‘Cosmic Artefacts’ @ Pieces of Eight

What better way to spend a sunny Saturday than wandering the streets of our beautiful city?

My planned route included a saunter past Pieces of Eight to see ‘Cosmic Artefacts’ (part of LMFF12 [link]).

installation

Exhibition media: “Pieces of Eight Gallery presents fashion designer Alexi Freeman and jeweller Tessa Blazey, collaborating on a major window installation and a suite of jewellery pieces that accompany the ALEXI FREEMAN AW12 ROCK STAR collection. The installation features their Interstellar Gown, constructed from approximately 600 metres of gold plated chain and 6000 jump rings meticulously embellished into a galactic flapper formation – fit for a sci-fi goddess to traverse the celestial sphere“.

In the top left is the Intersellar Gown [see their blog story for more information].
In the top right is the Relic Gown [see their blog story for more information and images].
In the bottom left are jewellery pieces in the style of the Interstellar Gown.
In the bottom right are jewellery pieces to match the Relic Gown.

‘Cosmic Artefacts‘ is at Pieces of Eight until 7th April 2012.

Correction & Apology: Edition X

CORRECTION & APOLOGY

I have made a terrible mistake in my previous post …

My understanding about artists committing on the basis of a city location was incorrect, and therefore misleading and disrespectful to the gallery.

My sincere apologies to Edition X and Pieces of Eight, and especially Melanie who has been very supportive of my blog.

I have corrected my original post; and take it as a lesson to ensure I do not misinterpret such important things in the future.

Sincere apologies again.
Make sure you tell all your friends that I was wrong and give them the right story.

Pieces of Eight: Edition X

A caveat up front: I have no financial connection to Pieces of Eight (other than buying pieces from them!) and this isn’t an advertisement …. but I think it’s a fantastic initiative that should be mentioned here (of all places!).

Pieces of Eight Gallery have launched an online retail space: Edition X.

media image

Launch media (from here):
“Edition X is unique, bringing you completely exclusive commissioned works from a variety of artists and makers from around the globe with all collections made in very limited set editions.
…
With a showroom in North Fitzroy, the former home of Pieces of Eight Gallery, and an online store open 24/7, we’re always ready to share our evolving collections with you. The best thing about Edition X is our focus on presenting the ‘affordable collectable’. It’s the place to scope out very special pieces that simply aren’t available anywhere else, all without breaking the bank!“

I mentioned this in my previous ‘Melbourne jewellers and galleries’ series of posts recently. In the above text you’ll notice the ‘exclusivity’ mention, which I do understand to be in relation to the “affordable collectable” limited-edition collections – that is, artists are still free to stock other collections elsewhere.

The site is good – I especially like the artist page. The graphic design is very strong too.

The former gallery space in North Fitzroy is the physical accompaniment to the online store – a good idea to have an in-person place to go.

It’s my understanding is that the physical space was actually originally planned to be near the formal Pieces of Eight Gallery in Russell Place in the city. Further, I understand that artists made their initial decision to commit to the project on this basis … so the change of location would likely have been quite disappointing for those hoping their work would have inner-city walk-by exposure and the strength of the main gallery presence too (which the St Georges Rd location certainly doesn’t have).
Update (14th November): this is incorrect; please refer to my correction and apology post.

I think it’s absolutely fabulous that there is a gallery willing to explore this new retail reality … more people are expecting to shop online than ever before, and that’s unlikely to change.  Without disrespect to any other of our gorgeous Melbourne jewellery galleries, it is of no surprise to me that Pieces of Eight would be the first to engage in this way … their approach to their blog and innovative exhibition design (with accompanying artworks – sound, film and installation) has demonstrated a committment to exploring the possibilities.

A couple of bloggers have written already about their work for Edition X:

• Lucy Hearn – her pieces with black are only available here (which is a good example of the exclusivity arrangement)
• Kim Victoria Wearne

I hope it goes well!
I wonder whether other galleries will look to make a similar move??

Melbourne jewellery galleries and artists: part 2

PART 1 yesterday———————————————————————

PART 2 ——————————————————————————–

It’s actually been two weeks since I wrote the first section of this post (part 1), and I’ve since received responses from many of the galleries I contacted.

