Paul Derrez, 2013
Art Aurea Representing the artists showcased in your Galerie Ra, you had been exhibiting at the Collect fair in London for many years. Why not this year?
Paul Derrez Galerie Ra didn’t participate this year, because the past few years weren’t successful enough, and it’s also very stressful and expensive to attend this show. To make up for London, we made our first appearance at the Rotterdam Contemporary Art Fair in February. This was a very pleasant and successful experience, as was the Frame show within the context of Munich’s International Crafts Fair this year, which was extremely successful for us. We’ll also be exhibiting at KunstRai in Amsterdam from May 27–31. This art fair has always been a very good platform for us. And in November, Ra will be showcasing books at the Sieraad Art Fair in Amsterdam.
Paul Derrez, Confetti necklace, 2012. Silver, acrylic
Art Aurea Galerie Ra has been one of the world’s first galleries for avant-garde jewelry. In addition, you have always been working as an artist. How do you combine the two activities?
Paul Derrez Amsterdam’s Sieraad Gallery (1969–1975), where I worked as an intern, closed as a result of this conflict of priorities. When I opened Ra in 1976, I decided that the gallery should always be my first priority. I also opted for a neutral name that doesn’t evoke associations with a workshop-cum-gallery. This decision made it easier for me to not be working in my workshop during certain periods. This is how, with discipline and enjoyment, I built up what I consider a rather nice oeuvre over the course of the years, which includes both my public work in the gallery and my own creations as the result of my private work.
Art Aurea The CODA museum in Apeldoorn will be staging the Paul Derrez, Maker of Jewelry and Objects 1975–2015 exhibition from November 1, 2015 through January 17, 2016. Doesn’t this also mean that art jewelry has been acknowledged as an art form in the Netherlands?
Paul Derrez The CODA museum has made a name for itself as a jewelry museum. We don’t need recognition as representatives of an art form, we’re seeking recognition as representatives of culturally significant jewelry!
Interview Reinhold Ludwig
English translation Sabine Goodman