2018 Catalogue Archive

American artist Adam Grinovich’s necklace is a playful take on the diamond necklace. The steel armature is like a simplified diagram of the facets of the ‘brilliant cut’ that makes a diamond sparkle and catch the light. This would be an impressive and valuable stone if it actually existed, but Grinovich only provides us with an imaginary large diamond, one made of steel and space. Then again, as if in recognition of what he has promised and not delivered, six cubic zirconias are wired into place, not symmetrically, as in a typical piece of diamond jewelry, and not face up for maximum shine, but sideways. This is a kind of knowing costume jewelry, that heightens the awareness of how much is invested in diamonds precisely because it keeps circumventing our access to the stones, and denying us the pleasures that make diamonds a perennial favorite. Adam Grinovich completed a BFA in jewelry at the Massachusetts College of Art in Boston, followed by an MFA at Konstfack University College of Art, Craft and Design in Stockholm, Sweden. His work has been featured in exhibitions in Europe, the United States and Asia.