From December 6th until December 21st, 2013
at Art Gallery PUTTI

 Solo exhibition of Latvian jewellery artist Andris Lauders

CHESS FOR THE QUEEN OF DIAMONDS

The number of pieces of jewellery exhibited is going to be 64 – exactly the number of squares on the chessboard. The artist has also chosen to comply thematically to the colours of the chessboard – black and white – with only small occasional colorful accents. Explaining the production of the exhibition, Andris Lauders notes that he rarely uses diamonds it his jewellery, but rather relies on the exceptional designs of his works. However, if necessary, in order to achieve the whatever effect required they can be combined to achieve by inserting other material. His formula is to bring out the diamond using the jewellery instead of utilizing the diamonds to bring out the jewellery. The invocation of the word „chess” into the title of the exhibition also demonstrates the personal challenge of the artist to comply with the pre-set rules and criteria.
Artworks in the exhibition – functional jewellery is made ​​of silver, with gold additions. The technique of the artist implies that first, from gold and sliver plates an ornament is created, and heat is applied from below. Since gold has a higher melting temperature than silver, the hard gold plates can sit into the softer silver plates thus fixing the ornament design. The viewers of Andris Lauders’ exhibition can come across references to the history of culture. For example, in one of the rings displayed, a   miniature Roman Coliseum representation can be seen with a golden sun panel folded into the front view. Smaller pieces of jewellery are initially formed in wax and then cast. The largest – made ​​of components and brazed together, leaving a hollow middle. This reduces the weight of jewellery and allows it to be worn daily. Mammoth bone is cut, carved and put into his jewelry, but with the help of silver wire additional dotted accents or other ornaments are formed.
Andris Lauders (1961) is one of the leading Latvian jewellery artists. He is a graduate of the School of Applied Arts, Metal department (1980) and the Estonian Art Institute, Metal department (1985). He began his creative work by infringing the pre-set rules. In particular, during the Soviet period, metal artists were taught to avoid mixing the base materials in their works, however, it is the silver and gold combination that has become the face of Andris Lauders jewellery. As accents in his jewellery, he uses not only gems and pearls, but also the more extraordinary materials – mammoth bones, ancient coins, lava, etc. The presence of historicism is gracefully present in his works. However, from all cultures, the ancient Egyptian jewellery has the dominant effect here. His jewellery traditionally has a narrative, but handwriting is developing in the direction of simplicity. Simple geometric shapes are mainly used in his artworks.

Exhibition opening: