- The first in-depth monograph of leading American jeweler Linda MacNeil- Presenting MacNeil's most significant pieces- Fully illustrated and containing an exhibition history, select bibliography, and list of museum collections where MacNeil's work can be found- Accompanies a retrospective exhibition organized by guest curator Davira S. Taragin for the Museum of Glass, Tacoma, WashingtonLinda MacNeil: Jewels of Glass is the first in-depth monograph to explore the development of leading American jeweler Linda MacNeil's jewelry and her contribution to late twentieth- and twenty-first century jewelry. MacNeil has inserted her voice into contemporary American jewelry as an innovator transforming glass into proxies for precious gemstones. She and her work have straddled the fields of Studio Glass and Studio Jewelry. A pioneer over her forty-and-counting-year career, she has united glass with metal and, recently, with precious gems. Exploring materiality and methodology, she uses historical precedent as a jumping off point to make stunning, wearable jewelry. This scholarly study presents approximately fifty of MacNeil's most significant pieces. Davira S. Taragin's essay interweaves MacNeil's biography with discussions of the development of her aesthetic. Noted jewelry historian Ursula Ilse-Neuman contextualizes MacNeil's achievement within the art jewelry movement in general and the use of glass in jewelry over the centuries. Davira S. Taragin: Formerly curator at The Detroit Institute of Arts (1978-90), the Toledo Museum of Art (1990-2002) and director of exhibitions and programmes at the Racine Art Museum (2002-2008), Davira S. Taragin is an independent curator specializing in placing works in contemporary craft media within the context of late twentieth- and twenty-first-century art. Since 2011, Taragin has worked with Ball State University, Muncie, Indiana. She began by assessing the decorative arts and design collection of the David Owsley Museum of Art and prepared for its reinstallation in September 2013. She is now serving as consultative curator to its School of Art. Ursula Ilse-Neuman is an independent curator, author, and lecturer specializing in contemporary art jewelry. She is consulting curator for the Museum of Arts and Design, New York, where, as curator from 1992 to 2014, she organized more than forty exhibitions in all media, most recently Multiple Exposures: Jewelry and Photography (May 2014). She has been a juror for national and international exhibitions, including the Schmuck presentation (Munich) and the International Jewelry Expo (Shanghai) and is a regular contributor to Metalsmith magazine. Ilse-Neuman has lectured widely in the United States, Europe, and Asia. In 2011, she was invited to curate the American section of Abhushan in New Delhi, organized by the World Craft Council.
About the Author: Davira S. Taragin: Formerly curator at The Detroit Institute of Arts (1978-90), the Toledo Museum of Art (1990-2002) and director of exhibitions and programmes at the Racine Art Museum (2002-2008), Davira S. Taragin is an independent curator specializing in placing works in contemporary craft media within the context of late twentieth- and twenty-first-century art. Since 2011, Taragin has worked with Ball State University, Muncie, Indiana. She began by assessing the decorative arts and design collection of the David Owsley Museum of Art and prepared for its reinstallation in September 2013. She is now serving as consultative curator to its School of Art. Ursula Ilse-Neuman is an independent curator, author, and lecturer specializing in contemporary art jewelry. She is consulting curator for the Museum of Arts and Design, New York, where, as curator from 1992 to 2014, she organized more than forty exhibitions in all media, most recently Multiple Exposures: Jewelry and Photography (May 2014). She has been a juror for national and international exhibitions, including the Schmuck presentation (Munich) and the International Jewelry Expo (Shanghai) and is a regular contributor to Metalsmith magazine. Ilse-Neuman has lectured widely in the United States, Europe, and Asia. In 2011, she was invited to curate the American section of Abhushan in New Delhi, organized by the World Craft Council.