Bijou Contemporain, Robert Baines und Karl Fritsch

This two-person exhibition at a celebrated contemporary jewellery centre on the Cote-D'Azur, was supported by the local council. The work of Baines was shown with that of Karl Fritsch, (Germany). "At first sight, their creative languages appear very different.. ..What links these two artists is the new mental dimension they offer the spectator, who sees feels and understands things differently when confronted with their work.. ..Both our artists exploit their materials in a scientific way, geologically or, as it were, geo-artistically. Using the most advanced techniques, Baines studies and transforms gold as it was used by the Egyptian and Greek craftsmen of the past. His studies are appreciated by specialists from all over the world' (catalogue: Olga Zobel-Bir, Curator). 'Baines is one of the greatest technicians, historians and philosophers among art jewellers. ..he has mastered the technical subtleties of the ancient Etruscan goldsmiths so as to subject them to rigorously scientific historical study and transpose this knowledge. The archaeological relevance of the jewel is challenged by the choice of colours. His imaginative floral compositions and his brooches made of miniature thread of silver are coated in a fine coloured powder. It's a sort of industrial dye he has developed for his own needs. The texture is that of a finely-knit meshed structure, which has more than a simple aesthetic intention: the empty spaces or gaps in the material confirm the status of these brooches, suspended between existence and non-existence. Review: Maria-Bettina Eich, Schmuck Magazin, 2000/4 p64