museum of Glass

01.05.2019


Blanche Tilden, 'Graded Palais necklace', 45mm high x 390 mm dia., waterjet cut and flameworked borosilicate glass, oxidised 925 silver. Photograph by Grant Hancock.

Funaki artists Blanche Tilden (Australia) and Jiro Kamata (Germany) have been selected by the Corning Museum of Glass for their upcoming survey of global contemporary glass practice, New Glass Now. The exhibition features 100 artists from 32 nationalities and is

Karol Wight, President and Executive Director of The Corning Museum of Glass, said: “New Glass Now continues a more than 60-year commitment to share the history of the medium over more than 35 centuries, including the contemporary development of art and design realized in glass. The exhibitions that CMoG curated in 1959 and 1979 defined the field of Studio Glass and brought critical attention to the work being done by glassmakers the world over. We hope that New Glass Now will continue this important tradition and reveal exciting new insights into work being made today across the globe.”

The exhibition has been named by Afar magazine as one of the 10 must-see exhibition in the US this season.

Opens May 12 and runs until 5 January, 2020.

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Yutaka Minegishi wins the Herbert Hofmann Prize

01.04.2019


Yutaka Minegishi, Rings, 2018/19, amber, gold. Photograph courtesy of the artist.

Congratulations to Yutaka Minegishi, who was recently named a recipient of the Hebert Hofmann Award at the annual Schmuck event in Munich, alongside Misato Seki (Japan) and Junwong Jun (Korea).

The jurors, Cornelie Holzach, Sophie Hanagarth, Otto Künzli and Gert Bruckner, said of Minegishi’s work:

“From the circular shape of the ring, he develops a monolithic-looking head. The dynamic of the form is created by the gradual rotation and winding of the material. As a result, the rings lose the coldness of the geometry and they meet the human body. Gold and amber live on color and their specific shine. The opacity of the gold is contrasted with the transparency of the amber, so that we can see through the rings of Yutaka Minegishi for the first time in these works.”

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Marc Monzó awarded in Barcelona

26.02.2019


Image: Marc Monzó, Untitled, brooch, 2019, silver, copper and steel, 120 x 80mm. Photograph courtesy of the artist.

Congratulations to Marc Monzó, who has won the Ciutat de Barcelona Award (Design category) for his new group of works, Level, which was exhibited at Galerie OONA in Berlin last month. Awarded by the City Council of Barcelona “in recognition of his artistic career”, this prize celebrates the best in culture and science. Marc says “the works that are part of the Level exhibition are a set of pieces with a structural nature. These are naked skeletons that outline areas, their function would be similar to that of a three-dimensional map. Some of these compositions are inspired by small ephemeral constructions of gardens, or topography measurement tools.”

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Inari Kiuru featured in ‘Concrete: Art Design Architecture’

26.02.2019


Image: Inari Kiuru, Memory of the sea, interactive vessel-sculpture, 2017, 9 parts, 500 x 500mm when arranged as a square, conrete, pigments, mica, UV, water resistant sealant. Photograph by Inari Kiuru.

JamFactory Adelaide, 1 March – 28 April, 2019

CONCRETE: art design architecture is a major exhibition exploring innovative ways that concrete is being used by artists, designers and architects in Australia in the 21st century. Curated by JamFactory’s Margaret Hancock Davis (Senior Curator) and Brian Parkes (CEO), the exhibition includes 21 artists, designers and architects from across Australia and brings together products, projects and works of art that reflect many of the current preoccupations with concrete within contemporary art, design and architecture in Australia.

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Manon van Kouswijk’s Making Faces shortlisted for The Cornish Family Prize for Art and Design Publishing

26.02.2019


Image courtesy of Perimeter Books.

Congratulations to Manon van Kouswijk with designers Stuart Geddes and Ziga Testen, whose book Making Faces: a jewellery playbook, featured as part of Manon’s exhibition here last November, is shortlisted for the Cornish Family Prize for Art and Design Publishing.

An initiative of the NGV and supported by philanthropists Caroline and Philip Cornish, the annual prize is the most significant of its kind, recognising publishing as a critical creative practice. $15,000 is awarded to the winning book, with additional $1,000 prizes for up to four finalists. Winners will be announced at Melbourne Art Book Fair 2019, which runs as part of Melbourne Design Week, March 14-24.

Perimeter Books is hosting an official launch of Making Faces: a jewellery playbook on Saturday 9 March, 4-6pm at their store: 743 High St Thornbury, 3071. The launch will be accompanied by an informal conversation about the making of the publication. Contact Perimeter Books for more information.

