Experimental, unconventional and individual: rarely does a contemporary jewellery artist manage to find ever new pictorial worlds during the course of his creative work so freely and unencumbered as Daniel Kruger (born 1951, South Africa). He has been designing jewellery now for forty years and today ranks among the protagonists of his genre.
Kruger creates emotions and sentiments from the interplay of line, surface and, above all, colour and in doing so seizes upon the principles of abstract art. His focus on vision and sensual cognition is intensified through contrasts – for example, in the juxtaposition of organic and geometric forms, hard and soft materials or of order and chaos. Unusual compositions of material also play a central role; the artist established crochet, considered a ‘domestic’ technique, as a process in art jewellery. From within this sensual jewellery concept, the erotic is also revealed as an intrinsic feature of Kruger’s work.
For Kruger, jewellery has an ornamental character, is not a narrative medium and refers neither directly nor symbolically to specific events or social contexts. Historical connections and cultural conventions are nonetheless inevitably bound with certain work methods and genres. Even the arrangement of a necklace’s elements represents a cultural convention. And decoration using found objects, such as feathers or stones, which inform Kruger’s early work, refers to a long tradition of man as creative designer. In his more recent work Kruger has increasingly employed precious materials; however, the play with nature and artificiality remains an intrinsic feature.
The current publication presents works from the last forty years and the various work phases in a scholarly appraisal. Numerous large-format illustrations of the jewellery pieces are complemented with images from collections and from compositions by the artist – his sources of inspiration. Furthermore, a ‘glimpse through the keyhole’ into the workshop provides interesting design sketches and drawings.
In a comprehensive showcase, this monograph presents the diverse work of the jewellery artist Daniel Kruger. The combination of sumptuous colours, sensual forms and expressive contrasts show Kruger’s individual creative approach – opening up to the viewer a pictorial world of aesthetic pleasure.
Biography: Born in Cape Town; 1971/72: studied goldsmithing and graphic design at Stellenbosch University in South Africa; 1973/74: studied painting at the Michaelis School of Fine Art at the University of Cape Town; 1974–80: studied goldsmithing at the Academy of Fine Arts in Munich under Prof. Hermann Junger; since 1980: freelance jewellery and ceramic artist, numerous national and international exhibitions; since 2003 professor of sculpture/jewellery at the Burg Giebichenstein University of Art and Design Halle.
This well-made book is the catalogue to the travelling exposition with the same title. The essays give good insight into the artist and his work, its meaning and appearance. Jürunn Veiteberg describes the role of light and colour in Kruger’s jewellery: the role of material, colour, ornament and shifting styles. The good photos show the found materials Kruger uses very well, as well as the combination of materials he gives shape and form. Glass is well-represented in the form of enamels, beads, window glass fragments, shards, mirror fragments and components, with knotted silk threads and combined with other materials like gold, silver, metal and plastics.
Highly recommended for the jewellery lover/collector, and students who appreciate clear forms and shapes and well-crafted wearable art.
Angela van der Burght
Exhibitions:
GRASSI Museum of Applied Art, Leipzig (DE), 11/12/2014 to 8/3/2015,
Schmuckmuseum Pforzheim (DE), 27/4/2015 to 28/6/2015,
Deutsches Goldschmiedehaus, Hanau (DE), 10/7/2015 to 27/9/2015,
Stedelijk Museum ’s-Hertogenbosch (NL), 17/10/2015 to 24/1/2016
