Kobi Bosshard
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Kobi Bosshard (born 1939 in
Uster Uster (; , ) is a town and the capital of the Uster District in the Swiss canton of Zürich. The importance of the town of Uster has grown considerably with the construction of the S-Bahn network of the Zürich Transport Network. With over 36,0 ...
, Switzerland) is a Swiss-born
New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...
jeweller. Bosshard was one of a number of European-trained jewellers who came to New Zealand in the 1960s and transformed contemporary jewellery in the country; others include
Jens Hoyer Hansen Jens Høyer Hansen (14 July 1940 – 10 August 1999)Telford, Helen. ''Suter Art Gallery Magazine'', 7 April – 7 May 2000.The Jeweller's Mark: The Jens Hansen Workshop StoryThompson, Emma. ''The Prow'' 2009.Jens Hansen was a Danish-born jewelle ...
,
Tanya Ashken Joan Tanya Handley Drawbridge (née Ashken; born 1939 in London, England), known as Tanya Ashken, is a New Zealand silversmith and sculptor. She was one of a number of European-trained jewellers who came to New Zealand in the 1960s and transfor ...
and Gunter Taemmler.


Training in Switzerland

Bosshard undertook a five-year apprenticeship in Zurich with jewellery designer and craftsman Meinrad Burch-Korrodi, and studied at the Zurich School of Applied Arts.


Career in New Zealand

Bosshard moved to New Zealand in 1961. He worked briefly in a Wellington jewellery shop owned by a fellow Swiss jeweller after arriving in New Zealand, but found the work being done in the shop conservative and left after a brief time. He became a mountain guide, then returned to full-time jewellery making in 1966. Art historian Peter Cape wrote in a 1969 survey of craft in New Zealand:
Kobi Bosshard has exhibited in a number of exhibition throughout New Zealand, and sells his work regularly through craft and jewellers' shops. He feels that, as a craft jeweller, he has considerable advantage over commercial jewellers, in that he is independent, and can design and work where and when he pleases, developing and following out his own idea, without the pressures of a mass market.
In 1970 Bosshard's work was included in ''Silver, Gold, Greenstone'' at
New Vision Gallery New Vision Gallery was a contemporary craft and art gallery operating in Auckland, New Zealand in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s. History The Gallery was established in 1957 by Dutch artists Kees (Cornelis) Hos (born 1916, The Hague, Netherlands - di ...
in Auckland, the first substantial exhibition of contemporary jewellery in New Zealand. In 1972 he was included in ''Craft 72,'' an exhibition of New Zealand potters, weavers, wood-turners and jewellers organised by the
Queen Elizabeth II Arts Council The Arts Council of New Zealand Toi Aotearoa (Creative New Zealand) is the national arts development agency of the New Zealand government established in 1963. It invests in artists and arts organisations, offering capability building programmes a ...
and toured overseas through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In a 1985 interview Bosshard described his preference for using a limited number of machines in his jewellery making and avoiding pre-cut metals: 'If you buy pieces of silver cut to standard thicknesses, you are tempted to stay with those measurements. It's better to have fewer skills and be master of those than to have many techniques and end up working to formula'. In the same interview he said:
I have to make a piece of jewellery before I know what it looks like. My hands and material know what they are doing: the jewellery has to feel right or it's not successful. I try not to let my mind get in the way. I don't want to end up thinking I am smart and clever and using tricks.
In 1985–86 a retrospective exhibition of Bosshard's work was organised by the Manawatu Art Gallery and toured to the
Auckland War Memorial Museum The Auckland War Memorial Museum (), also known as Auckland Museum, is one of New Zealand's most important museums and war memorials. Its neoclassical architecture, neoclassical building constructed in the 1920s and 1950s, stands on Observatory ...
, the Sarjeant Art Gallery and the
Dunedin Public Art Gallery The Dunedin Public Art Gallery holds the main public art collection of the city of Dunedin, New Zealand. Located in The Octagon in the heart of the city, it is close to the city's public library, Dunedin Town Hall, and other facilities such as ...
. Reviewing the exhibition Douglas Standring wrote 'Kobi Bosshard has long been regarded as one of our best jewellery-makers, but this exhibition at the Manawatu Art Gallery confirms his position amongst the still small group of local craftsmen and women who are making more than craft'. Standring went on to describe the formal qualities of Bosshard's work ('each piece of jewellery is a highly focused design and this accounts for the austere, classical strain in his work') and note a new boldness in recent work:
A new set of brooches particularly display a bolder stroke — making, mixing an urban visual zap with Bosshard's habitual coolness. The key piece here is an experiment with free form and a larger scale: a lineal strip of silver is bent into a striking electric signature. The usual conventions of jewellery (solidity, the concealment of clasps and pins, the focus on the materials) are inverted: space becomes the dominant feature, and the lines which define themselves in that space. Thus the brooch pin is liberated from its usual role as practical appendage and becomes simply another line in space; an integral part of the design.


As a teacher

Bosshard has also played an important role as a teacher of younger jewellers, including Peter McKay, Vicki Mason and
Lisa Walker Lisa Walker (born 1967) is a contemporary New Zealand jeweller. Education and training in New Zealand Born in Wellington in 1967, Walker graduated from Otago Polytechnic, Dunedin, in 1988 with a Certificate in Craft Design. In Dunedin her tu ...
. Vicki Mason says:
My love of metal came from him and Fluxus as at art school I’d majored in 'hard media' (stone, wood, bone, glass, plastic etc) as opposed to metal. This is a love affair that I can’t let go of. He imbued me with a sense of the history of working with metal.