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Catherine Truman on the Mornington Peninsula

14.09.2018


JamFactory’s touring exhibition ‘Catherine Truman: no surface holds’ opens on 21 September at Mornington Peninsula Regional Gallery. Truman’s practice is renowned for its diversity and incorporates contemporary jewellery, objects, digital image and film installation with a focus upon the parallels between artistic process and scientific method. Investigating Truman’s 20 years of collaborative practice at the nexus of art and science, this exhibition is an important retrospective of the multiple engagements Truman has had working with scientists over this time as well as featuring a new body of work.

Catherine Truman will give a talk at 3pm, Saturday 22 September.

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Helen Britton in Newcastle

12.09.2018


Helen Britton, portrait by Dirk Eisel

Helen Britton is currently artist in residence at The LockUp in her home town of Newcastle, NSW. If you’re in the area, join Helen for a talk about her career and the experience of returning to Newcastle, to explore and experience the place that through memory, has informed much of her practice.

Saturday 15 September, 2-3pm.

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‘Ormolu’ at JamFactory

12.09.2018


Julie Blyfield & Kirsten Coelho, Yelta group, 2017, porcelain, matt white, banded iron oxide, saturated iron glaze, bi metal copper & sterling silver, sterling silver, cable, wax. Photo by Grant Hancock.

Adelaide’s JamFactory will soon host a re-staging of the major Ormolu exhibition by South Australian artists Julie Blyfield and Kirsten Coelho. Ormolu first showed at Funaki in 2017, with key works acquired by Geelong Art Gallery. The new iteration of this wonderful show opens on 5 October.

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Important Marian Hosking archival works available

12.09.2018


Marian Hosking, Brachychiton vessel, 2011, sterling silver. Photo by Fred Kroh.

Marian Hosking has recently made a significant group of key works from the last two decades of her practice available exclusively through Funaki. The catalogue of available works, which includes vessels and  is available below, please contact the gallery for more information.

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Winners of the 2018 Mari Funaki Award

14.08.2018


Benedikt Fischer, Pearly Whites 5, 2018, shell, mother of pearl, remanium, sculpey / Samira Goetz, DWELL, necklace, 2018, epoxy concrete, cotton thread

Congratulations to Benedikt Fischer, winner of the 2018 Mari Funaki Award for Contemporary Jewellery in the Established category for his series of five Pearly Whites brooches, made from shell, mother of pearl, remanium and sculpey.

Congratulations also to Samira Goetz (Germany), winner of the A$2000 prize in the Emerging category for her necklace, DWELL. The judges commented that this piece “works so well and is extremely wearable despite the fact that it’s big. It’s bold and it’s well resolved.”

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AGWA acquisition

13.07.2018


This month we’re proud to announce a significant acquisition by the Art Gallery of Western Australia. Works by Yutaka Minegishi, Helen Britton, Manon van Kouswijk, Blanche Tilden, Daniel Kruger and Marcos Guzman have now entered AGWA’s permanent collection, continuing to build one of Australia’s most important public collections of international contemporary jewellery.

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Blanche Tilden for Heide Museum of Modern Art

10.07.2018


Blanche Tilden, Earrings, 2018, flameworked borocilicate glass, oxidised sterling silver, photograph by John Gollings.

The major exhibition Design for Life: Grant and Mary Featherston has just opened at Heide Museum of Modern Art, marking a special moment in the history Australian design. This remarkable pair, partners in life and work, had a profound influence and continues to this day.

Blanche Tilden has previously worked with Mary Featherston using elements of Grant’s glass work. Especially for this exhibition, she has created a series of jewellery pieces that draw on the Featherstons’ forms, palettes and material ethos. This beautifully crafted jewellery is available exclusively from Heide.

Design for Life: Grant and Mary Featherston is on show until 7 October.

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Julie Blyfield in Stanthorpe Art Prize

12.06.2018


Julie Blyfield, Silver, leaves of grey, 2018, wall object, sterling silver, 24x20x3cm, photograph by Grant Hancock

Congratulations to Julie Blyfield, whose sculpture Silver, leaves of grey (above) has been selected for the Stanthorpe Art Prize 2018, held at the Stanthorpe Art Gallery in Queensland from 16 June to 19 July. Winners share in $40,000 in total prize money, to be announced at the opening on 15 June. The works are available to purchase.

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‘Aurora Australis’ curated by Katie Scott now showing in Montreal

12.06.2018


Simon Cottrell, Bell Pipe, pendant, 2018, monel, cord, photograph by the artist.

