Jewelry Speaks: The Voice of the Jill Wine-Banks Pin Collection, Exhibition
The oldest known pieces of jewelry, a string of 33 shell bead dated around 145,000 years ago, is believed to be an early form of widespread communication. Today, we still use jewelry to communicate with people we don’t know, think of the “ring” finger. In the age of non-stop global communication, subtly, subtext, and signaling has become crucial to our individualism and a tool to amplify our voice in a sea of voices.
This installation of alost 600 pieces of Jill's collection tells the story of Jill Wine-Banks, and like decorative semaphores, this jewelry also tells the story of the United States, her politics, her conflicts, and her law within Jill’s lifetime.
Travel through her collection and find the meaning in each piece for yourself, find its place in history contextualized by items from the UW-Milwaukee’s Special Collection, and its place today with the artwork of emerging and established artists and students as they create narratives through their creative practice.
What are you wearing, what story do you tell?
~Erica A. Meier, curator
With special thanks to Jill
And gracious support by:
Yevgeniya Kaganovich
Joseph Mougel
Max Yela and Ana Hansa- Ogren
All participating artists and students
And my dear Steve Brockelman and his amazing parents,
Pat and Doug
Almost 600 Pieces of Jewelry from the Collection of Jill Wine-banks, items from the special collections, rare book archive and works on paper.
Featured Artists include:
Yevgeniya Kaganovich
Michal Schwab
Adam Hawk
Chance Gordon
Geryn Roche
James Charles
Abagail Tran
Pavonis Giron
Lilly Luft
Gideon Herman
Logan Zabkowicz
and
Introduction to Jewelry and Metals students