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Jewelers’Werk Galerie is pleased to present Mostly Air, an exhibition featuring a captivating collection of 100 vessels crafted by internationally acclaimed artist-jeweler Bettina Dittlmann. The show opens on Saturday, May 25th, with a reception to meet the artist from 12 – 4 pm, and will remain on view through June 14, 2024.
In Mostly Air, Dittlemann showcases her most recent body of work: a mesmerizing series of her featured form, the bowl. “Beginning in July 2023, I made one bowl every day. From small to large. Mostly copper, a few in fine silver, thin as paper,” she explains. Dittlmann meticulously detailed her daily ritual in a workshop book, complete with sketches and musings on the form. Her receptacles serve as evocative reflections on the interplay between form, space, and emptiness—each unique piece a hand-forged testament to Dittlemann’s mastery of metal and timeless techniques. Some appear as if still molten from being dipped in volcanic lava or slippery from having survived an oil spill. Others look as though the crinkly red foil of a chocolate-covered cherry has been skillfully opened and left in tact after the prized candy was plucked from its wrapper. In all cases, the delicate surfaces belie the sturdy metal form. Though “mostly air,” even the air itself would have to agree it is exquisitely cradled.
Bettina Dittlmann is a contemporary artist based in Breitenbach, Germany. She studied jewelry and hollowware at the Academy of Fine Art in Munich and received her M.A. in metalsmithing from the State University of New York at New Paltz. She has exhibited worldwide and won multiple international awards, including the prestigious Danner Prize in 2020. Dittlmann’s pieces are represented in the permanent collections of notable museums, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art and Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum in New York City, the Dallas Museum of Art, and The New Collection in the Pinakothek der Moderne in Munich.
The exhibition is open during gallery hours: Monday through Saturday 11 am – 5 pm or by appointment. Jewelers’Werk Galerie is located at 3319 Cady’s Alley, NW in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, DC. It is the longest-running and only contemporary art jewelry gallery of its kind in the greater Washington DC area, where owner and industry veteran Ellen Reiben shows precious and non-precious works by international artist-jewelers. For more information, contact the gallery at 202-337-3319, or go to: http://www.jewelerswerk.com
