Women’s Tales: Four Leading Israeli Jewelers

According to Ulysses Dietz, The Newark Museum’s Senior Curator and Curator of Decorative Arts, WOMEN’S TALES is the first comprehensive study of Israeli contemporary jewelry to focus on the careers its leading women jewelers – Bianca Eshel-Gershuni, Vered Kaminski, Esther Knobel and Deganit Stern Schocken.

The exhibition was conceived in a collaboration between Davira Taragin, Director of Exhibitions at the Racine Art Museum in Wisconsin (RAM) and Alexander Ward, Curator of Design and Architecture at the Israel Museum. Together, Dietz said, they designed WOMEN’S TALES to illustrate Israel’s diverse culture and detail Israeli artists’ use of oriental heritages mixed with 20th century European tradition and thought.

Each of the artists is unique in her approach to design. Bianca Eshel-Gershuni, born in Bulgaria, incorporates a lavish mix of materials and color. Vered Kaminski, born in Israel, is a formalist with a taste for the abstract. Polish-born Esther Knobel, brings a sense of humor to her jewelry art while Israeli-born Deganit Stern Schocken’s designs reflect her academic training as an architect.

“Each of these artists,” Dietz explained, “has played a critical role in forging an Israeli identity in the contemporary jewelry movement, one that is distinctive of Europe and the United States. In fact, their unique work has brought international attention to a country that was previously largely unrecognized for its contribution to contemporary jewelry.”

The designs of the jewelry and vessels on exhibition incorporate precious and non-precious metals and non-traditional materials such as plastic, turtle shells, soda cans and camels’ teeth. The designs reveal much about the artists, all mature women, the youngest is in her early 50’s the most senior in her mid- 70’s, and reflect on their experiences over several decades as women, mothers and wives in the turbulent society that is Israel.

In his essay for the nationally-distributed catalog which accompanies the exhibition, Alex Ward opines that Israel did not develop a strong jewelry movement because, in part, of its youthfulness. The State of Israel was officially established on May 14, 1948. Its leading art school, the Bezalel Academy, focused for decades on training artists for the commercial jewelry industry. Therefore, Ward points out, it took special devotion for the four featured artists, three of whom studied at Bezalel, to devote their lives to artistic rather than industrial design.

“The Newark Museum is privileged to bring this groundbreaking exhibition to the New York – New Jersey Metropolitan area,” said Museum Director Mary Sue Sweeney Price. “WOMEN’S TALES” provides a unique perspective on Israel’s diverse culture and a wonderful celebration of its 60th anniversary.” -- www.newarkmuseum.org