Preeminent collector Susan Grant Lewin traces her passion for art jewelry back to her work in the 1980s and '90s as a journalist and communications executive. Author of one of the premier books on then-rising American jewelry artists, Lewin has followed the careers of these practitioners, as well as those of their international counterparts and emerging talents, for four decades. Although it is not the only exhibition to feature Lewin’s impressive holdings, A Collector's Journey: Susan Grant Lewin and the Art Jewelry World is the first to survey her longstanding commitment to this phenomenon, which has evolved from isolated pockets of artists creating conceptual, mostly wearable statements made from mundane materials into today’s global movement.
This exhibition features works by Gijs Bakker, Jamie Bennett, David Bielander, Esther Brinkmann, Helen Britton, Doug Bucci, Betty Cooke, Cara Croninger, Claire Dinsmore, Iris Eichenberg, Eva Eisler, Sandra Enterline, Réka Fekete, Arline Fisch, Jantje Fleischhut, Donald Friedlich, Thomas Gentille, Meike Groot, Dana Hakim, Sophie Hanagarth, Hanna Hedman, Ian Henderson, Daniel Jocz, Jiro Kamata, Vared Kaminski, Susanne Klemm, Esther Knobel, Shana Kroiz, Daniel Kruger, Lore Langendries, Leslie Leupp, Nel Linssen, Réka Lörincz, Fritz Maierhofer, Kadri Mälk, Etay Malka, Paolo Marcolongo, Märta Mattson, Ritsuko Ogura, Earl Padron, Joan Parcher, Inni Pärnänen, Gaetano Pesce, Katja Prins, Ramon Puig Cuyàs, Wendy Ramshaw, Ulrich Reithofer, Ivy Ross, Lucy Sarneel, Bernhard Schobinger, Joyce Scott, Vera Seimund, Kiff Slemmons, Art Smith, Bettina Speckner, Silke Spitzer, Sam Tho Duong, Lauren Tickle, Fabrizio Tridenti, Annamaria Zanella, Christoph Zellweger, and Petra Zimmerman.
Image: Thomas Gentille (American, b. 1936), Double Yellow with Blue-Gray and White (Brooch), ca. 2000-2023. Pigmented resin, resined paper, paint, maple, metal, 2 1/16 x 4 11/16 x 3/8 inches (5.24 x 11.91 x .95 cm) Photo: S. B. Samuels © Thomas Gentille
A Collector’s Journey: Susan Grant Lewin and the Art Jewelry World was sponsored in part by the State of Florida through the Division of Arts and Culture and the National Endowment for the Arts; the Miami-Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs and the Cultural Affairs Council, the Miami-Dade Mayor and Board of County Commissioners; the City of Coral Gables; Beaux Arts Miami; Lowe members; William P. Short III; the Kim and Al Eiber Charitable Trust; the Rotasa Foundation; and AIDA. Ursula Ilse-Neuman served as consulting curator for this project, which was initiated by Davira S. Taragin.
