Gallery Didier to showcase Ute Decker at Design Basel 2013
May 18, 2013 – This summer studio-jeweller Ute Decker will become the first contemporary artist to be given a spotlight showcase at Design Basel (11– 16 June) by Didier Ltd, the London gallery that is unique worldwide in specializing in historical jewels by leading 20th-century painters and sculptors.
Ute Decker’s pieces will be presented alongside an exhibition of jewels by the renowned Italian sculptors and jewellers, Arnaldo and Gio Pomodoro, as well as works by other artists including Louise Bourgeois, Man Ray and Louise Nevelson.
Didier Haspeslagh, director of Didier Ltd, enthuses about Ute Decker as a “future icon of jewellery art”, and reveals that together with his wife Martine they have been collecting Ute’s work privately for some time now.
“Her unique work was a real discovery for us and we are thrilled to bring her pieces to Design Basel,” Didier Haspeslagh said.
The Goldsmiths’ Company writes in its Who’s Who l ist ing: “Aptly described as ‘architectural jewellery’, Ute Decker’s arresting creations – wearable sculptures to adorn the hand, arm or neck – caused a considerable stir when they erupted into the jewellery world in 2009, instantly establishing her as one of the UK’s most exciting new studio jewellers.
“The sweeping scale and ambition of her pieces, married to their minimalist geometry and unfettered originality, have earned Ute Decker rapid recognition from prestigious galleries and acclaim from the international press and collectors alike.”
Inspired by the Japanese philosophy of Wabi Sabi, the distinctive one-off and small series pieces of Ute Decker are the result of months of continuous experimentation to distil her artistic vision into serene, minimalist forms.
This intense engagement with her material creates artworks with a powerful character that blooms into life when worn.
The formal, external beauty of Ute Decker’s jewellery is completed by the substance that underpins its creation – the fusion of aesthetics and ethics: she uses sustainable practices and materials such as recycled silver and Fairtrade gold from Colombia, thus bestowing her pieces with an additional layer of meaning.
Ute Decker is attending Design Basel in person, and will be displaying new and previously unseen pieces alongside some classics from her collection.
Meanwhile in London she is exhibiting at the Goldsmiths’ Pavilion, Somerset House, 26 – 29 June, while the Cockpit Arts Open Studio days, 7 – 9 June, offer a perfect
opportunity to visit the studio in which Ute Decker crafts her creations.
