BRON – Ruudt Peters in CODA Museum

From 5 November 2017 to 28 January 2018 inclusive, CODA Museum presents a retrospective of the works of visual artist and jewellery designer Ruudt Peters in the exhibition BRON (Source).

BRON gives an overview of Peters’ rebellious jewellery from the early seventies to the more profound works based on the exploration of other cultures, customs and habits from a more recent period. His work is exhibited in a special multimedia installation that offers a unique view on his oeuvre.

Curiosity about the essence and mystery of human existence forms the foundation of Peters’ work. He continuously researches other cultures, philosophies, religions and materials. He observes, explores and interprets. His findings are the basis on which he creates jewellery and objects that are never literal translations of what he sees, but materialisations and internalisations of his own thoughts and imagination. Peters’ main questions are focussed on religion, philosophy and alchemy and how they relate to him. He manages to turn these questions into art with a highly recognisable visual idiom. Peters: “All my jewellery is interconnected and springs from a flowing process of events and various sources of inspiration. Cause and effect. Action-reaction. Falling down and getting up. Uncertainty. Discovery. Curiosity. This together forms the BRON exhibition in CODA Museum, an exhibition that does not only offer an overview of my work but also explores my sources of inspiration. In addition, short films, which can be called up through QR codes, enable the spectator to discover a deeper layer in my work.”

Because Peters did not feel at home in the highly dogmatic climate that characterised his craft during the seventies, he switched from jewellery to sculpture. It is no coincidence, then, that Peters has been exhibiting his work in installation forms since the nineties. At the time, he was one of the first jewellery artists who considered jewellery and the way it is presented to be of equal importance. Thus Peters presents his jewellery to the spectator in a logical and stimulating context. With his much-discussed and striking installation presentations, he did not only make the installation form part of his idiosyncratic signature; he also shows how important the actual surroundings and context are for jewellery as sculpture.