12 artists jewellers. An aesthetic lexicon
Lucca Preziosa, Italy
23-Apr-2009 – 17-May-2009

Robert Baines

Lisa Walker

Sally Marsland

Maria Cristina Bergesio, curator. Lucca Preziosa is the prestigious European exhibition devoted to contemporary research jewellery. The project began in 2005, and was conceived, organized and coordinated by Le Arti Orafe, since 1985 international school for contemporary jewellery in Italy.
The 2009’s edition of Lucca Preziosa could be considered an attempt to approach the complex theme of beauty in the research jewellery.

In the commercial jewellery the main aim is to give beauty to the person that will wear jewels, this is its first function. The jewel is an object that is giving a codified beauty and that of course have to respect rules and canons.
This is not happening in the word of research jewellery. The jewel is an aesthetic work for itself and is an expression of a specific artistic choice. Moreover it is an empathic work that requires an active attitude of the public, a more reflective look, an observation of its peculiarities, shapes, materials, contents, provocations.
The aim of the exhibition is to give an idea of the wide range of various researches in act in the jewellery as an art form.

To explore this stratified field the exhibition is thought as an itinerary built up around key-words coming from the lexicon of aesthetics.

The jewels are selected as visualizations of an aesthetic concept that is giving to the public the possibility to focus on a certain aspects of the artist’s research. In this way each work represent a particular declension of the beauty’s concept.

Moreover looking at the exhibition as a whole, it could be possible to see the metamorphosis and the erosion of the classic beauty’s ideals from the ’60 till today. As the visual arts also research jewellery records the opening and the breaking of canons, introducing the shade of beauty: chaos, deformations, imperfections.

Cutting the mirror is a metaphor, giving a suggestion to the public regarding the fact that today there is no more an unique concept of beauty, but complex and stratified conceptions.
The exhibition, organized in a chronological order (following the birth date of the artist), will start with the works a masters that represent the classical beauty, in the sense of harmony and measure.

We are proud to announce the fourth edition of Lucca Preziosa, the prestigious annual exhibition devoted to contemporary research jewellery. The project is conceived, organized and coordinated by Le Arti Orafe, the most important school of contemporary jewellery in Italy.

The 2009’s edition, “Cutting the mirror, an aesthetic lexicon”, is organized in cooperation and partnership with the reputated Indian company Ganjam Nagappa & Son, Bangalore.

The exhibition will first be presented in New Delhi, from 8th to 20th of January 2009, in the venue of the Italian Embassy. This will be the very first exhibition of research jewellery in that country.

After the frightful events of Mumbai our Indian partner, Mr. Ganjam had to take the decision to cancel the exhibition in India, and postpone the event to the next springtime, depending of the evolution of the situation in the country.

We express to the Ganjam staff and more in general to India’s peoples our solidarity in this very difficult moment.
A selection of the exhibition will be showed at Inhorgenta fair, Munich, in February 2009, and finally the full exhibition will land in Lucca, from 23rd of April to the 17th of May 2009.

Venues:
Preview, Inhorgenta fair, 20th to 24th of February
Lucca, 23rd April to 17th of May, 2009
New Delhi, Springtime 2009

Thanks to Klimt02