Portable Art Project: when art meets jewelry

An exhibition of wearable objects that exist somewhere between sculpture and bodily adornment

Portable Art Project is an ambitious idea in which art and jewelry come together. All started with an invitation to artist Louise Bourgeois, who in 2008 conceived different rope- like precious metal cuffs. In the years since Bourgeois designed these first contributions, the initiative has evolved to include 15 artists: John Baldessari, Phyllida Barlow, Stefan Brüggemann, Subodh Gupta, Mary Heilmann, Andy Hope 1930, Cristina Iglesias, Matthew Day Jackson, Bharti Kher, Nate Lowman, Paul McCarthy, Caro Niederer, Michele Oka Doner, and Pipilotti Rist. Seen not only as accessories, but also as formal sculptural issues, the artists’ pieces have been on view at Hauser & Wirth’s uptown space, in an exhibition organized by Celia Forner, who collaborated closely with the artists, in order to express the personal connection between every piece and the wearer.

Andy Hope 1930, Aztek, 2017
Photograph by Gorka Postigo, modelled by Rossy de Palma
© Andy Hope 1930
Courtesy the artist and Hauser & Wirth

Caro Niederer, Charm Bracelet 1, 2009
Photograph by Gorka Postigo, modelled by Rossy de Palma
© Caro Niederer
Courtesy the artist and Hauser & Wirth

John Baldessari, Nose Earring (Gold), 2016
Photograph by Gorka Postigo, modelled by Rossy de Palma
© John Baldessari
Courtesy the artist, Marian Goodman Gallery and Hauser & Wirth