Transformations: jewels & sculptures by Helfried Kodré.

Helfried Kodré, though born in Graz, Austria, is central to Vienna’s history of modern and contemporary culture. Preceded by major figures like Freud, Klimt, Hoffmann, and Mahler, among others, and joined since the revolution/evolution of studio jewelry beginning in the 1960s by Defner , Heindl, Leitner, Maierhofer, Mossetig, Skubic, and Symon, he is among those artists who were brought into the international public forum by the activities of Barbara Cartlidge’s Electrum Gallery in London (where Kodré exhibited in 1973), and Inge Asenbaum’s Galerie am Graben in Vienna in 1972. Earlier, Kodré was a participant in Jablonec ’68, the first symposium of jewelry artists from the West and East held in Prague. During this time, he collaborated in the atelier of Elisabeth Kodré Defner , with whom he had a professional as well as a personal relationship. His work during those years (1962-1975) revealed an interest in elaborate design influenced by nature and Elisabeth, thus the inclusion of rubies, diamonds, and turquoise to enhance the pieces’ ornamental appearance.
 
A work from this period was documented in Inge Asenbaum’s collection “Alles Schmuck” exhibited in the Museum für Gestaltung, Zurich, in 2000 - revealing an unknown Kodré to me. By chance in January 2015, following the opening of the Bollman collection at MAK, Vienna, an entourage made a midnight visit with Helfried to Elizabeth’s studio, where she opened her safe and brought forth earlier works conceived by Helfried and recently received from one of his private collectors . . . a forgotten history and a confirmed revelation of his past. This moment was preceded by a visit to Helfried’s domain, which was not unlike his current work: precise and uncluttered, demonstrating a respect for clarity and design. Kodré’s sculpture and jewelry were placed with great consideration of their form within his personal environment.
 
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How did Helfried Kodré travel from rich, highly ornamental works to geometric concerns? After ending his collaborative life with Elisabeth in 1975, he interrupted his studio work to earn a PhD in art history at the University of Vienna, where he taught for eleven years. In 1992, he returned to his studio as an artist. Kodré’s conviction was to study geometry and understand and realize forms that appear simple but lead to complex designs in which he could combine line, space, and color in his work.
 
His sculpture and jewelry -like the best in modern design- reduce these concepts to their essence. Folded layers of silver reveal fan shapes. Tall silver sentries with geometric gold forms interrupt straight lines. Complex linear lines entangle with each other and are sometimes accented with a turquoise cube. Flat squares of gold, silver, and steel with occasional textured surfaces are folded with great care, expanding the concept of a brooch. He also brings us into new territories with the design of a square ring shank balancing split squares or holding a set topaz like a sentinel guarding a fortress. Precision is central to his work. Kodré has stated that “geometry is my artistic media to transport (or visualize) tension and emotions.”
 
Helfried Kodré created and transported a unique body of jewelry, transforming our initial concepts of brooches, earrings, and rings. Through his art, he reinforces the continuation of the legacy of Vienna as his innovative works reveal unanticipated geometric forms.
 
/ Helen W. Drutt English (*), July 1, 2018



About the artist:

Helfried Kodré, 1940, born in Graz, Austria. Studied and was professor at the Vienna University. Artist that works and lives in Vienna, Austria with works on the most prestigious collections: Österreichisches Museum für angewandte Kunst, Schmuckmuseum Pforzheim, Die Neue Sammlung, Danner-Stiftung. And has been awarded with the Bayerischer Staatspreis (1967), Preis des Wiener Kunstfonds (1968) and the Preis der Stadt Wien für Bildende Kunst (2000).


More about Helfried Kodré
 

About his work:
The limits of wearability (which are very differently assessed according to the individual) can be extended or even experimentally overstepped.
However, the borders between sculpture and jewellery are fluid. I endeavour to avoid such outcomes and to create either jewellery or sculptures, but not chimeras.
My works do not transport any kind of message; they stand alone, for themselves, and communicate nothing apart from their appearance and workmanship. Thus everyone can find a free, self-determined access to them, one that is not steered by specific conventions into a defined direction.



(*) About Helen Drutt:
Since 1964, Helen Drutt has been fascinated with contemporary craft. She began to collect and wear contemporary pieces. Drutt continued to do so for the love of the objects and to promote modern craft. Helen Drutt has become a resource to scholars and institutions worldwide. The Helen Drutt Gallery, of which she is founder and director since 1974, was one of the first galleries in the nation to commit to the crafts. She is the executive director and founding member of the Philadelphia Council of Professional Craftsmen. Drutt also developed the first college level course on the history of modern craft in 1973. Drutt is acknowledged for introducing American craft internationally and for bringing European and Australian craftwork to Philadelphia. She has collected over three hundred works over the past thirty years. This collection is representative of the last three decades of the crafts. The Helen Drutt Collection of jewelry, Contemporary Jewelry: 1964 - 1994, has been exhibited throughout the world. Helen Drutt has lectured internationally and has been honored for her endeavors. She was appointed a Cultural Ambassador for the City of Philadelphia by the Office of Arts and Culture in 1965. In this role, she is better able to continue her role of excellence in the promotion and support of modern craft.
 

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