With jewelry shows back in full swing, another traditional springtime celebration is returning: New York’s Museum of Arts and Design will present its annual MAD About Jewelry benefit sale, featuring more than 40 emerging and established jewelry artists.
The festivities begin Tuesday, April 26, with an opening benefit preview dinner. MAD About Jewelry opens to the public on Wednesday, April 27, and runs through Saturday, April 30. The event will be open daily from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and until 8 p.m. on Thursday, April 28.
New this year is a special area where jewelers will work during the show itself, as part of live, drop-in jewelry-making sessions that will allow audiences to interact with the artists and see the artwork being made. There also will be a dramatic floor-to-ceiling art installation that you will need to see to believe, says Bryna Pomp, the show’s longtime curator and director.
Proceeds from the event will benefit the individual artists as well as the museum’s educational programs, Pomp says. The contemporary jewelry expert says the best part of her work for what some call “the ultimate contemporary jewelry pop-up” is finding artists to champion through the show and beyond.
“There is no other opportunity in New York or America to see this breadth and level of contemporary jewelry every April,” Pomp says. “I’ve curated 12 editions of the event, and [during that time], we’ve featured more than 600 artists from more than 40 countries.”
This year’s show continues Pomp’s tradition of introducing new artists as well as bringing globally relevant jewelers to New York. From Lorena Angulo, a Texas artist with Mexican roots; to Xinchen Li, a jeweler and sculptor from China currently studying in Madison, Wis.; to Jennifer Younger, a Tlingit artist from Sitka, Alaska, the 2022 MAD About Jewelry event has an international array of talent, Pomp says.
Another example is Michelle Currie, a Scottish jewelry designer and current artist-in-residence at the Glasgow School of Art. Pomp says MAD About Jewelry is Currie’s introduction to the U.S. jewelry industry, and she believes Currie’s blend of science, astronomy, and jewelry will resonate with jewelry lovers everywhere.
“I was a juror at the Elements show, where I saw Michelle Currie and I was blown away. [Her work] is absolutely outstanding,” Pomp says. “I’ve never seen anybody working in this material, and, to me, it has such energy. It’s like an explosion that’s captured as it is happening.”
Currie says she is excited to create new pieces for the MAD About Jewelry show. Her work is a blend of her own curiosity, her research into phenomena such as black holes, and the effects of gravitational waves and magnets on her individual jewels. She uses everything from silver to precious stones to iron oxide and sand collected on the beaches near her home in Scotland.
“I’ve never lost my, ‘Why?’ I’m always questioning,” Currie says. “I’m interested in the unknown parts of our world and how it works.”
Currie has had the chance to work with scientists and researchers, and she enjoys not only seeing them light up when they discuss their work but to have a medium like jewelry to express that information in a physical form.
“They are excited when you ask them questions or want to know about their equipment,” Currie says. “Scientists can be intimidated as well to discuss their work, but in those conversations, you see them open up.”
Top: Michelle Currie’s brooch is an example of her overall jewelry practice, which combines silversmithing techniques with material research “to create curious wearable objects and visual arts.” (All photos courtesy of MAD About Jewelry)
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