One has only to open a newspaper, or watch the news on TV to know that the economy is first and foremost on the minds of the population today. Retailers are reporting downturns in sales and unemployment hovers around 10%. I found it interesting to discover that the Miami University Art Museum has a series of exhibits for spring 2010 which focuses on luxury, consumption and excess in our society.
The museum has three exhibits running - all showcasing the same topic, but the one of most interest to me is called Adornment and Excess: Jewelry in the 21st Century which opened on January 21 and will run until July 10, 2010.
Jewelry is a natural baromet of what is valued by our society at certain times. The contemporary jewelry featured in this exhibit challenges and delights the viewers and gives them much to contemplate about excess. It offers a visual framework for considering questions of sustainability, responsibility, material recycling, ethical consumption, decadence and, of course, the jewelry itself.
Artists featured in the exhibit are many and include Opulent Project, Francesca Vitali, Boris Bally and Kathy Buzzlewicz. The necklace shown here, by Kathy Buszkiewicz, is called Duchess and is a good example of big festoon necklaces that are all the rage right now.
Photo courtesy of Miami University of Art Museum.
