Contact
Prof. Elisabeth Holder
Auf dem Hochfeld 10
40699 Erkrath
Germany
Phone: +49 211 9242860
E-mail: mail@elisabeth-holder.de
Make. Teach. Research.
Since completing my goldsmith apprenticeship in 1969 and my subsequent studies in 1980, I have been making, designing, teaching, and researching jewellery in all its aspects. Aside from their natural purpose as a worn object, which in turn determines their functional requirements, my jewellery pieces were also designed as independent objects that don’t rely on the wearer to lend them meaning but speak entirely for themselves. From my point of view today, the original concept of the independence of jewellery in the sense of an object-like self-sufficient identity is only one pole of a development that has long since found its counterpart in the contextuality of jewellery. This has been part of my teaching and my research, and my work has since then oscillated between these poles.
Elisabeth Holder, 2021
NEWS
Exhibition with publication:
Elisabeth Holder: From Jewellery to Contextual Art
21 April to 25 August 2024
Deutsches Goldschmiedehaus Hanau
Teaching
My teaching particularly shifted the focus away from traditional ideas of jewellery towards a more generalized concept of jewellery as a sub-field of contextual art. The core aspect here was the creative process, which encompassed an openness to different paths involving process-driven decisions and feedback procedures on the respective concept and design. This, in turn, spawned the flexibility that enabled the students to become active in different areas of design application, including the development of intervention strategies and the practice of project-related presentations and exhibitions. Moreover, I was concerned with integrating digital technologies into design processes and exploring them in relation to new design approaches. These focal points have become the subject of research in the Institute for Research in Applied Arts, which I have led since its founding in 2009.
Biography
Prof Elisabeth Holder
*1950 in Sindelfingen
Elisabeth Holder trained as a goldsmith and studied at the Hochschule Düsseldorf, University of Applied Sciences (HSD) and at the Royal College of Art in London. Until her appointment as Professor of Jewellery Design in the Design Department of the HSD in 1988, she was a freelance jewellery designer in London. During her time in the UK, she held various teaching positions and professorships at universities, most recently at the Royal College of Art in London.
With her appointment at the HSD in 1988, her focus shifted to teaching and research, which she continued to complement with phases of her own artistic inquiry, investigation, and implementation, as well as showcasing her work and findings in exhibitions and publications. Elisabeth Holder ended her teaching career in 2017. She lives and works in Erkrath near Düsseldorf.
Research Projects
Researching Neolithic Sites in Western Europe
Since 1992. With trips to sites particularly in the British Isles, Brittany, Ireland, and Germany. This resulted in the following research projects:
The Stone Engravings in the Neolithic Period
1998 / 1999
With research stays in Morbihan, Brittany, France.
Signs as Signifiers of Meaning Between Ornament and Writing
2000
With research stays in Loughcrew, Ireland.
Signs (Zeichen)
1999 – 2001
Development of the group of works based on a selection of ancient signs used throughout human history.
Material Studies (Materialbefragungen)
2003 – 2004
Experimental investigations into the dominant and the dialogical handling of material. Exhibition of the results in the Design Department of the Hochschule Düsseldorf, University of Applied Sciences.
Conditions for Jewellery
Since 2005
Research work carried out in lecture-free periods on fundamental questions of jewellery and its conditions led to a generalised concept of jewellery. This research work significantly influenced further teaching and resulted in the following research projects:
Was ist Schmuck? (What Is Jewellery?)
2008
Experimental investigations with an exhibition of the results in the Design Department of the Hochschule Düsseldorf, University of Applied Sciences
Transitional Objects (Übergangsobjekte)
2007 – 2012
Participation in the project initiated by Prof. Dr. Reiner Nachtwey to investigate experimental object strategies between image and space.
Jewellery as an Urban Process (Schmuck als urbaner Prozess)
2012 – 2014
Research and exhibition project in collaboration with Prof. Gabi Schillig and in cooperation with the Stadtmuseum Düsseldorf.
Design Dialogues (Gestalterische Dialoge)
2015 – 2017
Research and exhibition project in collaboration with Prof. Gabi Schillig and in cooperation with the Stadtmuseum Düsseldorf.
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Exhibitions
A selection
Contemporary British Crafts
The National Museums of Modern Art, Kyoto and Tokyo, 1984
Elisabeth Holder
Electrum Gallery, London, England, 1988
European Metal
Powerhouse Museum, Sydney, Australia, 1990
Elisabeth Holder, Jewellery.
The Scottish Gallery, Edinburgh, Scotland, 1992
Influential Europeans in British Craft and Design
Crafts Council Gallery, London, 1992
and four other locations in Great Britain
New Times, New Thinking: Jewellery in Europe and America
Crafts Council Gallery, London, England, 1996
National Museum and Gallery, Cardiff, Wales, 1997
Zeichen, Elisabeth Holder
Galerie V&V, Vienna, 2001
and two galleries in Germany and Ireland
Pretty Sharp – Jewellery, Implements, Products
Chamber of Crafts Düsseldorf, 2002
and three other museums in Germany
Choice – Contemporary Jewellery Art from Germany
Museum of Arts and Crafts, Itami, Japan, 2005; and other galleries and museums in Japan, Germany, and the Netherlands
NEWS
21 April to 25 August 2024
From Jewellery to Contextual Art
Deutsches Goldschmiedehaus Hanau
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Publications
A selection
Zeichen, Elisabeth Holder
Erkrath, 2001
Pretty Sharp – Jewellery, Implements, Products
Düsseldorf University of Applied Sciences (ed.), Düsseldorf, 2002
Choice – Contemporary Jewellery Art from Germany
Elisabeth Holder and Herman Hermsen (ed.), Düsseldorf, 2005
On the Contextuality of Jewellery
Elisabeth Holder, Erkrath, 2009
Übergangsobjekte – Experimentelle Objektstrategien zwischen Bild und Raum
Reiner Nachtwey, Elisabeth Holder et al, Düsseldorf University of Applied Sciences (ed.), Düsseldorf, 2012
Schmuck als urbaner Prozess – Artistic Interventions in Urban Space
Elisabeth Holder and Gabi Schillig (ed.), Düsseldorf, 2015
Gestalterische Dialoge – Forschung, Prozess, Ausstellung
Elisabeth Holder and Gabi Schillig (ed.), Tübingen und Berlin, 2017
Elisabeth Holder: Vom Schmuck zur kontextuellen Kunst
Hochschule Düsseldorf, Design Department (ed.), Düsseldorf, 2019
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Works in Collections
A selection
Art Gallery of Western Australia, Perth, Australia
Bröhan Design Foundation, Berlin, Germany
Crafts Council, London, England
National Museums of Scotland, Edinburgh, Scotland
Schmuckmuseum Pforzheim, Germany
The National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto, Japan
Victoria and Albert Museum, London, England