ART TO WEAR: Filigree

Jewelry, especially from ancient times, is just as much artwork as artifact, especially when you consider the craftsmanship behind each piece.  Filigree is a type of metalwork used for jewelry since the 6th century B.C., and is represented in many ancient cultures, including Italian, French, Greek, and Etruscan, and is still popularly used today. Filigree is accomplished by soldering together many tiny filaments to form a piece of metal that resembles lace.

I'm wearing the Filigree Statement Necklace, courtesy of Lydell NYC.

LUCIO FONTANA

Lucio Fontana (1899-1968) was an Italian artist and proponent of Spatialism and Arte Povera.

Spatialism is characterized by a focus on "matter, colour, and sound motion", as described in the White Manifesto of 1946.

Arte Povera sought to separate art from commerce and the hierarchies of wealth and status, making it more accessible to the public at large.

The works shown here are from the Spatial Concept series, which Fontana began in 1949.  He referred to these works as tagli, the Italian word for slashes.

Fontana created tagli out of various media, including metal, clay, terracotta, paint, and glass.  The works shown here are probably the most well known of the series, and are simply slit canvases, which accomplish a surprising illusion of depth.

The above work, Teresita, which was dedicated to Fontana's wife, famously brought $11.6 million at auction at Christie's in 2008.

I'm wearing an H&M dress, Fashion Against AIDS necklace, and Ecote shoes.

[Fontana images from canalblog.com, the-wrong-guy.blogspot.com, and weareprivate.net.  Photos by Meri.]