The uniqueness of face traits lends itself to free interpretation.

The Lavaters is a series of bronze pendants inspired by Johann Caspar Lavater and his studies on physiognomy and the “character heads” by the sculptor Franz Xaver Messerschmidt.

Some of these profiles are displayed in the shop window of the studio in via San Fermo 7 in Milan and visible in the afternoon. The passerby is invited to find a name for the character, to invent a conversation between some of them and to write it on a piece of paper or send it in an email.

This is a chatter and bronze project that will find space on my Instagram page @valentina_romen and will be accompanied by the hashtag #lavaterfaccedibronzo

You too are cordially invited to participate. Scroll down here to discover some of the Lavaters.

where: via San Fermo 7, Milan

when: June, from Monday to Friday, from 2.30 to 6.30 pm and by appointment

I Lavater, facce di bronzo!

I tratti del viso lasciano spazio alla libertà di interpretazione e si divertono a partecipare alle conversazioni secondo l’ispirazione del momento.

I Lavater sono una serie di ciondoli in bronzo ispirata a Johann Caspar Lavater e ai suoi studi di fisiognomica e alle “teste di carattere” di Franz Xaver Messerschmidt.

Da qualche giorno alcuni di questi profili sono esposti nella vetrina dello studio di via San Fermo 7 e visibili il pomeriggio. Il passante è invitato a trovare un nome al personaggio, a inventarsi una conversazione tra alcuni di loro e a scriverla su un foglio o mandando una mail.

Questo è un progetto di chiacchiere e bronzo che troverà spazio sulla mia pagina Instagram @valentina_romen e sarà accompagnato dall’ hashtag #lavaterfaccedibronzo

Invito anche te a partecipare. Passa. Guarda. Scrivi.

dove: via San Fermo 7, Milano
quando: da lunedì a venerdì dalle ore 14.30 alle 18.30 e su appuntamento

Johann Caspar Lavater (1741-1801) è stato uno spirito controverso. Teologo e filosofo svizzero, metteva in rapporto il volto e l’animo. Per il pastore zurighese il disegno era non solo un fondamentale strumento di rilevamento, ma anche l’unico mezzo in grado di fondare la fisiognomica come scienza. Nella sua ricerca l’essenzialità delle silhouettes e il semplice profilo del cranio diventano ad esempio sufficienti a determinarne matematicamente il livello di intelligenza.

La fisiognomica di Lavater, interessata a una semiotica del volto, inteso quale specchio dell’anima, incontrava le simpatie di ambiti estetici e letterari, trovando seguaci anche nella frenologia e nell’antropologia criminale di fine Ottocento e di uno scultore d’eccezione come Franz Xaver Messerschmidt che nelle 64 “teste di carattere” traduce un interesse artistico per l’espressione delle emozioni nella sperimentazione estrema, quando una smorfia è in grado di cancellare la stessa individuazione fisionomica.

Yiqing Cai, Fragile!, pin

that is f-utile

A project by Valentina Romen with works by Marta Boan, Yiqing Cai, Tereza Duskova, Jovana Popic and Vincent Vintage Bijoux

Opening: Wednesday 27^th of November, 6 pm
Exhibition from Thursday 28^th of November to Saturday 14^th of December 2019 from 2 to 8 pm
Spazio Sanfermosette
via San Fermo 7 – Milan

It is not true that art is useless. Art seduces us with the importance of being useless and embodies important social, economic, aesthetic, magic and ritual functions.

Jewels in particular always had precise functions. The seal guaranteed authenticity, buttons and buckles supported the dress, the amulet attracted fortune or prevented bad luck, the spices contained in the pomander revived the senses or relieved discomfort, the châtelaine united everyday necessities on the belt, a ring could communicate loyalty to someone.

The group show Useful brings together the work of three contemporary jewellery designers, a drawing by a visual artist and a selection of historical objects from the collection of Manuel Menini (Vincent Vintage Bijoux). Each artist cultivating his own curiosity, the only real engine to understand the usefulness of the useless and the uselessness of the useful.

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In occasion of the Milano Jewelry Week which is taking place from the 24th to the 27th of October, I find myself in good company as one of the special guests invited by BABS Art Gallery.

On show part of my collection Fluid Borders, where geometrical shapes delineate the body with arbitrary border lines.  Unbending profiles in contrast with the sinuous contours of who wears them.

BABS, which stands for Beyond Art Before Sculpture, is the first gallery dedicated to jewelry designed by artists in the city of Milan.

BABS Art Gallery
via Maurizio Gonzaga 2 corner Piazza Diaz, Milan.
Opening hours during the MJW:
Monday to Friday,  from 10am to 6pm
Saturday and Sunday, from 11am to 5pm

A further step, jewelry for the table.

Happy to announce that I am selected to exhibit at “Crossovers” by Adorno Design as a part of the Italian collection curated by Mr Lawrence . Through the best outcomes of contemporary collectible design, the exhibition aims to tell the story of 10 of today’s local design & crafts cultures. London Design Fair, September 19-22, London, UK.

Tête-à-tête old school.
Two benches to adorn your table.
Knives might rest on it, or the chop-sticks.

