The Cranbrook Acadmey of Art (Michigan) has invited Konstfack (Sweden) and Saimaa University (Finland) to accompany them on a ride. The title THIS END UP, a joint exhibition, is suggestive of destinations, exchange, and differences in perspective. This international collection of jewels is new and familiar, diverse and exciting. Although continents apart, similar formal and conceptual concerns are being tackled by these students, often enabling the same conversations to happen simultaneously within their work. These pieces will have completed their long journey to SNAG, and will be unpacked and shown in this transitory environment. The inside of the shipping container will become a temporary classroom, in which to stimulate dialogue around these represented practices and ideas. We are introducing the students from different schools by engineering a forced encounter of their work. Curatorially, we hope to enumerate on the awkwardness or joy of sitting next to someone unfamiliar on the first bus ride of the year.

This exhibition is presented by Harbourfront Centre as part of the inaugural Toronto International Jewellery Festival (TIJF)  in conjunction with Meta-Mosaic, the 2013 Society of North American Goldsmiths (SNAG) Conference.

An RV is a tiny space. It can also be seen as an object in flux, a temporary living space on wheels, or with Mobile Canada in mind, a gallery. Similar to the way artists work with traditional jewellery styles and ideas the RV has been given a new purpose and re-contextualized. An RV, like an individual piece of jewellery, can lack permanent space. It is designed for a specific purpose though spends the majority of its life living outside of this designation. Is it at odds with its intended use as it sits unmoved, on display waiting to be used? Perhaps it is these qualities of jewellery: space, permanence, purpose, that we as artists, curators, collectors find so interesting.

Mobile Canada represents 13 young and skilled artists who all approach work from different angles. Themes of identity, nature, history and place are often explored. While this work focuses on concept, respect for craftsmanship and strong execution is not sacrificed. The work in Mobile Canada is just a small sampling of Canadian artists. It’s a tiny space, with tiny work from a very large country.

– Suzanne Carlsen

This exhibition is presented by Harbourfront Centre as part of the inaugural Toronto International Jewellery Festival (TIJF)  in conjunction with Meta-Mosaic, the 2013 Society of North American Goldsmiths (SNAG) Conference.

The Harbourfront Centre’s Artist-in-Residency Programme is truly one of a kind, fostering artists as varied and unique as the experience it offers. For all those who have taken part, there is a kinship. Contemporaries act as encouragement and support, while those preceding act as examples and mentors whose careers are looked to for inspiration. This show is a celebration of the artists-in-residence, both past and present, who make up the Harbourfront Centre’s jewellery and metal family. Though the programme is too prolific to include all its many accomplished alumni, this exhibition represents a selection of some of the best and brightest spanning all generations. It demonstrates the strength of a community that stands together and a programme that stands apart. It is our family album.

This exhibition is presented by Harbourfront Centre as part of the inaugural Toronto International Jewellery Festival (TIJF)  in conjunction with Meta-Mosaic, the 2013 Society of North American Goldsmiths (SNAG) Conference.

Over the last thirty years, the field of contemporary jewellery has been evolving at an extremely rapid pace. While still largely unknown to the general public, this relatively new field has been growing on the fringes of traditional jewellery, drawing emerging artists whose innovative approaches contribute to enhancing the practice as well as its international exposure.

This special exhibition, entitled Dialogue, brings together the work of 22 young designers from Germany, Australia, Denmark, the United States, Japan, the Netherlands, Sweden and Canada. The range of this creative offering provides a glimpse of the great artistic and expressive potential of the field of contemporary jewellery. The collection explores the art of shaping materials, highlights the materials used, demonstrates originality and experimentation, reflects the spirit of the times and a global vision, but also calls into question the craft and the intrinsic value of jewellery. The exhibition’s title is an expression of the artist’s dialogue with the material and the concept, the work and the viewer.

–Noel Guyomarc’h

This exhibition is presented by Harbourfront Centre as part of the inaugural Toronto International Jewellery Festival (TIJF)  in conjunction with Meta-Mosaic, the 2013 Society of North American Goldsmiths (SNAG) Conference.