The question I asked was pretty simple (as I know gallery staff have way more important and interesting things to do than spend time on my emails). And I offer them my sincere thanks for answering me.

Does ***gallery*** have a standard policy for their artist relationships?
(i) exclusive within Melbourne and/or Victoria; or
(ii) an exclusive range or collection, with the artist free to have other work at other galleries / online store / private commissions; or
(iii) no exclusive requirements; or
(iv) something else / combination / depends on the artist.

My summary of the responses is below (with general comments underneath):

• Alice Euphemia – “rarely requests” exclusivity (as the “handmade nature of the work we have stocked usually limits the production and creates uniqueness and ‘exclusivity’ anyway“)
• e.g.etal – do not ask their artists to be exclusive as one of their “founding principles was, and still is, to support artists to make a living from their work“; though they do recommend stocking different ranges / collections at different outlets; and they do requests of their artists that prices are consistent if sold through other galleries / outlets (Emma was very generous in her reply)
• Gallery Funaki – traditionally an exclusive requirement within Victoria, and still to a large extent on a case-by-case basis (Katie sent me a wonderful reply too)
• Lord Coconut – no exclusivity; though request for consistent pricing if the pieces are sold elsewhere
• Pieces of Eight – the lovely ladies at Po8 are super-busy on their work in developing Edition X; an online shop for a selection of artists – which implicitly speaks volumes about their vision of the future of the contemporary jewellery space (will write about this soon! and I’ll update this post when I receive their response)
• Small Space – if possible, a different range / collection from other outlets (though the majority of the work stocked here is Robyn’s); Robyn made an important point I totally understand and can agree with: “to ask a contemporary jeweller to stock exclusively to just one gallery in Melbourne is not a feasible option when making a living from the handmade and the contemporary can be so difficult.” (Robyn was also very generous with her reply to my email)

To add to the above, some of the main points made in the replies included:

• Some of the galleries have commented that the inclusion of cast elements may impact the possibility of non-exclusivity (and therefore requests may change in the future).
• Also, many galleries do ask for artists to be considerate and respectful when managing private commissions, with many requesting (one with a specific policy on the matter) a customer to be referred back to the gallery where that customer has used the gallery to effectively ‘shop for’ a jeweller and then approached the maker directly (a practice I wondered about in my previous post).
• Further, there is consensus that the artist-run online retail-space (like bigcartel platform) is a bit blurry; its increased prevalence and popularity may introduce the need to review such agreements (or at least make explicit considerations of such) in the near future.
• Finally, galleries are usually founded by people who make and/or support makers, so they are very respectful. Many do take a great deal of care in developing excellent relationships with their artists, through which any of these kinds of matters can generally be managed as they arise.

My sincere thanks to the gallery people who have been so generous in replying to my emails and sharing their practice with me.

I will watch in interest in the coming years as the online economy moves and changes the retail environment – and I hope that galleries can still survive, in fact thrive, in the new market.

….

Melbourne jewellery galleries and artists: part 1

PART 1 ——————————————————————————–

I’ve been thinking about this for a little while … the relationships between the key Melbourne jewellery galleries / retail spaces and the artists they stock.

For each of the below galleries (in alphabetic order) I went looking for a page on their websites showing a full listing of the artists whose work they represent. Not as standard as I actually expected – a bit surprised really.

• Alice Euphemia – a ‘jewellery page‘ but this may not be all their artists?
• Black Finch – no artist page
• Craft Victoria – there is a accredited member list, but is this actually an artist listing of represented artists? (the example I’d use is that I didn’t see Elfrun Lach or Karla Way here but I thought they has work at Craft Vic?)
• e.g.etal – no artist listing / page
• Gallery Funaki – artist page, links to biographies
• Lord Coconut – only a text listing (not a bio on each)
• Pieces of Eight – a page for each artist
• Self Preservation – no artist listing / page
• Small Space – a page for each artist
• Studio Ingot – artist page, links to biographies

From seeing which artists are with which galleries, it looks on the surface that artist agreements with these galleries are not strictly exclusive.

