Anonymous Brooklyn

Anonymous Brooklyn is an installation built one person at a time. Over the course of New York City Jewelry Week all artists are invited to bring a piece of jewelry for display In the Gallery at Brooklyn Metal Works. All the work will be placed on one wall, and each artist will have only small nails to hang their piece. (We will have a hammer of course!) This is an accumulation, an accretion. Whoever hangs the first piece gets the first pick of placement and from there it grows. It might grow over, it might grow under. No artist will harm the work of another, but elbows will rub, hair may fall in your eyes, and proximity will certainly alter perception. 

This call for entries in ongoing throughout the installation period. We will accept works until the installation closes on Nov. 23 at 3pm. 

Drop off and installation:  
November 18 – 22, 11 am – 6 pm
November 23, 11 am – 3 pm 

Opening November 23, 6 – 8 pm

De-installation:
November 24 11 am – 1 pm & 5 – 7 pm
November 25 11 am – 7 pm

In the Gallery @ Brooklyn Metal Works
640 Dean Street Floor 2
Brooklyn, NY 11238 

Bring us your jewelry. One person, one piece. Check our open hours to bring and install the work. Your work will go through a formal documentation process where we photograph the work and receive your information. You will be given a coat check number in exchange for your work. You will participate in an installation performance. You will be photographed installing the piece and all pertinent information about that piece will be offered to the interwebs on all of our available platforms. Participants must be willing to wear a mask while performing these tasks. No name attribution will ever be publicly associated with the works or released by BKMW. If a work sells the name of the artist will be disclosed to the buyer if desired.

> | Jess Tolbert

Artist Talk September 7, 5PM
Opening reception September 7, 7-9PM
Please join us for a back-to-back artist talk and opening reception on Saturday, September 7.

A humble staple is often overlooked, simply used to bind a few pages together, or to post a flyer to a lamppost; its purpose does not often extend beyond what it was intended for. I am drawn to its recognizable form and to the rhythm of its use. Through repetitive actions of layering, patterning, and systemically constructing, I replicate the pace of mass production, but not its protocols. With infinite possibilities, I reflect upon the unknown makers and their process to create a product that is now my raw material, capturing labor in the form of jewelry.

Jess Tolbert

Jess Tolbert lives in El Paso, Texas where she is Assistant Professor of Art and Head of the Jewelry + Metals program at the University of Texas, El Paso. She received her Masters and Bachelors degrees in Fine Arts, both with a focus on metal and jewelry. Jess actively exhibits her work nationally and internationally. Her research and studio practice explores and reconsiders the commonplace objects of everyday life and mass production, creating an intimate link to our relationship with labor and the built environment.

jesstolbert.com

instants//intervals | Valerie James

Valerie James’ work conveys her interest in movement, mapping, and mark making. James observes the patterns and pathways that a body takes in its everyday routines and finds parallels within her studio practice. Engraving a sheet of metal is a process of ritual much like the act of walking. By physically embedding her movements into the surfaces James evidences a tangible relationship to the ephemeral. Through jewelry James sees a connection to landscapes that are traversed by a body, conforming to existing pathways, and landscapes that are created by wearing, tracing the curves of our physical existence.

“As we move, we begin to understand the spaces we encounter. I want to know the space of the body as it moves through specific environments and connect these to my research and inquiries. Walking is a way of knowing the body: the subtle gestures it makes while progressing through space, how it moves – how it interacts with its surrounding landscape. It is a collection of movements that live parallel to the interaction that happens with a piece of jewelry. The body is a dwelling for jewelry, and how we move affects its life. I am intrigued by the symbiotic relationship of body to jewelry, both on and off the body.”

- Valerie James

valerie-james.com

Makers 2018 & BKMW Trunk Show

Aviva Shapiro
Allison Krier
Bianca Abreu
David Hardcastle
Daniell Hudson
Eve Singer
Fannie Ip
Hanna-Katarina Edwards
Kathleen King
Michele Benjamin
Ope Omojola 
Samuel Guillén
Suna Bonometti
Vershali Jain
Wyna Liu 

Our 7th annual winter event is our biggest celebration of the year! Come out and enjoy an evening filled with friends, food, and art. Meet the artists that make BKMW the exciting community it is and peruse the jewelry and artwork that is made here. The trunk show will have jewelry perfect for gift giving this holiday season, or a well deserved gift for yourself.

We are looking forward to celebrating with you!