Karl Fritsch: Scenes from the Munich Diamond Disaster

Continuing its commitment to exhibitions spanning the breadth of Wellington’s art, architecture and design, the Hirschfeld Gallery presents the stunning jewellery of Karl Fritsch, an internationally renowned jeweller now based in Island Bay.

The spectacularly titled exhibition Scenes from the Munich Diamond Disaster will present hundreds of Fritsch’s hand-crafted rings, selected from across a fifteen year period of the artist’s practice.

These rings are constructed from a startling array of precious metals and gemstones—gold, rubies, sapphires, silver, diamonds and emeralds—which are precariously piled on top of one another, pressed into roughly formed settings, pierced, unpolished, oxidised, or inserted into the eyes of small skulls.

Fritsch has written, “At some point I would like to use gold in the same way as plasticine”. This intention is evident in Scenes from the Munich Diamond Disaster, which demonstrates Fritsch’s irreverent use of costly materials. In his work jewels are often stabbed through the centre by a nail, or a piece of gold is paired with common iron or stone.

As inventive as the works themselves is the ‘scene’ that Fritsch has created within the Hirschfeld Gallery. His rings are presented in colourful plasticine moulds inside sleek display cases. The vitrines themselves are propped on raw timber chocks, suggesting the appearance of a construction site or a gallery space during installation. Unlike the austere surfaces on which jewellery is usually displayed, here Fritsch’s rings are deliberately staged in a provisional, apparently haphazard environment.

Event listed by City Gallery Wellington

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