Fluxus

In September 1983 Bosshard established Fluxus Contemporary Jewellery, a jewellery workshop and gallery, with Stephen Mulqueen in
Dunedin Dunedin ( ; ) is the second-most populous city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from ("fort of Edin"), the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of S ...
; they were shortly joined by jeweller Georg Beer. Martha Moseth, writing in ''Craft New Zealand'' in 1985, stated
When goldsmiths Kobi Bosshard and Stephen Mulqueen opened Fluxus in September 1983 they were prepared for a few risks including a slow start and indeterminate debt. They have been surprised at the Gallery's success. On a 'bad' afternoon there are at least five potential customers and on a good day, thirty to forty. In its first eight months the Gallery has totalled over 200 sales and the future looks good.
The launch of Fluxus was motivated by 'frustration with limited access to customers and a faith in the future of contemporary jewellery'. The name 'Fluxus' was chosen 'for two reasons: for its reference to the 'flowing' agent, like Borax, that goldsmiths use and for the idea of flux, or change, which is part of the Gallery's philosophy of adapting to the needs of the artists and the community'. The gallery was modelled on Auckland's
Fingers A finger is a prominent digit on the forelimbs of most tetrapod vertebrate animals, especially those with prehensile extremities (i.e. hands) such as humans and other primates. Most tetrapods have five digits (pentadactyly), Chambers 1998 p. 60 ...
, functioning as a cooperative. In addition to the jewellers selling their own work a production line of jewellery was made and sold under the Fluxus name.


Curatorial roles

Bosshard was a member of the selection panel for the influential 1988 Bone Stone Shell exhibition of contemporary New Zealand jewellery. In 1996 he curated the second New Zealand Jewellery Biennial, titled ''Same But Different'', at
The Dowse Art Museum The Dowse Art Museum is a municipal art gallery in Lower Hutt, New Zealand. Opening in 1971 in the Lower Hutt CBD, The Dowse occupies a stand-alone building adjacent to other municipal facilities. The building was completely remodelled in 2 ...
. The exhibition had two key themes: 'that contemporary jewellery should remember the needs of the wearer; and that production jewellery was an honourable and important part of contemporary jewellery'.


Recognitions

In 2012 Bosshard was recognised as a Master of Craft by
Objectspace Objectspace is a public art gallery in Auckland, New Zealand. It opened in 2004 and is dedicated to the fields of craft, applied arts and design. Organisation Objectspace's founding chair was jeweller Warwick Freeman. The gallery's founding dir ...
, an honour accompanied by a major touring retrospective exhibition and publication.


2017 documentary 'Kobi'

A documentary about Bosshard's life and work, 'Kobi', will premiere at the 2017
New Zealand International Film Festival The New Zealand International Film Festival (NZIFF) () is a film festival held annually across New Zealand. The festival is operated by the New Zealand Film Festival Trust. It programmes international and New Zealand films. History The festiva ...
in July 2017. The film is produced by Torchlight Films and directed by Bosshard's daughter, film maker Andrea Bosshard.


Collections

Bosshard's work is held in the
Auckland War Memorial Museum The Auckland War Memorial Museum (), also known as Auckland Museum, is one of New Zealand's most important museums and war memorials. Its neoclassical architecture, neoclassical building constructed in the 1920s and 1950s, stands on Observatory ...
, the
Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa The Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa is New Zealand's national museum and is located in Wellington. Usually known as Te Papa ( Māori for ' the treasure box'), it opened in 1998 after the merging of the National Museum of New Zealand ...
and
The Dowse Art Museum The Dowse Art Museum is a municipal art gallery in Lower Hutt, New Zealand. Opening in 1971 in the Lower Hutt CBD, The Dowse occupies a stand-alone building adjacent to other municipal facilities. The building was completely remodelled in 2 ...
.


Further reading


Interview with Kobi Bosshard
Saturdays Mornings with Kim Hill,
Radio New Zealand Radio New Zealand (), commonly known as RNZ or Radio NZ, is a New Zealand public service broadcaster and Crown entity. Established under the Radio New Zealand Act 1995, it operates news and current affairs station, RNZ National, and a classi ...
, 24 June 2017
Goldsmith Kobi Bosshard in his workshop
video interview, 2015 * The Dowse Art Museum; Eléna Gee
'Open Heart: Contemporary New Zealand Jewellery'
November 1993 * The Dowse Art Museum; Kobi Bosshard
The Second New Zealand Jewellery Biennial: Same But Different
1996 * Graham Price
Kobi Bosshard
''New Zealand Crafts'' 35, Autumn 1991 * Douglas Standring
Kobi Bosshard: Stillness, Space, Motion
''New Zealand Crafts'' 16, Autumn 1986
Fluxus Dunedin
''New Zealand Crafts'' 14, Winter 1985
Kobi Bosshard
Works in the collection of the
Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa The Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa is New Zealand's national museum and is located in Wellington. Usually known as Te Papa ( Māori for ' the treasure box'), it opened in 1998 after the merging of the National Museum of New Zealand ...


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bosshard, Kobi 1939 births New Zealand jewellers Living people Swiss emigrants to New Zealand People from Uster Businesspeople from Dunedin