LOOT! 2000, THE MUSEUM OF ARTS & DESIGN'S FINE ART JEWELRY SALE, WILL OPEN WITH GALA BENEFIT
October 26 - October 29, 2000
October 2, New York…The Museum of Arts & Design's sixth biennial jewelry exhibition and sale, LOOT! 2000 (formerly known as Gold & Silver), will be launched with a gala benefit and meet-the-artist reception for the Museum on Wednesday evening, October 25 at the Museum. The exhibition and sale will be presented Thursday, October 26 through Sunday, October 29, 2000. The Wednesday evening benefit will provide an unusual opportunity for collectors to have the first chance to acquire these works of internationally acclaimed artists before the exhibition opens to the public. For the first time, the show will also feature a section of works by master artist jewelers from Germany.
"The Museum is extremely pleased to present the only art jewelry fair in the United States," says Holly Hotchner, Director of the Museum of Arts & Design. "It also provides a unique forum for these artists to exchange their views and come in direct contact with the collecting public."
"This very special event will call attention to an important aspect of contemporary art and a rapidly growing area of art collecting," notes Event Chair Donna Schneier. "We have gathered the widest possible range of artists and styles by broadening the exhibition to include gold, silver and many other media." Ms. Schneier and other experts will be on hand to answer questions and give collecting advice to the public.
Featured artists will include Jamie Bennett, William Harper, Louis Mueller and Pavel Opochensky. Flora Book's sculptures for the human body will share the limelight with the hand-woven gold creations of Mary Lee Hu, Alex Russmeyer's glass beads-made-of-beads and the works of architect and minimalist Eva Eisler.
German master jewelers who helped launch the post-WW II jewelry movement will be represented by Hermann Jünger, Otto Künzli and Gerd Rothmann.
An educational symposium will be held in conjunction with LOOT! 2000. Museum of Arts & Design Chief Curator David Revere McFadden and event Chair Schneier will speak on contemporary art jewelry. McFadden will discuss "Loot, Luxe and Lust: Objects as Cultural Currency" on October 26 at 6 PM and Ms.Schneier will speak about "Jewelry on the Cutting Edge" on October 27 at 6 PM. Both talks will be held at the Museum.
Tickets at $125 for Friends, $250 for Patrons, for the gala benefit on Wednesday, October 25 at 5 -8 PM may be obtained from Dawn Bennett, (212)956-3535.
Proceeds from the sale will help underwrite the Museum of Arts & Design's program to catalogue and present the finest in contemporary jewelry in America.
The Museum of Arts & Design is recognized as the world's foremost resource center for the collection, preservation, study and display of craft objects in all media. For over forty years, the Museum has collected objects, including jewelry, in a permanent collection that is unique in its focus on contemporary craft. Some of the fine artists whose jewelry is represented in the permanent collection are Lisa Gralnick, Wendy Ramshaw. Emmy Van Leersum, Otto Künzli, Eva Eisler, Jamie Bennett and Mary Lee Hu.
The Museum's educational programs present art-related events, lectures and workshops for children, adults, collectors, students and families in a joyful environment of contemporary craft, decorative arts and design. This year, the museum celebrates the fulfillment of the mortgage on its condominium site as well as the announcement of a capital campaign and an endowment program to ensure the continuance of the Museum's unique contribution to the arts.