Aurora Australis – a major exhibition of work by 17 artists living and working here in Australia – opened over the weekend at Galerie Noel Guyomarc’h in Montreal. Curated by Funaki director Katie Scott, the exhibition features work by Julie Blyfield, Simon Cottrell, Anna Davern, Bin Dixon-Ward, Sian Edwards, Maureen Faye-Chauhan, Emma Fielden, Marcos Guzman, Kirsten Haydon, Marian Hosking, Inari Kiuru, Sue Lorraine, Carlier Makigawa, Sally Marsland, Blanche Tilden, Catherine Truman and Manon van Kouswijk.

Simon Cottrell will conduct a masterclass at the École joaillerie Montréal in early July, to coincide with this exhibition.

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OTTO KÜNZLI ‘OH, SAY!’ ACQUIRED BY TE PAPA

10.05.2018


Otto Künzli, 'Oh, Say!' brooch, 1991, gold, 90 x 90 x 6mm, edition of 8

We’re very proud that Otto Künzli’s iconic work, ‘Oh, Say!’ has recently been acquired by Te Papa Museum, Wellington.

‘Oh, Say!’ is a discomfiting composite of emblemsL the Christian cross, a Klu-Klux Klan hood, a skull, a star, a heart and Mickey Mouse, worn like a sheriff’s badge. It’s a symbol of the American unconscious – perhaps more relevant today than ever.

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Blanche Tilden: Liquid Form, Ian Potter Museum of Art

02.05.2018


Blanche Tilden, Spring Green necklace, 2006, flameworked borosilicate glass, silver.

Blanche Tilden’s work is on show until 28 October at the Ian Potter Museum of Art, in Liquid Form: Ancient and contemporary glass.

Displaying significant artefacts from the Egyptian and Roman periods alongside the work of contemporary makers, Liquid Form examines the development of faience and glass manufacture in the ancient world and demonstrates how these methods have been reinvigorated and extended in the modern era.

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LISA WALKER AT TE PAPA MUSEUM, WELLINGTON

02.05.2018


Te Papa Museum in Wellington is currently staging a major retrospective of Lisa Walker’s work: I want to go to my bedroom but I can’t be bothered, charting her remarkable 30 year career from her studies in Dunedin in the late 1980s, through her time completing her Diplom and etsablishing herself as a major new talent in Munich, to her return to New Zealand and today.

Throughout her career, Lisa Walker has pushed toward the extreme. She is described as a ‘contemporary archaeologist’, excavating culture, art, fashion, and photography for ideas and materials. An extraordinary range of works is on display, made from materials including copper, pearls, and pounamu, to found objects like LEGO, cell phones, and egg beaters.

I want to go to my bedroom but I can’t be bothered runs until 22 July.

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Lisa Walker, Pendant, 2014, plastic, laquer, thread

Manon van Kouswijk on show in NZ

09.03.2018


Manon van Kouswijk, Ornamental Residue, brooches, 2012-14, porcelain, glaze, silver. Photograph by Jeremy Dillon

Manon van Kouswijk’s work is on display until 12 March at Te Uru Gallery in Auckland, in an exhibition curated by James Anderson.

The Ornamental Residue pieces are a series of works made in 2014, which originate from a study into the typology of brooches. For this series, Manon van Kouswijk applies a range of processes and abstractions to iconic brooch forms and motifs from the history of jewellery.

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Geelong Gallery acquisition

08.02.2018


Julie Blyfield and Kirsten Coelho, Burra, 2017, porcelain, matt white, banded iron oxide, sterling silver, blackened sterling silver, bi-metal sterling silver and copper. Photograph by Grant Hancock

We’re pleased to announce that Geelong Gallery has acquired four significant works from our 2017 exhibition Ormolu by Austalian artists Julie Blyfield and Kirsten Coelho. The pieces, which reference historical Australian domestic objects, have entered the collection through the Dorothy McAllister Bequest.

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Otto Künzli – 2018 Klassiker der Moderne

08.02.2018


Otto Künzli, Komainu II, 2015, brooch, wood, pigment. Photograph courtesy of the artist.

Congratulations to Otto Künzli, who has been named the 2018 ‘Klassiker der Moderne’ (Modern Classic). This honour, accompanied by a retrospective exhibition, is given each year during the Munich-based Schmuck exposition, to an artist who is considered to have made an important contribution to contemporary jewellery history.

