Jewellery by Dieter Roth

Dieter Roth

5.6.2022 — 22.1.2023

National Gallery of Iceland

Room

2

5.6.2022 22.1.2023

Curator

Björn Roth

Exhibition comittee

Harpa Þórsdóttir

Vigdís Rún Jónsdóttir

Exhibition Designer

Helgi Már Kristinsson

Consultant

Guðmundur Oddur Magnússon - Goddur

Project Manager of Exhibitions

Vigdís Rún Jónsdóttir

Marketing

Guðrún Jóna Halldórsdóttir

Project Manager of Education and Events

Ragnheiður Vignisdóttir

Installation

Helgi Már Kristinsson

Björn Roth

Guðmundur Oddur Magnússon - Goddur

Ísleifur Kristinsson

In collaboration with

Dieter Roth (1930—1998) was a pioneer who respected no boundaries: a thinker, trailblazer, poet, musician, filmmaker and visual artist. A less well-known aspect of his career is that he also made an impression with his creation of innovative jewellery, starting in Iceland in the late 1950s.

The first pieces of jewellery designed by Roth were made in collaboration with his wife, artist Sigríður Björnsdóttir, at the kitchen table in their home; but before long they were offered better facilities in the atelier of goldsmith Halldór Sigurðsson at Skólavörðustígur 2 in central Reykjavik

Roth‘s jewellery, generally composed of screws, bolts and other mechanical parts, could be assembled in various different ways, and reconfigured. His jewellery-making was characterised by the same approach as his art: he made use of materials that were generally dismissed as waste or refuse, which he transformed. No two objects are alike; Dieter Roth was familiar with the qualities of the material, and worked directly with it. In the 1960s Roth embarked on collaboration with Swiss goldsmith Hans Langenbacher; the two men had first met at the atelier of goldsmith Jón Sigmundsson in Reykjavík in 1958, and been impressed by each other‘s methods, use of materials, and skill.

At the National Gallery of Iceland, an opportunity is offered for the first time to see Dieter Roth‘s unique jewellery in a coherent context. The exhibition bears witness to his experimentalism and unconventional methods, and sheds new light on the oeuvre of this outstandingly versatile artist.

© Dieter Roth Estate 

Courtesy Hauser & Wirth and Dieter Roth Foundation, Hamburg

28.5.2022 — 2.10.2022

Treasures of Icelandic Art

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