Serpentine Gallery co-director selects hand sculpture by Ute Decker as a Goldsmiths’ Fair highlight Wearable sculptures in sustainable materials by Ute Decker at Goldsmiths’ Fair, London (22 – 27 Sep 2015 ) & Museum of Art & Design, New York (28 Sep – 3 Oct 2015) London, July 2015 - This year one of the most influential and dynamic women in the UK art world, Julia Peyton-Jones OBE, co-director of London’s Serpentine Gallery, is guest curating a special showcase of highlights from the Goldsmiths’ Fair. Julia Peyton-Jones Selects will feature 23 pieces of jewellery and silver chosen from 168 of the UK’s leading jewellers. Her selection will be revealed at the opening of the Fair on 22 September. For a second consecutive year, following Zaha Hadid Selects in 2014, a piece by Ute Decker is featured as one of the Fair’s highlights. The London-based architectural jeweller creates striking yet minimalist pieces in the finest sustainable metals. Julia Peyton-Jones picked Curl, one of Ute Decker’s famed ‘Hand Sculptures’ where the wearer becomes a medium of art display. Curl is a coiled artwork that undulates and flows in its dynamism. Whether you see the energy of the crests of tumbling waves or a minimalist artwork – the sculptures of Ute Decker are equally intriguing displayed on a plinth as worn on the body. Playing with volume, space and movement, her jewels fascinate with exciting surprises: Curl can be a sculpture, a ring as well as a pendant. Further exploring this theme Ute Decker will showcase an entirely new series of equally sculptural earrings at Goldsmith’s Fair. Decker’s work goes beyond the meaning of contemporary jewellery as decoration of the human body. As a leading proponent of the ethical jewellery movement, she was one of the first in the world to create a collection in Fairtrade gold. Curl is part of a series of wearable sculptures in recycled silver as well as 18 carat Fairtrade gold which she carefully sources from a small artisanal Fairtrade mining cooperative in the highlands of Peru. 1/8 Following Goldsmith’s Fair, Ute Decker will premier her Curl series in New York at the Museum of Art and Design during the museum’s art jewellery fair LOOT @ MAD, 28 Sep – 3 Oct. While on the last weekend of November the Cockpit Arts Open Studios in the heart of London offer a special opportunity to visit the jewellery-artist in her studio where she creates her unique sculptural works of art. www.utedecker.com 22 September – 4 October 2015 - London Goldsmiths’ Fair – Julia Peyton-Jones Selects Goldsmiths' Hall, Foster Lane, London EC2V 6BN Week One – 22 – 27 September (Ute Decker is showing in Week One only) Week Two – 29 September – 4 October Closed 28 September 11am to 6.30 pm, Thursdays open late until 8.30 pm www.goldsmithsfair.co.uk utedecker.com 28 September – 3 October 2015 – New York LOOT@MAD - Museum of Art & Design, NY 2 Columbus Circle, New York, NY 10019 Opening Benefit Evening: Monday, 28 Sep 4.30 to 8 pm 29, 30 Sep, 2, 3 October – 10 – 6 pm 1, 2 October - 10 – 9 pm http://madmuseum.org/loot 26 – 29 November 2015 - London Open Studios - Cockpit Arts Holborn Cockpit Arts, Cockpit Yard, Northington Street, Bloomsbury, London WC1N 2NP Thurs 6 – 9 pm, Fri, Sat, Sun 11 – 6 pm www.cockpitarts.com 2/8 About the Artist Recently featured as one of the UK’s top 10 jewellers, the work of Ute Decker has been shown in more than 50 exhibitions across the globe from Paris, Tokyo, Amsterdam, London, New York to Design Basel. She has been published in a wide selection of Art, Fashion, Design, Craft, Luxury and Architecture publications and her work is in several notable private collections as well as the permanent collection of Museum Barbier-Mueller. Ute Decker was represented by gallery ‘Elisabetta Cipriani – Jewellery by Contemporary Artists’ at Design Basel 2015 and in the spring of 2015 her work was shown at the Yorkshire Sculpture Park to coincide with a major Henry Moore exhibition. Press contacts Ute Decker - Ute Decker Studio E2G, Cockpit Arts, Cockpit