UNDER THAT CLOUD: An exhibition of jewelry inspired by 18 artists stranded in Mexico City under the Icelandic volcanic ash cloud, curated by Jo Bloxham

Velvet da Vinci in San Francisco presents as part of its 20th Anniversary Series of Exhibitions:

UNDER THAT CLOUD: An exhibition of jewelry inspired by 18 artists stranded in Mexico City under the Icelandic volcanic ash cloud, curated by Jo Bloxham. This exhibition will open on Wednesday, April 13 with an artists’ reception on Friday, April 15, from 6 to 8 p.m.

In April of 2010 the Icelandic volcano Eyjafjallajökull began a series of explosive eruptions of ash which disrupted air travel and the environment. Hundreds were evacuated and thousands watched as huge ash plumes erupted 8 kilometers into the sky for days on end. Across the globe in Mexico City, the jewelry symposium Walking the Gray Area was coming to an end. Eyjafjallajökull stranded 18 jewelers who had attended the event in Mexico City. Under That Cloud is their response to these unexpected days spent there.

This exhibition will begin at Galerie Spektrum in Munich, Germany during the Schmuck 2011 jewelry festival and will be continuing on to Velvet da Vinci in San Francisco, Middlesbrough Institute of Modern Art in the UK (MIMA), Manchester Art Gallery and Klimt02 Gallery, Barcelona.

Participating artists:

Caroline Broadhead, Gemma Draper, Jürgen Eickhoff, Cristina Filipe, Nedda El-Asmar, Jiro Kamata, Agnieszka Knap, Manon van Kouswijk, Benjamin Lignel, Jorge Manilla, Nanna Melland, Sarah O'Hana, Ramón Puig Cuyàs, Lucy Sarneel, Karin Seufert, Janina Stübler, Tore Svensson, and Andrea Wagner

“In April 2010 I was in Mexico City to attend a jewellery symposium called Walking the Gray Area.  After a week of wonderfully inspiring talks and exhibitions, it was time to come home. I said my goodbyes and went back to my hotel to pack in readiness for my flight the next home morning. Then, I heard a news flash, which said the skies over Europe were closed due to a volcanic eruption in Iceland.

This was too ridiculous to be true? I had to get home as I was travelling to Australia in two days’ time. But, as the hours morphed into days it quickly became clear that I was going nowhere soon... A blitz-like camaraderie developed as dozens of jewellers gather in disbelief, talking of nothing other than how they were going to get home. We were all stranded under a dark cloud, and there was nothing anyone could do but wait for it to pass.

I sat in my hotel room, reluctantly listening to the screech of the organ grinder who had based

himself beneath my window. It sounded cute at first, but after a week it became a nerve grinder.

To block out this noise I began to think about my time in Mexico and it’s rich and colourful culture

of chaos. It had been a wonderful experience, and I felt sad that this cloud, which was holding me

prisoner, would overshadow the memories of my time there.

Then, it all became clear. Why not make

something positive out of this? The idea for a

new exhibition was born...

Needless to say, I never did get to Australia.”

-Jo Bloxham, curator

Jo Bloxham is a curator of contemporary art jewelry exhibitions working out of Manchester. She has an Masters in Jewelry from Birmingham Institute of Art & Design and now focuses on curation. She has been responsible for international exhibitions including Ars Ornata in 2007, Romancing the Stone at Manchester Town Hall, and Sting, an exhibition created in response to Manchester Art Gallery’s Pre-Raphaelite collection.