Arthur Koby Jewelry: The Creative Eye

Architect/sculptor/jeweler: all describe the work of Arthur Koby whom Vogue Magazine described as “one of the masters of collage.” Designer Geoffrey Beene asked Koby to provide jewelry for his runway collections as did Oscar de la Renta and Donna Karan throughout the 1980s. He combines, manipulates and assembles unexpected materials, found in his worldwide travels, into necklaces that his clients can choose to wear in full evening dress or with jeans and T-shirts. The fantasy necklaces might be made of “drawer hinges, Victorian shoe buckles, diamond-faceted stones made from melted-down beer bottles, hand-carved buffalo horn and shredded or solidified balloons” as the New York Times put it in 1987.  “You have to be a little daring; that’s what adds excitement!” said the designer.

This exhibition will include works on loan from clients who have amassed collections of Arthur Koby’s jewelry, and from the designer himself.

Image courtesy of Kent State University Museum