I like to rummage in the past to bring back objects that – despite their rough textures – exalt form over utility. So this time, taking a step outside my comfort zone, I realized an original piece of jewelry for the table. Faithful to my dna, the knife-rests are manufactured in bronze by the lost wax casting technique. One of a kind pieces, visible and on sale on adorno.design .

Jing Yang, neckpiece “I am not a vase“, 2017, photo: Valentina Romen

Jewellery Week was held in Munich last month, with exhibitions by both artisans and design students dedicated to the art.

Schmuck, jewellery in German, is the section of the International Craft Fair in Munich dedicated to contemporary jewellery and is celebrating its sixtieth anniversary this year. An exhibition, an award and the presence of some of the most important galleries in the sector have managed to create growing interest in the event.

Thanks to the Dutch initiative by Current Obsession, the last few years have seen the addition of a programme which is open to all and which extends to various districts in the city. A large number of the events are concentrated in a period of one week in mid-March, when dialogues between jewellery designers occupy ephemeral spaces and dedicated galleries.

Numerous schools are present, ranging from Central Saint Martins of London to the China Academy of Art of Hangzhou. Counting the nationalities of the students, collectors, curators, gallery-owners and curious visitors seems almost an impossible task.

For two of the most important institutions on the Munich cultural scene, March is also an annual appointment for artistic jewellery. The Danish Karen Pontoppidan (1968) is the focus of the exhibition dedicated to her work “The one-woman group exhibition” at the Villa Stuck museum.

www.domusweb.it

Pleased to communicate the presence of the little figures on the “Traverso” exhibition wall at the cabaret theatre Carambolage in Bolzano during December and January.

Especially for the theatre I imagined a new little character and experimented with coloured resin.

Until the end of January at the cabaret theatre Carambolage

Silbergasse 19, Bozen

curated by Annalisa Rosso

presentation on Thursday June 28th 2018, from 6.30 pm
AMW Architettura
via Assarotti 31 / A, Genoa

Architecture deals with the organization of space, small or large, depending on the people it is destined for, turning the system upside down becomes an interesting exercise. A question of scale. Identifying the human body as the maximum surface of intervention, geographical horizon to design on, responds to the contemporary need to focus on the idea of the individual. Territory to explore and redesign intelligently.

The jewels by Eigenart, unique pieces handcrafted by Valentina Romen, have an architectural vocation. Lines, volumes, light, space management in relation with the context are the founding elements of different collections, which develop through a research that touches contemporary art and design to always arrive, with great consistency, on the development of architectural forms. The new production, presented in the offices of AMW Architettura, wonders about the issue of borders. Ideal and fixed maps applied to the movement of the body in the form of rings, bracelets, necklaces. Drawings that make think of urbanism, the walls of a fortress, the boundaries traced by the human willpower, forcing the continuity of the terrestrial globe. Small bronze monuments with which to mark your personal landscape.

Sharon Fitness, Akiko Kurihara, Gigi Mariani, Alessandra Mancini, Yoshie Nishikawa, Gabriele Scotti, Hongjie Yang
curated by Valentina Romen and Annalisa Rosso

exhibition from Thursday April 5th to Friday 13th 2018, from 12 to 8 pm
Spazio Sanfermosette
via San Fermo 7, Brera – Milan

Sharon Fitness, Meteors from space, 2018
earrings/pins
silver

Akiko Kurihara, The earth and the moon, 2016 – 2018
necklace
silver, 18kt gold

Akiko Kurihara, Orbit, 2018
rings
silver, 18kt gold

Gigi Mariani, Sketch, 2018
brooch
silver, 18kt gold, niello, patina

Alessandra Mancini, Shape of you, 2018
oil on canvas, diptych
24 x 30 cm each

Gabriele Scotti, Catodiche Supernove, 2018
Video 9:10

Yoshie Nishikawa, Icona 2, 2016
Giclée print, 30 x 40 cm, ed.7 +2ap

Sharon Fitness, Akiko Kurihara, Gigi Mariani, Alessandra Mancini, Yoshie Nishikawa, Gabriele Scotti, Hongjie Yang
curated by Valentina Romen and Annalisa Rosso

opening Wednesday April 4th from 6 to 9 pm
exhibition from Thursday April 5th to Friday 13th 2018, from 12 to 8 pm
Spazio Sanfermosette
via San Fermo 7, Brera – Milan

The Harvard Spectral Classification Scheme, the modern stellar spectral classifications scheme, was created at the beginning of the last century. The classification sequence groups the celestial bodies in a series of capital letters (O, B, A, F, G, K, M) and in order of decreasing temperatures, from the hottest to the coolest. To remember this scheme scientists suggested a mnemonic phrase “Oh Be A Fine Girl, Kiss Me!”

Celestial bodies have always been an object of observation and inspiration for mystics, scientists, travellers, artists and poets. They can be nearby and familiar, or mysterious, totally unknown. Ideally, they generate a symbolic connection between the individual and everything that is, often full of completely personal meanings. For this reason they are collected, exposed, adored and interpreted.

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