AACG News
CMOG Announces 2015 Rakow Commission
The Corning Museum of Glass has named Swiss studio jeweler Bernhard Schobinger as the recipient of the Rakow Commission in 2015.
Recognized as a key figure in avant-garde contemporary jewelry, Bernhard Schobinger's subversive approach to making spans more than 45 years and has earned him a reputation for rebelliousness and innovation. By denying his jewelry its function as a status symbol, he uses it as a vehicle for social expression, such as when he links diamonds with objects that may have been retrieved from the garbage, a gesture that brands their glitter, too, as the detritus of a throw-away society.
“It is not often that a jeweler is recognized with the Rakow Commission. Schobinger’s unconventional world view is one of an artist rather than a jeweler, his work extending into the realms of sculpture, photography, and performance,” said Tina Oldknow, senior curator of modern and contemporary glass. “Schobinger does not focus exclusively on discarded materials. Rather, he works, almost alchemically, on creating blends of precious and poor materials in particular proportions.”
Schobinger's jewelry has appeared in over 50 general publications and exhibition catalogues. His most recent monographs are Glenn Adamson, Florian Hufnagl, and Bernhard Schobinger, Bernhard Schobinger: The Rings of Saturn, Stuttgart: Arnoldsche Art Publishers, 2014; and Roger Fayet and others, Bernhard Schobinger: Jewels Now, Stuttgart: Arnoldsche Art Publishers, 2003.
Inaugurated in 1986, the Rakow Commission is awarded annually to artists whose work is not yet represented in the Museum's collection. The commission supports new works of art in glass by encouraging emerging or established artists to venture into new areas that they might otherwise be unable to explore because of financial limitations.
| Posted 15 Aug 18
