Sigurd Bronger. Wearables

Sigurd Bronger is an artist from the country of Norway.
He makes jewelry from unusual objects.
Usually, these objects are not jewelry.
Sigurd Bronger himself does not call them
brooches or necklaces.
He calls them: Wearable objects.
This means that they are things you can wear.
He puts these objects
in artful holders made of gold or brass.
This way you can attach them to clothing.

The holders are clips and buckles.
They often look like technical tools or
scientific instruments.
And just like these tools,
the objects are placed in wooden boxes that fit perfectly.

Because of the holders, these objects suddenly look beautiful.
We now see them in a different way.

Most objects are from our everyday lives.
Normally, we do not pick up these objects.
And we do not think: This is jewelry.
We are often surprised
when we recognize the objects.
For example, if it is a shoe sole.
Sometimes this makes us laugh.

That is typical of his work:
Sigurd Bronger is curious and has a sense of humor.
He uses everyday objects in a different way than usual.

He makes everyday objects more important.
For example:
He turns the ball of an old computer mouse into a ring.
Or he wraps an expensive diamond in plastic packaging for pills.
He then turns it into a brooch.
The packaging is more eye-catching than the diamond.

In the exhibition, you can see different objects.
For example:
• Empty goose eggs
• Natural sponges
• Packaging
• Shoe soles

Sigurd Bronger was born in Oslo in 1957.
Oslo is the capital city of Norway.
Sigurd Bronger went to school in Oslo
to learn to make jewelry.
Later he moved to Schonhooven in the Netherlands.
There he went to a school for watchmakers and goldsmiths.

He finished his training in 1979.
He then worked as an engraver at Koninklijke Fabrieken Posthumus.
An engraver cuts lines into glass or metal, for example.
Koninklijke Fabrieken is Dutch and means:
Royal Factory.
Posthumus is a family name.
This factory is in Amsterdam, in the Netherlands.
It exists since 1920.
In 1983 Sigurd Bronger moved back to Oslo.
He still lives and works there today.

In 2009, Die Neue Sammlung invited him to give a lecture.
The lecture series was called: All about me.
In this lecture, Sigurd Bronger talked about his work.

2 years later Die Neue Sammlung
bought this piece of jewelry:
the Camay Necklace.
Camay is the name of a soap.
This piece of jewelry is from 2005.
It is the only work by Sigurd Bronger in a German museum.

His work is well-known and popular in museums in the Netherlands and in private collections.
This is also the case in America and Asia.
In 2016, he won the Bavarian State Prize for this work:
Carrying device for a Nautilus.
The nautilus is a snail with many tentacles which lives in the sea.

The Neue Sammlung is very happy
that it can show a solo exhibition on Sigurd Bronger.
In a solo exhibition, you can see works by only one artist.
This is his first solo exhibition in a country other than Norway.
Sigurd Bronger’s art is not only unique there.
It is unique in the whole world.

Die Neue Sammlung borrows
important pieces of work by Sigurd Bronger
from these countries:
• Denmark
• France
• Great Britain
• Italy
• Luxembourg
• the Netherlands
• Austria
• Poland
• Sweden
• Thailand
• USA

What does Die Neue Sammlung – The Design Museum show?
Die Neue Sammlung shows jewelry by Sigurd Bronger.
He calls them: Wearable objects.

Where is the exhibition?
The exhibition is in:
Die Neue Sammlung – The Design Museum
in the Pinakothek der Moderne in Munich.