Michael Becker & Stephan Hampala

The March/April number of the Slavik Gallery’s 25th-anniversary exhibition series “Jewellery Art in the Tide of Time” presents two fine artists – Michael Becker and Stephan Hampala – with strongly contrasting oeuvres. Both, however, cultivate high levels of quality and precision – and enjoy long-standing close relationships with the Slavik Gallery.

Michael Becker penetrates the inner order of the spatial world, explores structures, and transmutes his findings into timeless jewellery with a strong sculptural quality and sense of space. His material of choice is gold, which fascinates him for its tactile quality and potential for playing with the light. But he is also a master of colour, generated with unpolished lapis lazuli, sparkling green uvarovite, and red pigment.

Stephan Hampala – by contrast – focuses on the surface, using simple, clear forms as vehicles for textile structures made up of tiny glass beads conjoined to form exact geometrical patterns or monochrome fields. Subtle colour combinations and precise craftsmanship transport time-hallowed jeweller’s materials into a contemporary context.