Outstanding Works and Installations

Since 1981, Marianne Schliwinski and Jürgen Eickhoff have consistently presented contemporary jewelry in their Munich-based gallery Spektrum. Their declared goal has been to establish discerning modern jewelry creations as an artistic expression next to other disciplines of free art and to make it available to a broad general public.

The water in the transparent hemispheres is as clear as the glass in the showcase. If you want to see more, you're going to have to get wet. And indeed, these strange structures by Ruudt Peters in his installation for the exhibition "Azoth" are certainly attractive. Between five and six exhibitions are held each year in the gallery Spektrum, in which the artists are allowed to design the exhibition space to suit their own jewelry concept. The boundaries of traditional perceptions are consciously crossed in order to open up new perspectives.

"We have always been interested in artists who take their own innovative paths, setting high standards", claim the gallery owners, who prefer to cooperate with their selected artists in the long term. After all: "This is the way for gallery owners to operate as good companions to the artists, presenting them time and again in group and individual exhibitions. The audience is often unknowledgeable, so this is the best way to turn them into fans and collectors with time." Indeed, in addition to a select group of regular, successful artists such as Georg Dobler, Peter Skubic, Ruudt Peters, Anton Cepka, Winfried Kruger, Hermann Hermsen and Ted Noten, Spektrum also presents the younger generation like Bettina Speckner, Karen Pontoppidan, Doris Betz, Mari Ishikawa and Katja Prins.

The gallery owners frequently organize topical exhibitions in cooperation with museums and other galleries. A book released by the gallery's own publishers documents many of these exhibitions, ranging from "Jewelry in the Netherlands" in 1982 and "20 Years of Gallery Spektrum", through to the Jubilee Exhibition and other articles. Equally, the gallery sees its task as publishing individual artists, as its specialty is representing authored jewelry.

The "New Collection" in the Pinakothek of the Museum of Modern Art received a significant contribution when Spektrum donated its private jewelry collection. Indeed, the gallery is located almost right next door. "We hope that this presentation will provide feedback. There are still a lot of people who are unaware of this kind of jewelry. Presentation in a museum is bound to be helpful in this respect", claim Marianne Schliwinski and Jürgen Eickhoff confidently. The gallery has moved into new premises three times over the course of its existence, but it has always held on to its central location in the lively university district in the Turkenstraße. The gallery is an integral part of the extremely lively and internationally significant gallery landscape in Munich. This scene is best experienced during OPEN ART, the spectacular art weekend organized by the Munich galleries, offering 65 simultaneous art shows and many other artistic activities in September. Spektrum will open the new individual exhibition by Doris Betz to mark this occasion.

The professional attitude of the two gallery owners is particularly obvious when they cater to the often very different needs of the visitors while still convincingly portraying their own convictions. Their broad knowledge of everything happening on the international jewelry scene and their feel for quality guarantee excellent advice. Even if they cooperate in operating the gallery each of them has their own style. For example, the brooches by Jürgen Eickhoff use lively lines to form different grid effects in their spatial allocation. Conversely, Marianne Schliwinski focuses among other things on vivid colors. She uses shards of Venetian glass in a lot of her work, which she combines with metal and other materials. One of her passions is to collect and combine things. At times, many of her carefully stored finds will be kept back for a while until it is used - for example the porcelain cameo she held on to for 30 years until it found its destiny in a brooch.

www.galerie-spektrum.de