jewelry by gijs bakker showcases at design miami

jewelry by gijs bakker exhibits at design miami
(above) liberty brooch, 1997
image © designboom
 

for design miami 2013, caroline van hoek has presented the works of renowned dutch jewelery and industrial designer gijs bakker, comprising new wearables made this year, which highlight his dedication to emerging technologies, together with a selection of recent work exemplifying his creative opus. the exhibited items straddle the line between fine arts and product design, fluently shifting through content, character, and medium. visual references from sports, automotives, and history are imbued with a trademark postmodern stance: sarcastic, ironic, and unsubtly nonconforming. laser-printed gold brooches, over-sized laminated necklaces, and pins punctured by precious stones are just a few of the conceptual jewelry designs affixed to the wall within the south beach event tent. all of the works demonstrate his unconventional relationship with his discipline, as bakker once admitted, ‘I dislike jewelry. I dislike the behavior of jewelry buying ladies. I dislike ladies jewelry. jewelry shops depress me. if jewelry is only decorative, I lose interest. I like jewelry because it is absolutely superfluous. I like jewelry because it is never a priori functional. I like jewelry because like clothes, it is closest to our body and says something about the wearer. a painting is hung on the wall and can be ignored. a piece of jewelry is worn and creates an impression.’

in the case of his new series of work titled ‘go for the gold’, bakker employs a modern technology, which uses the gold medium in two ways to make both a positive and negative impression. the set of pins are facial representations of three celebrated sports stars — nadal, ronaldo and gonzalez — each bearing an expression of victorious glee. the role of the gold is most significant, as its specific placement and application determines the resulting impression of the image. titanium silhouettes of the athlete’s heads commence the design; then point by point, gold is melted onto the surface of the titanium sheet, delineating the figure’s eyes, nose, and mouth. the process is modified for its partner pin: a computer program makes tiny apertures that comprise the facial language, and the gold is used instead on the underside of the brooch. bakker’s play with the diction, material, and symbolism create, in many ways, an art object, rather than conforming to the traditional context of jewelery design.

gonzalez brooch
gold on titanium: yellow gold 750 laser welded on titanium.
h. 66 x w. 100 x d. 7 mm ; limited numbered edition (1/5)
executed by pauline barendse / photo by studiocoral

(left) nadal brooch
gold on titanium: yellow gold 750 laser welded on titanium
h 100 x w. 74 x d. 7 mm ; limited numbered edition (1/5)
executed by pauline barendse / photo by studiocoral
(right) ronaldo brooch
gold on titanium: yellow gold 750 laser welded on titanium
h. 100 x w. 70 x d. 7 mm; limited numbered edition (1/5)
executed by pauline barendse / photo by studiocoral

dew drop, 1982
image © designboom
 

ivona brooch, 2013
brooch: ‘ivona’ 1987-2013
yellow gold 750, laminated photo, pvc
h. 110 x w. 219 x d. 7mm
executed by pauline barendse
photo by carole hernandez and sylvain georget

 

paklin, 1986
image © designboom

adam, 1988
image © designboom

the tongue brooch, 1985
image © designboom

gijs bakker and caroline van hoek
image © designboom
 

from february 22nd, 2103 through august 3rd, 2014 the stedelijk museum, amsterdam will present ‘the gijs+emmy spectacle’, an exhibition based on the legendary fashion show by bakker and his late wife emmy van leersum in 1967. ‘the futuristic garments, large aluminum necklaces, the styling of the models and the fashion show element featuring electronic music, spotlights, and rhythmical movements propelled them to the vanguard of youth culture.’ marjan boot, curator of the upcoming exhibition says of the duo’s creative impact. a survey of jewelery designs, backstage images and sound recordings from the fashion show, and seven complete outfits comprise the show, with a highlight on celebrated items like the 1967 stovepipe necklace and bracelet, a set of tubular aluminum wearables, which are now icons of dutch design. 

sonja bakker with collar, 1967
collection of stedelijk museum ’s-hertogenbosch
photo by matthijs schrofer

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