Swiss artist Otto Künzli was Professor at the Academy of Fine Arts Munich, where he taught goldsmithing and headed the department for Jewellery and Hollowware from 1991 to 2014. He received the City of Munich Design Award in 2017, with the jury saying “His excellent role has played a decisive part in the City of Munich being regarded as a centre of jewellery design throughout the world – a phenomenon that is reflected at the special jewellery exhibition of the International Craft Trades Fair year in year out.”

Otto Künzli last exhibited in Melbourne in 2016 in Evil and I, with Therese Hilbert.

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Modern Masters exhibition 2018

08.02.2018


Marian Hosking, Seaweed vessel, 2004, 925 silver. Photograph by Julian Hutchens.

Marian Hosking, Jiro Kamata and Sally Marsland will exhibit their work at the Teilnehmerliste Meister der Moderne (Modern Masters) 2018 in Munich this March.

Part of the Schmuck exposition at the Internationalen Handwerksmesse, this is a highly regarded exhibition of international craft including glass, ceramic, metal, textile and jewellery. This year will feature 31 artists from 11 countries and runs from March 7-11.

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Blanche Tilden at Mornington Peninsula Art Gallery

13.12.2017


Blanche Tilden, Grand Palais, 2014, water-jet cut, cold worked and lampworked borosilicate glass, oxidised silver, 40x380mm. Photograph by Grant Hancock.

Blanche Tilden is part of a major touring exhibition titled GLASS: art desig architecture, at Mornington Peninsula Art Gallery until 18 February. Go here for more information.

Co-curated By Margaret Hancock Davis and Brian Parkes of Jam Factory, Adelaide, GLASS: art design architecture showcases 23 outstanding projects by contemporary Australian artists, designers and architects. It represents a cross-section of current creative practices and relationships to this versatile material.

She joins fellow exhibitors Andrew Simpson/Vert Design, Architectus, Blanche Tilden, Charles Wright Architects, Clare Belfrage, Deb Jones, Elliat Rich, illumini (Karen Cunningham and Mandi King), Janet Laurence, Jess Dare, Jessica Loughlin, Keep Cup, Mark Douglass, Max Pritchard Architect, Mel Douglas, Nicholas Folland, Richard Whitely, Ruth Allen, Tom Moore, Tonkin Zulaikha Greer/Taylor Cullity Lethlean/ Aurecon), Wendy Fairclough, Woods Bagot and Yhonnie Scarce.

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Marc Monzó, ‘Fire House Sky Table Flower’ at the Stedelijk Museum

12.12.2017


Marc Monzó group of works, image courtesy of Stedelijk Museum and the artist.

A major survey exhibition of work by Barcelona-based artist Marc Monzó, Fire House Sky Table Flower, is currently being shown at the Stedelijk Museum’s Hertogenbosch in The Netherlands. This exhibition marks the awarding of the prestigious Françoise van den Bosch prize to Monzó last year.

The exhbition runs until 4th March 2018. Go here for more information.

A new publication was launched at the opening of the exhibition, titled SUN, published by Puente Editores. This book is available at Funaki.

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Margaret West brooches available

23.11.2017


Margaret West, Alba brooch,1999, stone, paint, silver.

A small selection of brooches by the late Australian artist Margaret West have been made available through Gallery Funaki. Margaret West was a renowned maker and poet, whose work is held in public and private collections here and overseas.

Her work in granite, slate and marble, along with river pebbles and other stones, was marked by a profound simplicity and directness. As Patricia Anderson wrote in her tribute to West, “the durable and aesthetic qualities of these materials were at the heart of her explorations, but so were the emphemerals that surrounded them, the shifting earth, the sky, the air and the wilting flowers. She found these symbols of both permanence and impermanence in gardens and cemeteries — in flowers and gravestones.”

Margaret West lived in the latter part of her life in the Blue Mountains and died in 2015, at age 78.

We have five significant works available from her 1997-1999 series Notes (the sky is a garden).

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Toowoomba Regional Art Gallery acquisition

15.11.2017


Inari Kiuru, A tree and the night's edge (left), concrete, pigment, copper, mica, glass, paint, silver, stainless steel; and The universe sees us asleep (right), concrete, pigment, charcoal, mica, glass, paint, silver, stainless steel, both 2016. Image courtesy of the artist.

The Toowoomba Regional Art Gallery recently acquired works by Inari Kiuru and Blanche Tilden, from the 2017 Contemporary Wearables Award.

Blanche Tilden’s ‘Flow 03’ necklace has entered Toowoomba’s permanent holdings, along with Inari Kiuru’s concrete brooches from the ‘Night falls over Brunswick’ series (pictured). These works were featured in the Mari Funaki Award last year.

