Annamaria Zanella

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Annamaria Zanella (1966-2022) | The focus of Italian jeweler Annamaria Zanella was research into materials, the inherent poetry of the design process, and the subversion of commonly held assumptions about beauty and value. Some writers have indeed referred to her jewelry as povera (poor), to Zanella a welcome contradiction in terms, as jewelry is habitually regarded to be made from precious metals and gemstones, whereas her “microsculptures” were often crafted from corroded or distressed metal and banal substances, such as PVC, corkwood, or iron foil wine capsules. Nonetheless, Zanella also exceled at working with the traditional mediums of silver and gold, and techniques like enameling and niello.

Born in Padua, the center of contemporary gold jewelry in Italy, Zanella received a degree in Metals and Jewelry Design from Istituto Statale d’Arte “Pietro Selvatico,” (1985). She also studied enamels at Fachhochschule für Gestaltung in Pforzheim and sculpture at the Academy of Fine Arts, Venice, graduating in 1992. She has been in countless international solo and group exhibitions, such as one-person shows at the Palazzo Fortuny, MUVE Fondazione Musei Civici di Venezia, Venice (2012) and Oratorio di San Rocco, Padua (2019). Zanella has won many awards, most notably the Herbert Hofmann Prize (1997 and 2006) and Bayerischer Staatspries, Gold Medal (2002). In 2019, the mayor of Padua presented Zanella with the SIGILLO della città di Padova (Seal of the City of Padua). Her work is included in numerous permanent collections, among them Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Palais du Louvre, Paris; Victoria and Albert Museum, London; Le Gallerie degli Uffizi, Palazzo Pitti,  Florence; National Museums Scotland, Glasgow; Kunstgewerbemuseum, Berlin; Die Neue Sammlung (The Design Museum), Munich; Schmuckmuseum Pforzheim; Swiss National Museum, Zurich; and Museum of Arts and Design, New York.

Muffe, necklace, 2007, silver, enamel, gold, 7 x .5 in
Red, ring, 2008, technogel, silver, enamel, acrylic, 1.9 x 1.18 x 1.3 in
Veneziana Gialla, necklace, 2007, iron, gold, glass beads, 7 x .5 in
Queen of the light, brooch, 2010, gold, silver, copper sulphate, pigments, 3.5 x 2,5 x 1.3 in
Red Cage, brooch, 2011, gold, silver, enamel, acrylic, 2.8 x 2.75 x .98 in
Penta, bracelet, 2006, silver, niello, magnet
Blue tubes, necklace, 2019, wood, gold, silver, niello, titanium, lapis lazuli powder, acrylic
Fortuny Ribbon. Necklace, 2012, steel ribbon, oxidations, enamel, gold
Blue Ribbon, necklace, 2021, steel fabric, gold, enamel, 30 x 1 1/4 inches
Fortuny Fuchsia. Brooch, 2013, steel fabric, enamel, acrylic, silver, steel, gold
Fortuny Red, ring, 2013, silver, gold, enamel
Trio Sails, 3 earrings, 2021, gold niello, 1 1/4 x 3/4 inches
Sails, earrings, 2021, gold, 1 1/2 x 3/4 inches
Blue Windows. Earrings, 2016, silver, gold, rhodium, plexiglass

Contact

50 Church St. Montclair,
NJ 07042 USA

Happy Thanksgiving! The gallery will be closed Nov. 27th thru Dec.1st. The first week of December we will be open, Monday Dec. 2nd, Thursday Dec. 5th and Friday Dec. 6th from 12-5pm. Please call 973-865-6194.