Quintet is a not a theme, but the collective identity for five mid-career jewellery designers with unique and developed artistic voices. The conversational thread that connects the work is a common approach to communicating ideas through various systems of knowledge and understanding; and a contemporary exploration of jewellery materials and techniques. The underlying systems that provide inspiration for the work include the natural world, the human body, the social body, and structures of identity.

This exhibition brings together seven artists whose works comment on consumerism, social mores and the dialogue between the functional, decorative and art object.

They mine the past and present of their disciplines – metalsmithing, sculpture, and textiles – for the techniques and concepts used in their works. Art history is scrutinized; process and function are subverted. Themes of reclamation or repurposing run throughout. Traditional metalsmithing materials are used as well as salvaged detritus; juxtaposing the divine and mundane. Scale is manipulated; perception skewed and the everyday object given value and memorialized.

This exhibition is presented by Harbourfront Centre as part of the inaugural Toronto International Jewellery Festival (TIJF)  in conjunction with Meta-Mosaic, the 2013 Society of North American Goldsmiths (SNAG) Conference.

Multiples and repetition have been central components of design throughout the history of jewellery. In ancient times, natural elements such as shells, bones, and feathers were strung together and worn to depict status; used in religious ceremonies; and worn for protection and adornment. The great movements of western art history are littered with examples of repetition: from granulation to chain making, hammered textures to engraved patterns, and glass beads to pavé settings. This rich history continues to fuel today’s designers. Harmony and rhythm are used to create works that reflect contemporary ideas and conditions. The conventions of the past have not been abandoned, but are instead re-imagined and built upon.

In the contemporary jewellery community, one-of-a-kind work is championed as a unique form of expression, while multiples, particularly ‘production jewellery’, are often devalued. The eight designers in this exhibition do not shy away from repetition; they use elements to form the building blocks for their designs, whether those elements are ideas, related forms, motifs or gemstones. They use traditional and non-traditional materials and techniques to create works that are inspired by natural forms, architecture and pop culture.

This exhibition celebrates Canadian work that is chic and desirable, wearable and accessible and continues a conversation that connects the past to the future of contemporary jewellery.

– Melanie Egan, Head, Craft, Harbourfront Centre

This exhibition is presented by Harbourfront Centre as part of the inaugural Toronto International Jewellery Festival (TIJF)  in conjunction with Meta-Mosaic, the 2013 Society of North American Goldsmiths (SNAG) Conference.

The genre of portraiture is part of historical continuum steeped in specific visual language which can easily be read and understood, even when containing nuanced and subtle gestures. Portraiture provides an entry point to art and to history. Looking at historical portraiture, we are immediately struck by a portrait’s ability to frame cultural conventions. We learn the idiosyncrasies in dress, hairstyle and even the facial features that may appear emphasized during certain decades or societal contexts. Each portrait encapsulates not just a person, but also a time and place. Portraiture is remarkable in its ability to appear straightforward while actually providing the documentation to examine a whole social order.

The work of photographer Mark Peckmezian expands the visual discourse of portraiture even further. Peckmezian creates portraits that give the impression of the past, but are inherently contemporary. His portraits of friends and acquaintances depict his milieu. What is significant about his work is its contemporary aesthetic with roots in the traditional. He constructs his images with the equivalent exactness of a Renaissance painter. Every aspect of the portrait is considered; model placement, direction of light and architectural surroundings. But it is in his contemporary rearticulating of historical tropes that makes Peckmezian’s portraits fundamentally a part of the visual discourse of the 21st century.

– Patrick Macaulay, Head, Visual Arts, Harbourfront Centre

Portrait is a featured exhibition of CONTACT 2013.

Join us for our opening reception, celebrating four exciting new exhibitions in visual arts, craft & design and photography. The exhibitions RE: Position, RepeatRepeat and Family Album are part of the inaugural Toronto International Jewellery Festival (TIJF)  in conjunction with Meta-Mosaic, the 2013 Society of North American Goldsmiths (SNAG) Conference.

In addition, Toronto-based artist Mark Peckmezian presents new photography in his series, Portrait, as part of CONTACT 2013.