Siegfried De Buck turned sixty
Teapot “TGV“ by Siegfried De Buck, 1998. Unique piece. Massive silver, aluminium. Photo Koen Blanckaert.
Siegfried De Buck turned sixty in August 2009. In honour of the occasion, Design museum Ghent is presenting an overview of his work. The exhibition runs until 7 February 2010.
The exhibition consists of three chapters. First and foremost, there is of course an overview of the work of Siegried De Buck as a jewellery designer and as a silversmith. This section comprises jewellery and silver objects from collections of the past 38 years.
A second chapter bears the title “60 ring” and grew from two basic ideas. On the one hand the story of the artist himself, and on the other the story the piece of jewellery is bestowed with once it has run its own trajectory. The creations by Siegfried De Buck are recognizable by his typical style, but the wearer, observer or admirer fills in the blanks in the story with his or her personal meaning. The rings on exhibit are bundled into a publication (publishing firm MER Luc Derycke) and a multiple ring is also issued.
Ring and necklace, 1981. Gold and rubber. Photo Johan Schutte.
Bowl “Read my lips“, 1992. Massive silver. Photo Koen Blanckaert.
The third chapter is an homage to Siegfried De Buck by his daughter, friends, colleagues, former students (Lieven Daenens, Koen Blanckaert, Hilde Van Der Heyden, Henk Bijl, Johan Valcke, Andre Verroken, Erno Vroonen, Klaus Baumgärtner, Didier Verriest, David Huycke, Ludovic Colpaert, Flor Peeters, Claude Wesel, Bernard François, Hans Weyers, Luc Derycke, Jan Van Lierde, Elke Peeters, Tine Vindevogel, Isolde De Buck, Chris Stockx, Koen Ver Eecke). Each of these persons visualizes his or her perspective of the work created by the Ghent jewellery designer/silversmith and Teacher at the Saint-Lucas institute of Antwerp.
“In the year 2009, Siegfried De Buck, designer of jewellery and utensils, is one of the few to separate design from the speed and economic mayhem”, says Koen van Synghel at the award ceremony of the “Henry Van De Velde Career Award” in the spring of 2009.
Fairly early on, it was evident that Siegfried De Buck (born 1949) would choose an artistic vocation. At the age of 12 he already showed an interest in the arts. His father sent him to the abbey school in Maredsous. In 1964 he left for the École des Métiers d’ Arts, IATA, in order to take the goldsmith training. The school promoted the departure from decoration as well as the sense of construction. Even though the training focused on silversmithing, the idea grew to further enhance his jewellery design, and in 1968 Siegfried De Buck took to the Académie des Beaux Arts, Strasbourg (France).
Necklace, 1997. Unique piece. Gold, silver, pearls. Photo: Michèle Francken.
Cutlery “Tools for Table“, 1998. Prototypes for Museum Boikmans Van Beuningen (NL). Massive silver, inox. Photo Lieven Herreman.
In 1971 Siegfried De Buck set up shop as a self-employed designer in Ghent. By his own, he experimented with unconventional techniques and materials. The sound technical training he had taken in Maredsous was of use to him in the refinement and artistic elaboration. He did not lose himself in decorative elements, but limited himself to the essence. Powerful jewellery designs were created with a clear and personal imagery.
In the middle of the 1970s Siegfried De Buck developed an interest in materials other than precious metals. In these jewellery items, the design was supported by the choice of materials. At the beginning of the 80s he continued his experiments with new materials, and incorporated black rubber, elephant hair, Plexiglas, and steel. These jewels showed an enormous mastery of various techniques. Incidentally, high-grade finishing is characteristic of his entire oeuvre. In 1982 during Lineart, he made an impression by his Jewellery Pavilion, a construction in the shape of one of his rings, namely the “Pavilion” ring made from rubber and gold. In the pavilion he displayed nine jewels and their holograms. He also presented a slide show of that work. In 1985 Siegfried De Buck boldly set about creating a sculpture for which one of his pendants served as the basis, thus creating Pendant X30 which was purchased by the Ministry of Culture.
Cane “Wert-Zeichen“, 2007. Massive silver, walnut wood, Ferrari key with lock. Photo Koen Blanckaert.
Ring “Twin Peaks“, 2009. Gold and Plexi. Photo Didier Verriest. © www.argus-photo.be
Ring “Babel“, 2009. Gold and plexi. Photo Didier Verriest. © www.argus-photo.be
Precious steel captured his imagination into the 1990s, and he loved to combine this material with gold. It takes a great amount of skill to achieve the right shape, the optimal contrast and the desired finish, not to mention he is creating unique pieces time and again. For the remarkable “Spine series” he reduced the use of materials to strictly gold. The body served as a source of inspiration in a subtle way. Rounded shells set up to form sensual and elegant creations are typical of these designs. One of the rings from this series was purchased by the Schmuck museum in Phorzheim (Germany).
In 1990 Siegfried De Buck took to silversmithing once more. This desire grew from the reaction to the article “Requiem for Belgian Silver” which had been published in 1988 in the magazine ‘Belgian Creative craftsmanship’. A silversmith by training, he experienced silver to be a highly malleable material. One could solder it, hammer it, press it, ideal for creating corpus work. Starting with the elegant and functional coffee set with its streamlined shape for entry in Interior 90 with the VIZO, he has an endless stream of designs to his name: from a praline theatre, a praline tower, a “HIGH SPEED RAIL PITCHER”, “Tools for table”, “A princely breakfast for two”, a series of walking canes, the “Regatta” trophy for the Ghent rowing club, to a perfume burner called “Warmed desire”. In short, too many to list. As one of the pioneers of contemporary goldsmithing in Belgium, Siegfried De Buck is aware of the altered social position of the jewellery designer-goldsmith, who is – besides a designer – primarily a contemporary artist. His ideas on the matter – from object design to conceptual art – and his professional knowledge as a jewellery artist and goldsmith are passed on to his students as well as during numerous guest lectures both in Belgium and abroad.
Siegfried De Buck: Jewellery designer and silversmith – Overview exhibition.
Design museum Gent, Jan Breydelstraat 5, 9000 Gent.
Opening hours: Every day except Mondays from 10 a.m. until 6 p.m.
