Since the end of the 80s Marina Ruggieri has been involved in the edition of
Gioielli d’Artista until 2012 with the brand
Fratelli Filippini of Verona, when the goldsmith industry closed its doors.
These are portable sculptures designed by numerous internationally renowned artists: a prestigious and unique idea, born from the desire to transfer the art object into a precious jewel to be worn, therefore a “worn” art, experienced first-hand, where everyone feels the emotion of becoming, with their own body, an integral part of an exclusive and unique work conceived and designed by an artist. Each artist's jewel is designed following different techniques and therefore uses creations that embrace various production sectors, to respect the particularity of the style of each individual artist.
All these portable sculptures are unique pieces (originals), made in 8 copies, exactly like sculpture, and are all numbered and signed by the artist. Each object is also accompanied by a certificate of authenticity signed by the artist himself.
Works of art in the form of a jewel, often freed from the original ornamental function to become autonomous creations: this is the territory of "artistic jewels". Born from the contamination between figurative art and applied art, and developed at an increasing rate throughout the 20th century, the field of "designer jewel" has now achieved full recognition: numerous exhibitions explore its evolution and demonstrate how, over the course of a century, artists who became goldsmiths have managed to challenge and overcome the traditional concept of jewel. Art objects whose value is directly proportional to the expressive force and the cultural, ideological or symbolic message they intend to convey. Jewels similar to small portable works of art, created through the miniature reworking of ideas and themes from figurative art: these are therefore jewels made even more precious by the style of an artist, who expresses all his creative flair by designing and shaping gold and stones in such a way as to make them become a unique and exclusive work of art, suitable for an attentive, original and demanding public. Through the rejection of established formal canons, the experimentation of new techniques and the use of unconventional materials, a movement of renewal has swept through and reinvigorated twentieth-century art.
This is witnessed by the growing interest of galleries, critics, mass media, press, fairs, collectors and all those involved in modern and contemporary art: there is a multiplication of exhibitions, events, happenings, auctions and even the birth of museums entirely dedicated to this very particular art form.
Since 1998, the travelling exhibition "From Picasso to Jeff Koons" has been underway, organised and curated by Diane Venet (wife of the sculptor Bernar Venet): it is a journey through the history of art from the early 1900s to the present day, through the creation of jewellery by major international artists: practically a "miniature museum", as dear friend Pierre Restany liked to call it!
Here are the museums where it has already been exhibited, with very prestigious catalogues: in 2008 at the Musée La Piscine di Roubaix (France), in 2011 at the Museum of Art & Design in New York (with a beautiful Skira catalogue), then in summer 2012 at the Benaki Museum in Athens, then in winter 2012 at the IVAM Museum in Valencia, in summer 2013 at the Bass Museum in Miami, then in winter 2013-2014 at the Hangaram Design Museum in the Seoul Arts Center, in 2015 it was a collateral event of the Venice Biennale at the Vitraria Museum, then in November 2017 it was exhibited at the National Museum of Art in Riga (Latvia), in 2018 at the Musèe d'Art Decoratif of the Louvre in Paris (with Flammarion catalogue), in summer 2021 at the Grimaldi Forum in Monte Carlo and the next appointment will be at the Norton Museum in Palm Beach in April 2025: www.dianevenet.com
For many years, thanks to the collaboration with the Barbara Bassi Gallery in Cremona, Marina Ruggieri has been present at the major international jewelry fairs, as well as at the prestigious Brafa art fair in Brussels. She also collaborates with Bab’s Gallery in Milan, Elisabetta Cipriani and Didier in London, Galerie Minimasterpiece in Paris, Ciaudano in Monte Carlo.