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Catherine Truman, ‘No surface holds’

06.07.2017


Catherine Truman’s solo exhibition ‘No surface holds’ opens on July 20 at JamFactory in Adelaide as part of their Icon series, which was launched in 2013 to celebrate the achievements of South Australia’s most accomplished craft and design practitioners.

With a 35-year practice that covers film to public artworks to finite carvings, ‘Jeweller’ as Truman is sometimes referred to, hardly embraces the true expanse of her practice. Rather, she is an accomplished artist, with a love of research flowing in the undercurrent to all of her practice, a practice that is of and about the body as much as it is intended for it. She was described by Melinda Rackham in Catherine’s 2016 monograph as “…a holistic maker – acutely aware of her process, while continually evolving her inquiry. Truman’s curiosity takes her and her makings into the sensate and anatomically unfamiliar – probing thresholds of human being”.

Catherine Truman: No surface holds is on show from 21 July – 17 September at JamFactory before touring nationally.

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Kirsten Haydon wins at Victorian Craft Awards

06.06.2017


Kirsten Haydon, Ice Past, Ice Cut, Ice Remnant, 2016, porcelain, silver, glass, wood, paper, steel, thread, 430x625x50mm, photograph by Kirsten Haydon

Congratulations to our artist Kirsten Haydon, who last night took home the Lynne Kosky Jewellery Award at the Victorian Craft Awards, held at the Sofitel Melbourne. Congratulations also to our artists Inari Kiuru, Lindy McSwan, Yu Fang Chi and Blanche Tilden, who were all named finalists. The Awards are Victoria’s largest biennial exhibition of craft artists, showcasing excellence and innovation across all mediums. Kirsten’s winning work was Ice Past, Ice Cut, Ice Remnant. Ice Past is a pair of contrasting necklaces. Traces and samples, Ice Cut and Ice Remnant reflect on the landscape of Antarctica and its ongoing testing and fragmenting. One constructed from silver reflecting on the sampling of water droplets, the other remnants of unique porcelain moulds. The constructed and moulded forms sample or drape and fall on the body.

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News for Blanche Tilden

06.06.2017


Blanche Tilden, Flow 03 necklace, 2016, flameworked borosilicate glass, titanium, 300x210x23mm as displayed. Photograph by Grant Hancock

Blanche Tilden’s work is featured in the 2017 Tom Malone Glass Prize, Luminous: 15 Years of the Tom Malone Prize at the Art Gallery of WA until 25 June.

Her 2016 necklace Flow 03 is also featured in the new issue of New Glass Review from the Corning Museum of Glass. New Glass Review is an international juried selection of the 100 most innovative works created during the previous year in glass across art, architecture, craft and design.

An important early work, Short Conveyor, is now on show at the National Gallery of Victoria as part of their new exhibition Every Brilliant Eye: Australian Art of the 1990s, until 1 October.

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Catherine Truman CODA Acquisition

17.05.2017


Image: 'Fugitive Portraits 1,2,3', 2005, Carved English Lime, Shu Niku ink, paint, graphite, sterling silver, steel.

Congratulations to Catherine Truman for the recent acquisition of Fugitive Portraits 1,2,3 by CODA Museum.

Made in 2005, this series stands as a particularly strong example of Catherine’s exploration of anatomy and human form in artistic and scientific contexts.

 

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David Bielander receives Swiss Grand Award for Design

17.05.2017


Image: David Bielander, 'Selfie with Cardboard Crown'

Congratulations to David Bielander for being one of three recipients of the 2017 Swiss Grand Award for Design.

Each year, the Swiss Federal Design Commission recognises the work of three artist/designers who have played a defining role in Swiss creative culture.

In granting this award, the Swiss Federal Design Commission stated: “The Confederation grants Bielander a Swiss Grand Award for Design in recognition of his unconventional point of view and critical method, which yield unconventional and striking results that set him at the forefront of international jewellery design.”

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David Bielander at MUDAC

07.02.2017


David Bielander’s significant survey exhibition ‘Carte Blanche’ opens tonight at the Museum of Contemporary Design and Applied Arts in Lausanne, Switzerland.

From MUDAC:

“David Bielander transforms everyday objects into jewellery.  Elements such as prawns, pineapples, beetles or raspberries are immediately recognisable, yet disconcerting.  The aim of Bielander’s tromp-l’oeil is not to mystify the viewer but to set up a humourous interplay between the wearer and the jewellery itself.  He seeks out the most suitable materials and techniques with which to simulate reality, yet it is not until his pieces are worn that they come to life.”