Yard, Northington Street, London WC1N 2NP press@utedecker.com, www.utedecker.com - t +44 (0)20 7354 4237, m +44 (0)7961 3555 94 Goldsmiths’ Compa ny, London - Martin Macdonald, press officer Goldsmiths' Hall, Foster Lane, London EC2V 6BN press@thegoldsmiths.co.uk, t +44 (0)20 7367 5913 Museum of Art and Design, NY - Claire Laporte/Allison Underwoodd, press officer, press@madmuseum.org - t +1 212-299-7737 Cockpit Art s, London - Janice Hosegood, head of communications janice@cockpitarts.com, t +44 (0)20 7430 2949 hi-resolution press images are available to download at: http://www.utedecker.com/press.html 3/8 Piece chosen by Julia Peyton-Jones Selects (all pictures same ring) Curl hand sculpture by Ute Decker 18 carat Fairtrade gold photography - Ute Decker sand texture, matt, burnished edges, limited edition of 6 Signed - UK Hallmark with artist initials UD £ 3600 photography top row images: © Ute Decker bottom image: © The Goldsmiths’ Company. Photography by Richard Valencia 4/8 more hi-res press images & details available for downloaded at http://www.utedecker.com/press.html new Curl ear sculptures by Ute Decker 5/8 6/8 What Press reviews "the architectural jeweller" Financial Times "future icon of jewellery art" Didier Haspeslagh, Gallery Didier “Ute Decker is the first name that comes to mind when the words sculptural and jewellery come together” The Telegraph Luxury " a must-see presentation is the wearable art from Ute Decker the German-born artist and jeweller " Harper’s Bazaar - round up of the best jewellery/art shows "jewellery that makes a powerful statement… this sculptural jewellery sets a shining ethical example" Financial Times, How To Spend It “Ute Decker’s designs show a great awareness of contemporary art and design. Curl is one of Decker’s famed ‘Hand Sculptures’ where the wearer becomes a medium of art display. Curl is a coiled artwork that tumbles and flows in its dynamism. Another work, Articulation demonstrates a key concept of Decker’s work. The engagement of the jewellery and the wearer is vital. By a true artist’s nature, Decker encourages the viewer to wear the piece in their own way, providing multiple options for object engagement and display. … she shows such intensely proficient artistry and refinement in her jewellery creations” The Culture Trip - Top 10 British Jewellery Designers to Watch 7/8 "Ute Decker’s arrestingly beautiful creations – wearable sculptures to adorn the hand, arm or neck – caused a considerable stir when they erupted onto the jewellery scene in 2009, instantly establishing her as one of the UK’s most exciting new studio-jewellers. Aptly described as ‘architectural jewellery’, the sweeping scale and ambition of her pieces, married to their minimalist design and unfettered originality, have since earned ute recognition from prestigious galleries, acclaim from the international press and collectors..." Goldsmiths’ Company - Who's Who In Gold And Silver “distinctive architectural jewelry” National Museum Of Women In The Arts, NMWA “Her architectural jewels are bold, minimalist and stylish. Turn to her for limited-edition, wearable sculptures that have the ethical stamp of approval” Joanna Hardy - The Telegraph Luxury “Didier Ltd (London)… is also offering pieces by artists like Alexander Calder, Picasso, and Salvador Dali, along with the work of the contemporary ethical studio jeweler, Ute Decker, whose minimalist sculptured jewelries are made from recycled silver and fair trade gold” Boulin Artinfo, Design Basel 2013 "Britain's leading ethical jeweller Ute Decker …. Ute Decker's jewellery are as much pieces of sculpture as they are luxury, with their deceptively elegant forms carry a serenity not often seen ... inspired by the ancient Japanese philosophy of wabi sabi, Ute Decker has crafted jewellery that is minimalist yet magnificently realised" Maria Doulton, The Jewellery Editor “forward-thinking designer” vanity fair “Avant-garde sculptural pieces that look like swirling sculptures” Intelligent Life 8/8