Gijs Bakker solo show at Design Miami/2013

Wed, Dec 4 - Fri, Dec 27  2013

Caroline van Hoek presents Gijs Bakker‘s new works at Design Miami/2013 from December 4-8, 2013. “What do Nadal, Ronaldo, Gonzales and Vermeer have in common? Nothing if not that they all are symbols of excellence in their field and they are the new subjects of jewelry works by Gijs Bakker.” The new series ‘Go for Gold’ emphasizes the importance of gold in the competitive world of sports, business and politics. By laser-welding gold on titanium or by laser-cutting gold under titanium, the brooches literally go for gold. The exhibition will also include the new earring ‘Girl with the Pearl’ made by Gijs Bakker in collaboration with the National Glass Centre University Sunderland.

About Gijs Bakker

Gijs Bakker (Amersfoort, 1942) was trained as a jewellery and industrial-designer at the Gerrit Rietveld Academie in Amsterdam, the Netherlands and the Konstfack Skolen in Stockholm, Sweden.

Bakker’s designs cover jewellery, home accessories and household appliances, furniture, interiors, public spaces and exhibitions. He worked and works for numerous companies amongst wich: Polaroid, Artifort, HEMA, Royal VKB, and ENO Studio.
 
In 1993 he founded Droog Design together with design critic and historian Renny Ramakers, a Dutch collective of designers, products and information. Together with Ramakers, Bakker was the selector and art director of all products within Droog Design untill 2009.
 
Bakker has taught at different schools, amongst which the ArtEZ Institute of the Arts in Arnhem, Delft University of Technology and the Design Academy Eindhoven were he worked since 1987 until 2012, since 2000 as head of the Masters Programme.
 
Together with Italian gallery owner Marijke Vallanzasca Bakker founded the Chi ha paura…? (Italian for ‘who is afraid of’) foundation in 1996. With Chi ha paura…? (CHP…?) They wanted to show that a piece of jewellery is more than a decorative fashion accessory. With this CHP…? challenged the widespread fear for the contemporary jewellery.

In current design projects Bakker investigates the relation between craft and design. Since 2009, he is exploring this theme in his role as creative director for HAN Gallery, formerly known as Yii in Taiwan. Commissioned by the Taiwanese Craft and Design council Yii was founded to create a stronger and sustainable coherence between local Taiwanese craft traditions and contemporary design practice in Taiwan. It is also intended to establish a more prolific design identity for Taiwan.

Gijs Bakker travels around the world to give workshops, lectures about his own work, CHP…? and Droog Design and is frequently a member in juries. His retrospective exhibition “Gijs Bakker and Jewelry” (with the accompanying monography) was on display in various museums around the world.
His work is represented in collections, both in museums and private worldwide.