The exhibition runs until 30 April, 2017. Go here for more information.

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David Bielander, 'Cardboard Crown', 2015, gold, edition of 5, photograph by Dirk Eisel

Helen Britton ‘Interstices’ at Lawrence Wilson Gallery, WA

25.01.2017


The Lawrence Wilson Art Gallery at the University of Western Australia will soon open a new exhibition showcasing 25 years of work from renowned Australian artist, Helen Britton.

Presented as part of the Perth International Arts Festival, Helen Britton: Interstices includes new pieces that draw inspiration from Western Australia’s coastline.

UWA Chief Cultural Officer, Professor Ted Snell said, “Britton is herself ‘in between’, rooted in both Germany and Australia.  Her work is a meditation on her own history as she engages with artefacts and environments that act as powerful triggers.”

Inspired by the history of popular culture, Britton creates works that trigger memory.  In examining these finely crafted objects, or experiencing the atmosphere of the exhibition scenography, you discover forms that resonate, establishing a dialogue between artist, object, space and observer.

Helen Britton: Interstices runs 11 February to 15 April 2017. Opening 6pm, Friday 10 February.  Go here for more information.

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Lisa Walker at Christchurch Art Gallery

02.12.2016


Image: Lisa Walker, Necklace, 2016, fabric, stuffing, thread. Photograph by Lisa Walker.

Christchurch Art Gallery is soon to open a major exhibition of new and recent works by the incomparable New Zealand artist Lisa Walker.

“Lisa Walker’s audaciously imagined works don’t sit comfortably within the contours of conventional jewellery. Co-opting increasingly unlikely materials – animal skins, children’s toys, even kitchen utensils – she confounds expectations, redrawing the margins in strange and delightful ways.”

Lisa Walker was the winner of the Francoise van den Bosch Award in 2010, and became a New Zealand Arts Foundation Laureate in 2015.

0+0=0 opens on December 16.

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Lucy Sarneel at CODA Museum

02.12.2016


CODA Museum in Apeldorn will soon stage a major retrospective exhibition by Dutch artist Lucy Sarneel.  Private Territory in Public will show works spanning the length of Lucy’s impressive career, marking the achievements of one of the Netherlands most respected makers.

Lucy Sarneel: Private Territory in Public opens on January 15 and runs until April 9.

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Pictured: Lucy Sarneel, Starry Sky Drive, 2011. Image courtesy of the artist and CODA Museum.

David Bielander wins Silver Triennial

02.11.2016


Image: David Bielander, Paper Bag (Wine) vessel, 2016, patinated silver.

Congratulations to David Bielander, who recently won the Robbe & Berking (1st) Prize AT THE INTERNATIONAL SILVER TRIENNIAL, Germany with his work Paper Bag (Wine) vessel and Cardboard Crucifix.

 

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Emma Fielden residency at Penrith Regional Gallery

02.09.2016


Emma Fielden, Mapping the Void (detail). 2016. Iron oxide pigment, crushed ferrite magnets, neodymium magnets, linen thread. Site specific installation, pictured here at Dominik Mersch Gallery, Sydney.

Sydney jeweller and artist Emma Fielden will shortly begin a six-week residency at the Penrith Regional Gallery as part of their Gravity and Wonder exhibition program.

Emma is one of three artists selected, each being paired with a scientist to create new work, which will then be exhibited for a further six weeks.  Emma will collaborate with scientist Andrew O’Brien, a radio astronomer and PhD candidate at the University of Western Sydney whose work focuses on galaxy clusters and dark matter.

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AJF Interview with Susan Taylor & Peter Jones

04.08.2016


A must-read interview has just been published by Art Jewelry Forum: Manon van Kouswijk spent time talking with and exploring the collection of Canberra-based collectors Susan Taylor and Peter Jones.

Susan and Peter have been collecting contemporary jewellery as well as contemporary art for many years, with an impressive level of engagement and thought.

Read about their project here.

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Therese Hilbert & Otto Künzli at Gewerbemuseum Winterthur

04.07.2016


If you find yourself in Switzerland between now and November 6, be sure to catch an exhibition by Therese Hilbert and Otto Künzli at the Gewerbemuseum Winterthur.

Therese Hilbert and Otto Künzli are two of Switzerland’s most renowned jewellery artists and have been working side by side since the 1970s.  This exhibition is a major survey show covering the major aspects of their respective careers.

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Catherine Truman survey exhibition at AGSA

03.06.2016


Catherine Truman has been selected as the featured artist for the 2016 South Australian Living Artist Festival (SALA) and will be subject of a SALA monograph to be published in August.

The Art Gallery of South Australia will present a comprehensive survey exhibition of her work from June 11 until September 4, 2016.  More information can be found here.

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Yutaka Minegishi wins the Förderpreise 2016 der Laundeshauptstadt München

30.04.2016


Yutaka Minegishi, Ring, 2016, ebony

Congratulations to Yutaka Minegishi, who has just been announced as the winner of the prestigious Förderpreise 2016 der Laundeshauptstadt München.  A small selection of Yutaka’s meticulously carved rings in ebony and other precious timbers are available to view in the gallery now.

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Karl Fritsch and Francis Upritchard in conversation at MUMA

09.02.2016


Francis Upritchard, Tourist 2012 (detail), modelling material, foil, wire, paint, cloth. Collection of Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tamaki, gift of the Patrons of the Auckland Art Gallery, 2013. Image courtesy of the artist and Kate MacGarry, London.

Karl Fritsch is in Melbourne this week for the opening of London based, New Zealand born artist Francis Upritchard’s first major survey exhibition, Jealous Saboteurs, at the Monash University Museum of Art.

Francis Upritchard and Karl Fritsch have collaborated extensively over several years and will discuss this relationship, and others, in a conversation convened by Paola de Trocchio, Curator International Fashion and Textiles, NGV.  The event coincides with the opening of the exhibition, this Saturday 13 Feb from 2-3pm at MUMA, Caulfield. Free entry.

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Interview with Otto Künzli

09.02.2016


Otto Künzli, Kagami pendant, 2014-15, binchotan, urushi (Japanese charcoal and lacquer). Image courtesy of Otto Künzli.

n extensive interview by Akiko Makiyama with Otto Künzli is available now on the klimt02 website.  Künzli discusses the recent showing of his touring retrospective, The Exhibition at the Tokyo Metropolitan Teien Art Museum, as well as new pieces including the I Made It – You Name It series (one of which is available to view at the gallery), collaborations and his thoughts on jewellery, education and art.  Otto’s voice is articulate, fierce and brilliant and I highly recommend a close reading of this wonderful conversation.

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Marc Monzó wins the Françoise van den Bosch Award

12.11.2015


The Françoise van den Bosch Award is presented every two years to an outstanding practitioner of contemporary jewellery, and is considered among the most prestigious prizes in the field.
We are thrilled to announce that Funaki-represted artist Marc Monzó has just been nominated as the 2016 winner.  He joins such illustrious company as David Bielander (2012), Lisa Walker (2010), Karl Fritsch (2006), Warwick Freeman (2002) and Otto Künzli (1990).
Marc Monzó trained at the Escola Massana in Barcelona, graduating in 2000.  He has exhibited extensively since 1998 and his work is held in public collections worldwide.
Marc Monzó exhibited with Kiko Gianocca at Funaki in 2012 and will present a solo exhibition at the gallery in early 2017.  If you happen to be in Germany, his work can be seen from next week as part of ‘From Here and There’.
Image: Marc Monzó, Big Solitaire brooch, silver, cubic zirconia

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Marc Monzó, Big Solitaire brooch, silver, cubic zirconia

Lisa Walker wins 2015 NZ Arts Foundation laureate award

12.11.2015


Congratulations also to Lisa Walker, who has just received the Arts Foundation Laureate Award for 2015.  Lisa is widely regarded as one of the most influential contemporary jewellers to come out of New Zealand and has been represented by Funaki since 2000.

The Arts Foundation Laureate Award, based in New Zealand, is an investment in excellence across a range of art forms for an artist with prominence and outstanding potential for future growth.

The Laureate Awards are presented to five artists annually at the Westpac New Zealand Arts Awards. Each recipient receives $50,000 in recognition of their achievement and as a challenge for them to continue working at high levels.

Lisa’s work can also be seen in the upcoming From Here and There exhibition in Germany.

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Lisa Walker, Untitled (necklace), 2011, sheepskin

‘From Here and There’, curated by Daniel Kruger

12.11.2015


A major pair of exhibitions will shortly open in Germany, curated by Prof. Daniel Kruger to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Burg Giebichenstein Halle.

The first presents works by young international jewellery artists from many parts of the world and shows the diverse trends in current author-jewellery.  A parallel exhibition also showcases works by teachers, graduates and students of Kruger’s Jewellery Class at Burg Giebichenstein University of Art and Design.

