Elisabetta Cipriani Gallery is pleased to present The First Encounter, opening on Wednesday 25th February from 6–8 PM, a group exhibition bringing together 35 contemporary artists in a focused exploration of one of the most ancient and immediate gestures of adornment: wearing something close to the face. Earrings are perhaps the most relational form of jewelry. They do not inhabit the body silently or discreetly — they move, reflect light, respond to expression, and participate in conversation. Existing in constant dialogue with the face, the gaze, and the presence of the wearer, they are often the first jewel perceived when meeting someone — a detail that becomes language. For more than 4,000 years, earrings have traversed cultures and civilizations as symbols of protection, power, identity, and belonging. Positioned close to the eyes and the voice, they occupy a uniquely communicative space between object and expression. In today’s world — shaped by images, screens, and visual communication — this dimension is amplified. The face has returned to the center of daily experience, and with it, earrings regain renewed expressive urgency. They are immediate, intimate, and personal — capable of transforming presence through a minimal yet powerful gesture. The First Encounter assembles […]

Elisabetta Cipriani on Artist Jewellery as Wearable Art and Collectible Design At Teatro Palladio, Elisabetta Cipriani took part in Coded Couture – Jewelry as Cultural Code in the Age of Artificial Intelligence, an event organised by Trendvision Jewellery + Forecasting. Invited to speak on the role of jewelry in contemporary culture, Cipriani was tasked with presenting artist jewellery as a field of artistic, conceptual, and craft experimentation—one that today sits firmly within the realm of wearable art and collectible design. Drawing on over fifteen years of curatorial practice at her eponymous London gallery, founded in 2009, Elisabetta Cipriani articulated a vision in which jewelry transcends adornment to become a form of visual art. Italian by birth and British by adoption, she has consistently invited internationally renowned contemporary artists to create projects that explore the body as a site of meaning, transformation, and intimacy. “The jewelry I present tells a story—an idea, a connection between the artist and the material. The intention is to communicate the value of creations that are expressions of visual art, to be appreciated as much as a sculpture or a painting.” During her talk, Cipriani traced the evolution of artist jewellery from experimental studio practice to […]

Elisabetta Cipriani Gallery is pleased to present The Treasures of Queen Elizabeth, a new collection by Italian French multidisciplinary artist Faust Cardinali. Composed of thirteen one-of-a-kind jewels, this sculptural body of work will be unveiled through a live performance on 16 October 2025 at 6:30 pm, during Frieze week in London. The exhibition will remain on view until 14 November 2025. The Treasure of Queen Elizabeth is both a performance and a collection, shaped around the theme of transformation. Each of the thirteen works stands as an autonomous jewel, while collectively they form a single poetic body: an imagined entity that comes alive through movement, gesture, and wearability. The project invites the audience into a world where jewellery transcends adornment to become a medium of storytelling and change. “This project is based on the idea of a ‘hypothetical body’,” explains Faust Cardinali. By this, the artist refers to a symbolic body assembled from jewels, one not defined by anatomy but by metaphor. Together, these works suggest a body that embodies meaning rather than form. Highlights of the collection include the Crown of Queen Elizabeth; The Queen’s Skeleton, a necklace in silver and 18k gold incorporating charred bread and resin; The […]

Elisabetta Cipriani Gallery presents Hotel 87 & Other Relics Curated by Melanie Grant, celebrated Luxury Writer and Curator 23-27 September 2025 To celebrate the publication of The Jewelry Book (Phaidon), Elisabetta Cipriani Gallery and Melanie Grant host anew exhibition highlighting 20 artists and design houses in London. This September 24th, Phaidon will publish The Jewelry Book (£59.95 GBP / €69.95 EUR) edited by Melanie Grant, author of Phaidon’s bestselling Coveted (2020), a stunning and authoritative A-to-Z guide to 300 of jewelry’s greatest names spanning more than 200 years. From Chanel pearls and iron jewels at Hemmerle set with flawless diamonds to the Notorious B.I.G. and Greta Garbo, this book offers indispensable insight into the artists, creative houses, and style icons who have defined jewelry. Eminent creatives such as Wallace Chan, Elsa Schiaparelli, Suzanne Belperron, and Bhagat appear alongside such lesser-known trailblazers such as Maōri jade carver Joel Marsters and Winifred Mason Chenet, apioneering metalsmith and designer. And, of course, no book on jewelry would be complete without pieces from the great heritage houses: Cartier, Tiffany & Co., Van Cleef & Arpels, Bulgari, Chaumet, Harry Winston, and Chopard. In conjunction with the book’s launch, Melanie Grant will curate two exhibitions: one […]