Lola Brooks (artist)
 | This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page. (Learn how and when to remove these template messages)
|
Lola Brooks | |
|---|---|
| Nationality | American |
| Education | B.S. in Fine arts |
| Alma mater | SUNY New Paltz |
| Known for | Jewelry; Previously Professorial Chair at the University of Georgia |
Lola Brooks is an educator specializing in jewelry.[1] Brooks' works have been shown at places such as the National Ornamental Metal Museum, The Society of Arts and Crafts, Cleveland Museum of Natural History, the Museum of Craft and Folk Art, and Talente and are held in the permanent collection of The Museum of Art and Design, the Metropolitan Museum of Art.[2]
Education[edit]
Brooks received her bachelor's degree in Fine Arts from SUNY New Paltz where she studied with Jamie Bennett and Myra Mimlitsch-Gray.[3]
Career[edit]
Brooks currently serves as visiting faculty at Cranbrook Academy of Art for 2015–2016 in Metalsmithing.[4] Brooks was previously the Lamar Dodd Professorial Chair at the University of Georgia,[5] and has also taught at the Rhode Island School of Design, the University of the Arts, and SUNY New Paltz, as well as the 92nd St Y in New York City, Haystack Mountain School of Crafts, and Penland School of Crafts.[4]
In April 2021, she held a solo exhibition, story of the eye: a subculture of ornamental oddities, at Sienna Patti Contemporary.[6]
Artwork[edit]
Brooks' studio jewelry combines Victorian sentimental jewelry, Berlin Iron Jewelry, twentieth-century costume jewelry, hip hop "bling" culture, tattoos, American road trip culture, and cultural signifiers of love and femininity.[7]
Ashley Callahan for Ornament Magazine describes her artwork:
Brooks' jewelry is luxurious excess. The scale is often large, though always unquestionably wearable. Brooches, necklaces, rings, and bracelets feature multitudes of glittering stones, hordes of antique ivory roses or tarnished steel bows, and mounds of faceted steel balls. She mixes high and low, setting diamonds next to quartz, and upends expected uses of materials, soldering steel with gold. She is devoted to the traditions of metalsmithing and relishes the technical challenges that each new object presents.[3]
Brooks' adherence to the format of jewelry is important in her studio practice.[8][9] She explains her interest in the format of jewelry in an interview for the American Craft Council: "I believe in the power of jewelry's intimate scale and symbiotic reliance on the body, and the fact that its beauty and materiality have always been poisoned by a shameless celebration of wealth, excess, and debaucheries. I love that it becomes inextricably tied into how we cultivate identity."[10]
Along with her high-end art jewelry, Brooks also maintains a more traditional jewelry line.[11][12]
Public collections[edit]
- Yale Art Gallery, New Haven, CT
- The Samuel Dorsky Museum, New Paltz, NY;
- The Racine Museum of Art, Racine, Wisconsin
- The Museum of Art and Design
- Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City[13]
Selected Grants/Recognition/Residencies[edit]
- 2012-2013 Lamar Dodd Professional Chair, Lamar Dodd School of Art, University of Georgia
- 2012 RISD Part-Time Faculty Association Development Fund Grant, Rhode Island School of Design Part-time Faculty Association
- 2001 Emerging Artist Award, Sienna Gallery, Lenox, Massachusetts
References[edit]
- ^ Hannah Silver (2021-03-08). "Lola Brooks turns tightly woven stainless steel chains into brooches and rings in a fun rethink of contemporary jewellery". wallpaper.com. Retrieved 2022-11-12.
- ^ "Metropolitan Museum of Art exhibit features faculty, alumni | SUNY New Paltz News". Sites.newpaltz.edu. 2014-05-16. Retrieved 2016-02-23.
- ^ a b "Lola Brooks at Ornament Magazine - Jewelry, Fashion, Beads". Ornamentmagazine.com. Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2016-02-23.
- ^ a b "Jane Lackey and Lola Brooks Named Visiting Faculty at Cranbrook Academy of Art". Cranbrookart.edu. 2015-06-09. Retrieved 2016-02-23.
- ^ "Lola Brooks". Sienna Patti - Contemporary Studio Artists. Retrieved 2022-11-15.
- ^ "Lola Brooks | Solo Exhibition at Sienna Patti Contemporary". Flaunt Magazine. Retrieved 2022-11-12.
- ^ Mimi Luse (2010-01-15). "Hard Core Romance | American Craft Council". Craftcouncil.org. Retrieved 2016-02-23.
- ^ Hilary Butschek (2012-09-18). "Lamar Dodd Distinguished Chair smiths personalities into jewelry | Variety". Redandblack.com. Retrieved 2016-02-23.
- ^ Cummins, Susan (2013-02-14). "Tributaries: Lola Brooks". Art Jewelry Forum. Retrieved 2016-02-23.
- ^ "Brilliance: Lola Brooks | American Craft Council". Craftcouncil.org. 2013-09-08. Retrieved 2016-02-23.
- ^ Philipkoski, Kristen (2015-01-17). "Wish List: Wedding bands wrapped around your finger". SFGate. Retrieved 2016-02-23.
- ^ Kelsey Borresen (2014-07-30). "16 Stunning Alternatives To A Diamond Engagement Ring". Huffingtonpost.com. Retrieved 2016-02-23.
- ^ "Lola Brooks | | The Metropolitan Museum of Art". Metmuseum.org. Retrieved 2016-02-23.