The presentation Dagmar Stühler | Dorothea Förster. Jewelry contributes to the continuation of an exhibition concept of the German Goldsmiths' House that has been enjoying great popularity throughout the past years. Comparing the jewelry of two goldsmithing artists lies at the foreground of this event.
The works diverge in terms of technique and design and show different approaches and positions within contemporary jewelry art. Comparing the jewelry allows the visitor to witness the works engage in an interesting dialogue.
Dorothea Förster presents her works framed with a jewelry installation — photos, drawings, and texts accompany the pieces and occasionally create a completely new context. Dagmar Stühler also associates her pieces with drawings and photos which illustrate the underlying inspiration and design process.
Dagmar Stühler (*1944) studied gold and silversmithing art at the Academy of Fine Arts, Munich, under supervision of Professors Franz Rickert and Hermann Jünger. Besides her freelance activities as a goldsmith, she operated a gallery with flamboyant avant-garde jewelry in Berlin, for 18 years. Today, the artist lives and works in Munich again.
In her jewelry designs, Dagmar Stühler focusses on a clear, reduced language of forms. She forges and chases sculptured rings, necklaces and bracelets directly from gold and silver. She integrates precious, masterfully polished stones with predilection — amethyst, quartz, topaz, and Mandarin garnet — that give her jewelry brilliance and radiant colorfulness. The goldsmith puts special emphasis on the design and execution of surfaces which she processes with hammer, file and brush to create a smooth shine and individual appearance.
After her training at the Pforzheim School for Goldsmithing, Dorothea Förster (*1954) visited the goldsmithing course of Professor Rüdiger Lorenzen at the Staatliche Zeichenakademie Hanau. Up to this day, the artist has been living and working in the Brothers Grimm City.
Her rings, pendants, bracelets, and brooches are assembled of geometrically, individually shaped elements to create animated compositions. Although Dorothea Förster works exclusively with thin layers of silver and gold material, her pieces gain a sculptural appearance through the collage-like arrangement and overlapping of single elements. Besides traditional precious metals, the jewelry designer also uses stainless steel or acrylic. Overpaintings with acrylic colors or punched elements of decoratively designed tin cans create colorful highlights and lift the geometrical stringency.