The exhibition “Brilliant & Black: The Age of Enlightenment” will feature 70 pieces by 25 contemporary black jewellery designers. The exhibition will take place at the London gallery from 22 September to 2 October.
Sotheby's is once again working with renowned jewellery journalist and curator, Melanie Grant. Specifically a collaboration to organize the second groundbreaking exhibition “Brilliant & Black”. The exhibition showcases the extraordinary skill, imagination and craftsmanship of black jewellery designers from the 1950s to the present day.
The theme of this year's exhibition “Brilliant & Black” is Enlightenment and reflects the current period of modern enlightenment. It further explores the depth and breadth of our talent today. For all those who do not have a voice or opportunity to do so themselves, said curator Melanie Grant.
The famous exhibition will be held in London this September and coincides with Black History Month.
Entitled “Brilliant & Black: The Age of Enlightenment”, the new London edition is larger than the original New York exhibition. In particular, it features more than 70 pieces from 25 exclusively contemporary designers.
All the participating artists created a new piece in response to Grant's overall theme, Enlightenment. A period that represents, as Grant states, “an era of growth, individualism and intellectual reasoning.”.
The returning designers from last year's show are: Melanie Eddy, Lola Fenhirst, Harwell Godfrey, Sheryl Jones, Vania Leles, Angie Marei, Satta Matturi, Johnny Nelson, Jariet Oloye-Oduto, Jacqueline Rabun, Catherine Sarr, Maggi Simpkins, Karen Smith, Ten Thousand Things, Lorraine West, Thelma West and Castro NYC.
The man behind Castro NYC, Terry Castro, died unexpectedly in July. The event shocked the industry and many mourned the death of a talented artist whose star was on the rise. His work is on display courtesy of his family.
New to the exhibition this year are eight designers; Disa Allsopp, Latoya Boyd, Shola Branson, Ndidi Eubia, Gina Love, Pascale Marthine Tayou through the Elisabetta Cipriani gallery, Roxanne Rajcommar-Hadden and Sewit Sium.
In a Sotheby's release on the exhibition, he explained.
So much history repeats itself and for us this second exhibition is about our expansion from that moment of arrest in New York last September. In practice, this involved inviting eight new artists to participate, bringing our roster to 25.
As we move forward, after showcasing the talents of old masters Art Smith and Winifred Mason last time, we will now showcase only contemporary artists, because this show is about the future and where we go from here.
