A TRIBUTE TO MANFRED BISCHOFF: DURING MUNICH JEWELRY WEEK 2016
Jewellery artists from 22 countries all over the world come together in a memorial exhibition for Manfred Bischoff who passed away a year ago. At some point or other, they have all been taught by Manfred at Alchimia, contemporary jewellery school in Florence, and have each submitted one piece to the exhibition that honours a great teacher.
43 of his former students from 22 countries who will each show a piece at the exhibition, dedicated to Manfred’s golden “Fingerpuppets” by creating their own little version of Manfred, the real golden boy.
German born Manfred Bischoff lived in Tuscany in a house that was in itself a piece of exquisite art. Its magical interior made a natural and perfect framework for his work that has been called by many names: sensual, poetic, lyrical, great, intimate, strong, beautiful, satirical and always surprising. He worked in 22K gold, as pure as he could manage and still maintain a rigidity in the metal that allowed him to execute his ideas in delicate and well crafted pieces, often accompanied with subtle pink coral and drawings.
His dedication to the language of jewellery and his visions were most likely one of the reasons that the Alchimia school managed to become known and respected internationally in a relatively short time span.
As a student at Alchimia, you never really met Manfred until the third year. He was a giant figure who arrived to the narrow street in Florence on Tuesdays. He spent time with the older students, watched the world from behind his sunglasses when he leaned onto the wall at coffee breaks, and then he vanished again.
It was not until you were there yourself – in your final year – that you met the myth and began to appreciate his capacity to engage in your work and to show you how you might develop it. He was a surprisingly selfless teacher, and during critiques in the small classroom he managed to create a space for you and him to engage in a dialogue about your work that was stripped of second agendas and based solely on how he could help you to become a better artist.
It is only later, you come to understand how exceptionally truthful and helpful he tried to be in order to make you grow as a person and as an artist.
A former student, Isabel Dammermann, took it upon herself to make a special event for the teacher Manfred Bischoff who inspired so many. At the same time, she has managed to create a very interesting exhibition that is on display during the Munich Jewellery week 2016.
Artist list:
Dina Abargil, Noriko Akao, Silvie Altschuler, Rinaldo Alvarez, Katharina Asam, Eunjae Baek, Suzanne Beautyman, Silje Bergsvik, Daniela Boieri, Catalina Brenes, Shannon Carney, Marianne Casmose Denning, Monica Cecchi, Yu- Chun Chen, Sungho Cho, Claudia Costa, Isabel Dammermann, Elisa Deval, Coco Dunmire, Katie Gruber, Joanne Huang, Sayaka Ito, Anastasia Kandaraki, Karin Kato, Rallou Katsari, Michelle Kraemer, Ara Kuo, Siri Kvalfoss, Maru Lopez, Martina Mühlfellner, Malaika Najem, Naoka Nakamura, Angela O’Keefe, Naama Reich, Jimena Rios, Marzia Rossi, Alessia Semeraro, Yoko Shimizu, Yuki Sumiya, Rudee Tancharoen, Flora Vagi, Anne Wiedau, Selen Özus
Exhibition Dates: February 24th – 28th 2016
Venue: 3 Stations| 15 Welserstrass 81373, Munich, Germany
Sourse | https://klimt02.net/events/exhibitions/tribute-manfred-bischoff-3-stations
“The value of beauty, of quality, of being.
Manfred Bischoff, my teacher, has been a big influence to me and my work. He has
changed the way I look at things. His words still resonate with me: “Be generous; try
to be stupid, but in a controled manner; less is more; always keep a door open;
observe things” and much more.
I have created a pair of glasses dedicated to him. Glasses of observation, glasses of
“Stupidity”, his glasses. He was very happy with his glasses.
Thank you, Manfred… Thank you for everything!”
Anastasia Kandaraki
