Press Room

New York, NY (June 28, 2011)

The Museum of Arts and Design will present LOOT 2011: MAD about Jewelry, its juried selling exhibition of artist-made jewelry for four days this October. Now, in its 11th year, LOOT: MAD about Jewelry has earned the reputation of being the ultimate pop-up shop for contemporary art and studio jewelry by both artists and collectors alike; it affords the public the rare opportunity to acquire pieces directly from some of the most innovative jewelry artists in the world. This year, the creations of 50 emerging and acclaimed jewelry artists will be on sale. Prices will range from $200 to $12,000, with $1000 the average. Proceeds from the selling show will benefit the Museum's exhibition and education programs.

In addition to new works by design legend and LOOT 2011's Honorary Chair, Robert Lee Morris, the following veterans will be included in LOOT's roster:

• Droog designer Iris Nieuwenburg, whose exquisite collage-like brooches, composed of vintage jewelry, old photos, doll house cutlery, and other miniatures, evoke the age of the rococo
• Native American designer Pat Pruitt, known for his aggressively industrial, stainless-steel bracelets, rings, and belt buckles
• Inventive metalsmith Anastasia Azure, acclaimed for her exquisite, dimensionally woven precious metal jewels adorned with pearls and gems
• Italian designer and sculptor Giorgio Vigna, whose elegant precious metal and Murano glass jewelry confounds traditional expectations of scale, weight, and form
• British artist Liz Hamman, who through techniques like origami transforms paper from books, maps, sheet music, and even board games, into artful jewelry

Among the artists making their LOOT 2011 debuts are:

• Renowned jeweler and gemologist Kara Ross, commissioned by Michelle Obama to create one-of-a-kind wood bracelets as gifts for visiting dignitaries
• Japanese metalsmith Asagi Maeda, who creates miniature universes of city life in wearable forms, incorporating precious metals, enamel, quartz, and plastic
• Jamaican artist/poet Anna Ruth Henriques, whose captivating Goth forms in oxidized silver and 18K gold feature her signature hand-painted and -sculpted spider motif
• London-based Jacqueline Cullen, known for her sleek jewelry crafted out of Whitby jet
• Free-spirited metalsmith Andrea Williams, whose eco-conscious jewelry combines Maine beach stones with sterling silver and Venetian glass
• Boldly imaginative sculptor Elise Winters, who models jewelry out of polymer clay
• Four recent graduates from the studio jewelry program at Brooklyn's Pratt Institute

Michele Cohen, the Chair of LOOT 2011, and her committee members, Bryna Pomp, a jewelry specialist, and Nancy Olnick, served as the jurors for this event, carefully selecting artists for their originality, range of materials, and expert craftsmanship. Most of the artists will be on hand during the event to share their vision and inspiration with visitors.

OTHER LOOT 2011 EVENTS AND ACTIVITIES

At the gala opening for LOOT 2011, where proceeds benefit the Museum's exhibition and education programs, jewelry authority and curator, Lois Sherr Dubin, author of the soon-to-be-published book, "Adornment: The Necklaces of Barbara Natoli Witt," will present a lecture that evening. Artists' talks and workshops in the MAD Open Studios will also be offered as part of the public programs to further enrich this event.

MAD'S LONGSTANDING COMMITMENT TO CONTEMPORARY ART JEWELRY
MAD is the only American museum to possess a gallery dedicated to the display of both temporary jewelry exhibits and its own contemporary and modern jewelry collection, which it began assembling soon after its founding in 1956. The Museum has made a curatorial commitment to art jewelry as part of its mission to explore the blur zone between art, design, and craft. One example of this blur zone will be MAD's presentation this fall of Picasso to Koons: Artist as Jeweler, an exhibition of wearable sculpture by some of the greatest artists of recent times. Picasso to Koons is guest curated by Diane Venet, the editor of the book "Bijoux Sculptures," and the wife of artist Bernar Venet, whose monumental sculptures are currently on exhibit in the gardens of Versailles. Drawn from the holdings of a host of noted collectors, artists, and artist estates, this captivating exhibition boasts works by 135 art legends. It opens on September 20, 2011 and will be on view during LOOT 2011.