The events of NYC Jewelry Week are happening all over town—the Diamond District, Madison Avenue, an array of downtown studios, and the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn are just a few of the areas covered. But at least one attraction took place just north of the city and got things off to a festive start.
Over the weekend, the Katonah Museum of Art hosted a two-day jewelry pop-up shop targeting patrons of the museum’s Outrageous Ornament: Extreme Jewelry in the 21st Century exhibition. NYC Jewelry Week organizers Bella Neyman and JB Jones helped to curate, coordinate, and promote the event, and they advised on which jewelry designers should participate.
The pop-up gathered 11 jewelry artists, including JCK editor favorites Judi Powers and Ariana Boussard-Reifel (the latter’s work is shown throughout this post), whose sensibilities play to the underlying concept of the concurrent exhibition. In the words of Michael Gitlitz, KMA director: “Ornamentation and jewelry have always served as one of the most important aspects of human expression and the desire for ornament has been central to both men and women since the dawn of civilization.”
Enthusiasm for the event was robust, with the weekend’s total headcount teetering around 300. “I was happy with the response,” says Boussard-Reifel. “Pieces did sell. Not like crazy, but I was happy with sales. And the museum is a real gem actually. I loved being there, and the event itself was very tasteful and well put together.”
If you missed the pop-up, the Outrageous Ornament exhibit is reason enough to make the trek to Westchester and it will be on view through Jan. 27. Encompassing 50 inventive, outré, and otherwise unique pieces of jewelry, the works on display have been selected by Jane Adlin, former curator of modern and contemporary design at the Metropolitan Museum of Art (the Jewels by JAR exhibit is one of her many claims to fame).
The objects in Outrageous Ornament come from a diverse range of creators, both traditional jewelers and interdisciplinary practitioners from the fields of art, architecture, design, and fashion.
A few of these pieces are shown below.
Top photos: Scenes from the jewelry pop-up event held at the Katonah Museum of Art in conjunction with NYC Jewelry Week (courtesy of Ariana Boussard-Reifel).
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