Petra Zimmermann’s jewelry objects are forthright, sensuous, and opulent. Her early works already reveal an artistic strategy she has continued to pursue ever since: an allusive confrontation of provided material and individually designed plastic forms. However, the objects produced in this way avail of more than just their decorative function; Zimmermann’s works are far more “thought impulses” bringing up aesthetic questions of appeal, value and the transitoriness of beauty. They impress as subtle works of art that cause the conventional barriers between design, the applied arts and fine arts to falter.

Following on from the series of rings and bracelets she has been producing since 1998, another strand of work has emerged since 2002, figurative brooches based on cuttings from the print media. While the rings and bracelets are defined by reflections of glamour associated with jewelry, the brooches meanwhile manifest Zimmermann’s interest shifting onto the representation of the human body in the media. Her most recent works show Zimmermann extending her thematic range with images of design and architectural objects, also floral motifs.

The exhibition is presenting the first overall survey of the artist’s oeuvre with around 100 exhibits—created between 1997 and 2012. Some pieces are being displayed on perforated lacquered plinths designed especially for the exhibition—a reference to Josef Hoffmann’s lattice objects and the tradition of the Wiener Werkstätte.

A section of the exhibition is installed as a “Reader’s Corner,” consisting of two armchairs (based on a design by Frederick J. Kiesler, 1933), and a book shelf with jewelry publications. The selection includes Zimmermann monographs and exhibition catalogues on international trends in contemporary jewelry from the nineteen-seventies until today that have had a fundamental formative influence on the concept of Autorenschmuck—jewelry as an individually creative art—and on the discourse in this sphere: a chance for the visitor to gain information on a field of contemporary jewelry that is generally unfamiliar to the public.

Petra Zimmermann, born in Graz in 1975, studied sculpture at the Vienna University of Applied Arts. In 2010 she won the Eligius Schmuck-Preis (jewelry prize) of the Federal Land of Salzburg, in 2011 the International Cominelli Award. Petra Zimmermann lives and works in Vienna.

Curator Elisabeth Schmuttermeier, Curator MAK, Metal Collection and Wiener Werkstätte Archive