Some examples are below. I haven’t chosen these artists for any other reason than I likely love their work and therefore remember them in each gallery (note though, these may not be the only galleries they have work in):

• Anna Davern: Alice Euphemia & e.g.etal & lots as per her stockist list
• Darren Harvey: Black Finch & e.g.etal & Studio Ingot (complete list on his site)
• David Neale: Gallery Funaki & his own online store
• Julia deVille: Alice Euphemia & e.g.etal & lots as per her stockist list
• Justin Austen: Lord Coconut & Pieces of Eight
• Katherine Bowman: e.g.etal & Studio Ingot & her own online store coming soon
• Karla Way: Pieces of Eight & Craft Victoria (and many others, as per her site)
• Lucy Hearn: Studio Ingot & Craft Victoria and her own online store
• Sue Ewington: Small Space & Self Preservation (complete listing on her site)
• Suzie Zutic: Black Finch & Pieces of Eight (complete listing on her site)

So it’s pretty clear we have a pretty amazing group of galleries in Melbourne that are okay with giving artists a greater chance of making a living by being stocked in a number of locations (and not locking them in exclusively).

The only possible exception to that is Gallery Funaki … I think … I thought their artists were exclusive, though the David Neale example has confused me.

Also, I vaguely remember being told that Alice Euphemia had ‘exclusive-range’ requirements of artists – though I’m not sure that’s the case for the above artists, so maybe the arrangement is artist-specific?

I also thought some of the other galleries prefer a separate or exclusive group of pieces / collection from the artist; so that it is unique to their retail space.

So to be sure I had the correct information, I wrote to each gallery to ask.

…

So all of the above text was written before contacting any of the galleries. I wanted to keep it unedited, as it shows the thought process of this post.

Also, while researching the above, I remembered the first post I wrote on this kind of topic earlier this year – it is still relevant and I’d like to expand on it a little further in this post too.

PART 2 coming tomorrow—————————————————————–

Robert Baines ‘Frisches Fleisch – Fresh Meat‘ @ Pieces of Eight

Sadly I missed Robert’s exhibition at the Glen Eira City Council [link], but I’m happy to have been able to find the time to see his latest exhibition ‘Frisches Fleisch – Fresh Meat‘ at Pieces of Eight.

photograph taken with gallery permission

Exhibition media: “His exhibition at Pieces of Eight Gallery sees Baines create a commentary on what he views to be the endangerment of the original idea and the practice of plagiarism in contemporary jewellery. Utilising the technique of casting, something not typically seen in his work, he furthers his case and punctuates his argument by the frequent inclusion in many of the pieces of the Rothschild Red Giraffe, itself an endangered species.“

“The endangerment of the original idea” … this body of work certainly does speak to this in its deliberate repetition of cup components, which (before reading the above) was at first a surprise to me.

photograph taken with gallery permission

The colouring of the pieces were also a surprise to me – many colours not previously seen in Robert’s work, purples and pale pinks.

The black, red and green have been seen before in his work. However while in most of his work the colour has been introduced by powder-coating, here the colour is applied with paint. Again, a departure from his previous work.

This is interesting … different components, colouring, materials … a ‘fresh’ group indeed.

photograph taken with gallery permission

As you can see to the left of the above image, a few of Robert’s “signature” (if I may) pieces of gold and red powder-coated pieces are included in the exhibition. I was initially perplexed, but noticed that there seems to be a kind of progression along the plinth – gold, red (same structure), similar triangular components mixed with the new cup components, gradual introduction of the giraffe in the “new” pieces.

Now onto the Rothschild Giraffe. Confusing. Though it seems this was initially because I thought Rothschild referred to the huge financial institution and could not remember that the giraffe was their logo. Well, it’s not.

The Rothschild Giraffe is an endangered species of the animal [see wiki] and “at risk of hybridisation”. That last point is likely where the iconography fits in with Robert’s commentary – that all unique work is in danger of hybridisation through deliberate and ‘accidental’ “plagiarism in contemporary jewellery“.

Without researching it though, I would never have known these layers of the work or the significance or reason for the animal.

photograph taken with gallery permission

Finally, the German title … perhaps a nod to his favourite contemporary jewellery country, home to the influential Hermann Junger and Karl Fritsch (both of whom observers may conclude Robert does have a special connection with).

Pieces of Eight has some images of the opening night and Robert will be speaking at the gallery on the evening on Tuesday 25th October.

‘Frisches Fleisch – Fresh Meat‘ is at Pieces of Eight Gallery until 12th November 2011.