yesterday i went on a museum/gallery crawl starting with the
de young museum and ending with
the asian art museum. in between i visited
park life, chariots on fire,
san francisco museum of craft & design, and
velvet da vinci, i know, that's a lot of art...but it was so fun and inspiring! this is a long post, please bare with me.
i finally got to see
maya lin: systematic landscapes at the de young museum. i was there early and the only person viewing the show at the time - being alone heightened the experience and added to the works' quiet minimalism.
i also visited yves saint laurent with nearly 130 accessorized garments and sketches. ysl's work is impeccable and exquisite. my favorite piece was the
knit bridal gown. bjork, anyone?
next i visited
park life a sweet little shop with lots of cool modern goods on clement street in the inner richmond neighborhood. they will be carrying my work in the coming weeks.
then i headed to the downtown area for
chariots on fire a tucked-away jewelry gallery. i got to chat with the owner ritz yagi about the shop and her ideas regarding jewelry. she is very interested in bringing avant garde work to the forefront while placing it alongside unusual antique and vintage pieces. the space is stark but dramatic and the jewelery is beautifully displayed.
next up,
the san francisco museum of craft & design to see
the thinking body, a jewelry exhibition focused on "work [that] considers the body in relation to its physical and intellectual environment." the show included groundbreaking work from the 80's by
gijs bakker and
otto kunzli. it was exciting to see these pieces up close! i especially liked the work of
cornelia parker. her pieces each featured one incredibly long piece of wire, one of which was the length of the height of the statue of liberty. the shadow created by the piece with the overhead light was beautiful in itself.
also on view was
jewelry_cycle which features jewelry made from re-cycled circuit boards. there was also a table loaded with various materials so patrons could craft their own recycled jewelry.
it addition there was a fantastic show titled
my first royal jewels by emiko oye. the pieces made from legos are based on european jewelry created by some of the great design houses including boucheron, cartier, and harry winston. the show is interactive - patrons can handle and wear each piece and also photograph themselves in the work. i really loved the three different exhibits together. they complimented each other, giving patrons different views of jewelry and making art jewelery more accessible to the masses.
following this i jumped on a bus and rode up polk street to
velvet da vinci which many of you probably know as one of my favorite jeweler galleries. on view this trip was
the pendant show which included nearly 100 of the jewelers in the book
500 pendants and lockets. it was wonderful to see some of my favorites -
cornelia sauter, thelma aviani, and
claudia costa.
also on view was new work by
jillian moore - 
...and the
radical jewelry makeover - this piece is by suzanne pugh
i ended the day with a trip to the
asian art museum to see
afghanistan: hidden treasures from the national museum, kabul. the collection includes many incredible examples of gold metalwork discovered in graves from the third century B.C. to the first century A.D. my absolute favorite was the jewelry and ornaments found near one woman displayed just as it was found. it was eerie and beautiful. the following image is a crown and diadem that is collapsible.
...in LA now.
carol young|undesigned trunkshow tomorrow, saturday from 12-6.
thanks for reading.
i've been thinking a lot about my studio work these days as i prepare for two different shows. i've been drawing and researching and looking around me. this all brings me to the work of today's guest star and one of my favorite jewelers, donna d'aquino. donna's work is based on some concepts that are driving me as well, "line and the act of drawing." i am personally attracted to the layering of line and the structures she creates via this layering. her pieces are strong and thought- provoking both on and off the body.