Exhibiting artists include some of the leading lights of the jewellery movement, including Funaki-represented artists Helen Britton, Simon Cottrell, Karl Fritsch, Kiko Gianocca, Sally Marsland, Marc Monzó, Lucy Sarneel, Lisa Walker and David Bielander.

Opens 12 November and runs until 3 March 2016, at the Burg Galerie in Volkspark, Halle.

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Otto Künzli in Japan

10.09.2015


Otto Künzli’s vast career retrospective, Otto Künzli: The Exhibition, opens at the Tokyo Metropolitan Teien Art Museum on October 9th.

Born in 1948 in Zurich, Switzerland, Otto Künzli is one of the most important figures in the world of contemporary jewellery. Thanks to his consistently conceptual approach, as well as the humor he expresses through his works, Künzli has also gained attention and regard beyond that field.

This exhibition was originally shown at Die Neue Sammlung – The International Design Museum Munich and has toured to MUDAC – Musée de design et d’arts appliqués contemporains, Lausanne. This leg of the tour brings together over 150 works, ranging from his earliest pieces dating from 1967. The exhibition also includes drawings, photographs and installations.

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Manon van Kouswijk wins at the Victorian Craft Awards

06.08.2015


Manon van Kouswijk 'Out of the Office'

Congratulations to Manon van Kouswijk, who won the $5000 Excellence Award at the Victorian Craft Awards, judged by Tony Ellwood, Director at NGV.

Manon’s work, as well as work by all 116 finalists, including Funaki artists Kirsten Haydon, Maureen Faye-Chauhan and Blanche Tilden, can be seen across four venues until August 15.

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Article: David Bielander Cardboard bracelets

15.07.2015


Art Jewelry Forum recently published a terrific article by Dutch writer and teacher Rutger Emmelkamp about David Bielander’s new Wellpappe (Corrugated Cardboard) bracelets.  Made of patinated silver with white gold staples, these award winning pieces are taking the world by storm.  We will have these remarkable pieces available from late September – contact the gallery for more information and to reserve yours.

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David Bielander 'Wellpappe (Cardboard)' bracelets

Helen Britton at Vasse Felix

03.06.2015


In Context, at the Holmes à Court Gallery at Vasse Felix, presents the work of represented artist Helen Britton in the context of works by some of the key artists from the early years of her development in Western Australia. These artists include Barbara Bolt, Pippin Drysdale, Nola Farman, Gill Irvine, Else van Keppel, and Phillipa O’Brien, alongside her current West Australian collaborators, Justine McKnight and Michelle Taylor. Works of David Bielander and Yutaka Minegishi – Gallery Funaki artists and Helen’s Munich studio partners for now over 13 years – will also be on show. This exhibition of over 60 works covers jewellery, fashion, textiles, painting, drawing and ceramics.

The exhibition will be opened on Sunday, 14th June, by Janet Holmes à Court. Helen Britton will be in residence from 21 September until 11 October and will give a floor talk on 3 October.

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David Bielander wins Bavarian State Prize

03.04.2015


Congratulations to David Bielander, who won the prestigious Bayerischer Staatspreis (the Bavarian State Prize) at this year’s Internationale Handwerksmesse in Munich, Germany.
David’s winning series of deceptive and witty bracelets, titled Wellpappe, are made in silver and white gold (and will be available at Funaki later this year).  Photograph by Dirk Eisel.

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David Bielander 'Wellpappe' bracelet

SETTING EXHIBITION AT GLEN EIRA

06.03.2015


Don’t miss a new exhibition at Glen Eira Council Gallery featuring three of Melbourne’s favourite jewellers; Manon van Kouswijk (represented by Gallery Funaki), Anna Varendorff and Meredith Turnbull.  The exhibition includes jewellery, objects, drawings, furniture and sculptural components by the artists, addressing concerns with identity, adornment, connections with the body and wearer and the intersection of contemporary art and fashion, and runs until April 26.

Pictured: Manon van Kouswijk, Paperwork, 2015, paper, glue, thread.  Image courtesy of the artist.

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Recent acquisitions

06.11.2014


The National Gallery of Australia has recently acquired several key pieces, including David Bielander’s Koi bracelet, Manon van Kouswijk’s Reverse necklace, Catherine Truman’s Yellow Twist Cone brooch and two of Maureen Faye-Chauhan’s brooches; Two Cups (pictured) and Rock II.  We’re thrilled that these significant works will join the NGA’s important and evolving collection.

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