Last week, the Dallas Museum of Art debuted its most expansive presentation of its significant contemporary jewelry collection. Titled “Constellations: Contemporary Jewelry at the Dallas Museum of Art,” the exhibition showcases over 350 pieces made with a wide array of materials by 233 artists across eight decades. “Contemporary jewelry in this context means it’s about works made by artists who explore ideas and expressions of their own time. Works they make in their own studio, that are idea first,” explains Sarah Schleuning, the Dallas Museum of Art’s Margot B. Perot Senior Curator of Decorative Arts and Design. “They focus on conceptual ideas over material value… the real alchemy of the pieces is the artistic expression of them.”
Installation view of Iris Van Herpen’s Aeriform
collar (2018) in “Constellations: Contemporary
Jewelry at the Dallas Museum of Art.”
Photo: John Smith. Courtesy Dallas Museum of Art
Installation view, “Constellations: Contemporary Jewelry at the Dallas Museum of Art.”
Photo: John Smith. Courtesy Dallas Museum of Art
The show challenges traditional notions of jewelry. Those hoping to view opulent creations with gems set in precious metals, perhaps worn by a starlet or royal, will be disappointed. Designed by artist and architect Jarrod Beck, this exhibition is the jewelry embodiment of IYKYK. “Studio Jewelry,” “Art Jewelry,” and “Wearable Art” are all terms often applied to works such as these, which are unconventional and, in some cases, challenging to wear. They are not, as noted in the accompanying catalog, tradition-bound. “These artists transform materials, from found objects to noble metals, into these incredible art pieces that become huge ideas,” notes Schleuning.
Art Smith, Half and Half necklace, (designed before
1948).
Photo: Chad Redmon. Courtesy Dallas Museum of
Art
Harry Bertoia, Brooch, (c. 1939-1943).
Photo: Chad Redmon. Courtesy Dallas Museum of
Art.
One of the biggest and most recognizable names—Iris van Herpen—opens the show. The Dutch fashion designer’s Aeriform collar, based on a dress from her Autumn/Winter 2017/2018 couture collection, was commissioned by the museum and Deedie Potter Rose, a local philanthropist, collector, and longtime DMA supporter. This zinc and steel ethereal wonder seems to float on the cobalt blue mannequin on which it is placed.
merry renk, In the Sky necklace, (1972).
Photo: Chad Redmon. Courtesy Dallas Museum of
Art.
Ana Font,
Bracelet, (1968).
Photo: Chad Redmon. Courtesy Dallas Museum of
Art.
Elsewhere, design aficionados will come across works by both Andrea Branzi and Harry Bertoia. Branzi’s “silver shoulder piece” was one of several made in collaboration with Eddy François and Caroline De Wolf of Casa Argentaurum, and shown at the Ghent Museum in 1998. The catalog that accompanies the exhibit includes sketches by the Italian architect and designer, who once wrote that “there have never been societies without jewelry; because they are, above all, the obvious sign of a magical elaboration of the human being, and the symbol of the search for a secret order in the laws of the cosmos.” Harry Bertoia’s contribution is less dramatic and easily overlooked. It’s a small wire and thread brooch, one of eight made by the artist, sculptor, and furniture designer. Described as a “constructivist-like frame… that suggests the making of a web by a spider,” the catalog notes that at the time it was created, Bertoia was “consumed by the act of drawing lines.”
Andrea Branzi, Shoulderpiece, (1998). Casa
Argentaurum, maker.
Photo: Chad Redmon. Courtesy Dallas Museum of Art
Zdeňka Mašatová, Necklace, (1980s).
Photo: Chad Redmon. Courtesy Dallas Museum of
Art.
Other standouts include Ute Decker’s Calligraphy #1 ring (a curvaceous, 18k fair trade gold design which can also be worn as a pendant), mid-century jeweler Art Smith’s iconic Half and Half necklace, and In the Sky, a vibrant silver and opal necklace by the legendary merry renk, one of 250 artists invited to participate in the groundbreaking touring exhibition Objects: USA.
Gert Mosettig, Necklace, (1987).
Photo: Chad Redmon. Courtesy Dallas Museum of
Art
Installation view, “Constellations: Contemporary Jewelry at the Dallas Museum of Art.”
Photo: John Smith. Courtesy Dallas Museum of Art
The exhibition’s 456-page catalog features over 900 treasures from the museum’s world-class collection. Authored by Sarah Schleuning, it is the first-ever publication dedicated to the Museum’s contemporary jewelry holdings. At $75, it is a must-have (and great holiday gift) for jewelry and design lovers.
“Constellations: Contemporary Jewelry at the Dallas Museum of Art,” is on view through May 3, 2026.