August 2 - September 22, 2019
Building on the Body exhibits jewelry crafted from building materials—from lightweight paper to cement—by designers from the United States, Europe, and Asia. Places and urban identities are revealed in brooches, necklaces, and rings crafted with Corian, corrugated cardboard, copper mesh, and steel. Jewelry becomes wearable architecture, challenging our understanding of what jewelry is in the context of contemporary culture.
108|Contemporary is pleased to introduce our upcoming exhibition Building on the Body: Identity, Materials, Jewelry. Architecture is seen in a new way as it melds with the human body. This exhibition brings together artists from around the world that use industrial and construction materials to create micro structures that highlight the unique architectural aspects of jewelry and the body it adorns. Through this process, the jewelry takes on a new form and becomes a wearable piece of architecture.
Architecture is often associated with the industrial construction of buildings: however, in Building on the Body 15 designers from Asia, Europe, and the United States have come together to challenge this concept. Using bodies as a foundation, the designers create breathtaking visual stories that often reflect the individual wearer’s urban identities. The exhibiting artists use industrial materials often used in construction, from concrete and steel to corrugated cardboard, to celebrate the human body and the expression of one’s identity through ornamentation using the same visual language of urban construction.
This exhibition is generously sponsored by
The Mervin Bovaird Foundation
Tom & Susie Wallace
Jan Jennings & Herb Gottfried
TODD Architecture Group
Doug Campbell
Curated by Erin Rappleye
Participating Artists
Eleanor Bolton | London, England
Kat Cole | Dallas, Texas
Karen-Ann Dicken | Glasgow, Scotland
Motoko Furuhashi | Las Cruces, New Mexico
Yong Joo Kim | Providence, Rhode Island
Sharon Massey | Indiana, Pennsylvania
Tiff Massey | Detroit, Michigan
Ritsuko Ogura | Tokyo, Japan
Federica Sala | Milan, Italy
Caitie Sellers | Richmond, Virginia
Jiří Šibor | Brno, Czech Republic
Demitra Thomloudis | Athens, Georgia
Jess Tolbert | El Paso, Texas
Julia Turner | San Francisco, California
Kee-Ho Yuen | Iowa City, Iowa
Object List
Eleanor Bolton
Gray Multi-strand Necklace – $210
Zadie Necklace –$92
Atlas Necklace – $368
Kat Cole
Urban Color #1 – $2,300
Boundary Line Loop in Red – $2,600
Pile in White #2 – $550
Built #1 – $1,800
Karen-Ann Dicken
City Necklace – $320
Mountain City Ring – $385
Asteroid City – $360
Fuller City – $360
Motoko Furuhashi
Mesilla – $600
NMSU Parking Lot – $600
Anthony – $600
Untitled – $1,000
Yong Joo Kim
Passen – $5,000
In Light of II Series no.1 – $1,200
In Light of II Series no.2 – $2,400
In Light of II Series no.3 – $2,000
Sharon Massey
Brickwall Necklace – $3,000
Cocktail Ring – $600
Brickwall Knuckleduster – $600
Necklace, Ductwork Collection – $800
Ritsuko Ogura
Red Scarecrows – $780
Back to Wood – $560
White Roll – $500
Wave – $2,400
Burnt Ball – $800
Federica Sala
Untitled Pendant – $455
Caitie Sellers
Brick Necklace – $2,100
Renovation #2 – $2,600
Highway Rosette – $840
Jiří Šibor
Untitled, The Circle Series – $2,400
Untitled, Twisted Circles – $1,700
Blue & Fluo Yellow – $1,800
Green & Fluo Yellow – $2,000
Demitra Thomloudis
(W)eighted, 24.426 Ounces Necklace – $450
(W)eighted HT Side by Side – $400
Over the Fence (CrossPASS project 80 brooches) – $8,500 or $160 each
Julia Turner
Lamina #3 – $1,200
Lamina Earrings 12049 – $280
Lamina Earrings 12051 – $280
Stack Bracelet – $850
Splat Brooch #2 – $275
Splat Brooch #3 – $250
Scrape Brooch #2 – $275
Kee-Ho Yuen
Planning an idea – $2,000
Even rabbits crazy about money – $2,500
Time out – $2,000
Look beyond the adjectives – $2,500