Warwick Stephen Freeman (born 5 January 1953) is a New Zealand

jeweller A bench jeweler is an artisan who uses a combination of skills to make and repair jewelry. Some of the more common skills that a bench jeweler might employ include antique restoration, silversmith, Goldsmith, stone setting, engraving, fabrica ...

Biography

Freeman was born in

Nelson Nelson may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Nelson'' (1918 film), a historical film directed by Maurice Elvey * ''Nelson'' (1926 film), a historical film directed by Walter Summers * ''Nelson'' (opera), an opera by Lennox Berkeley to a lib ...

in 1953, and was educated at

Nelson College Nelson College is the oldest state secondary school in New Zealand. It is an all-boys school in the City of Nelson that teaches from years 9 to 13. In addition, it runs a private preparatory school for year 7 and 8 boys. The school also has ...

from 1966 to 1970. He began making jewellery with Peter Woods in

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

in 1972. He returned to New Zealand the following year and established a workshop in Nelson before moving to

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

in 1975. In 1977 he worked with Daniel Clasby, and with Jens Hansen in 1978. Freeman was a member of the Auckland-based jewellery co-operative

Fingers A finger is a limb of the body and a type of digit, an organ of manipulation and sensation found in the hands of most of the Tetrapods, so also with humans and other primates. Most land vertebrates have five fingers ( Pentadactyly). Chambers ...

between 1978 and 2003. In the early eighties, Freeman was a prominent member of a group of jewellers who began exploring the use of local materials in contemporary jewellery. Their work reflected a changing New Zealand cultural and political environment. “We were caught up in a historical moment triggered by the new Labour government,” Freeman recalls. “They declared us Nuclear Free, and started developing a foreign policy that was about living in the South Pacific as opposed to being an adjunct of Europe. Our work got swept up in it and adopted by locals as ‘emblematic’ in the way jewellery can.” Freeman was one of twelve jewellers selected for the landmark 1988 Bone Stone Shell exhibition, developed by New Zealand's Craft Council for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and shown in Asia, Australia and New Zealand. In 2002, he received an

Arts Foundation of New Zealand 'The Arts Foundation of New Zealand Te Tumu Toi is a New Zealand arts organisation that supports artistic excellence and facilitates private philanthropy through raising funds for the arts and allocating it to New Zealand artists. The concept ...

Laureate Award. In the same year he was named 2002 Laureate by the Françoise van den Bosch Foundation, based at the

Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam The Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam (; Municipal Museum Amsterdam), colloquially known as the Stedelijk, is a museum for modern art, contemporary art, and design located in Amsterdam, Netherlands.

. Freeman was the founding chair of Auckland contemporary craft and design gallery

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 dire ...

, and in 2013 became a Governor of the

New Zealand Arts Foundation 'The Arts Foundation of New Zealand Te Tumu Toi is a New Zealand arts organisation that supports artistic excellence and facilitates private philanthropy through raising funds for the arts and allocating it to New Zealand artists. The concept ...

. In 2013 he was also the 'featured master' at the German contemporary jewellery festival Schmuck.

Curatorial projects

James Mack called Freeman "one of the guiding lights" behind the 1981 ''Paua Dreams'' exhibition, which was instrumental in elevating the status of paua shell from its association with the tourist market to a precious material in contemporary New Zealand jewellery. In 1983, Freeman and fellow jeweller Alan Preston were asked by Mack, then director of

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 ...

, to select items from the Auckland Museum's collection for a 1984 exhibition at The Dowse titled ''Pacific Adornment''. In 2011 Freeman collaborated with

Octavia Cook Octavia Cook (born 1978) is a New Zealand jeweller. Education Cook graduated in 1999 with a Bachelor of Design in jewellery from Unitec Auckland where among other tutors she studied with Pauline Bern. Work Cook's work examines the concept of ide ...

on the exhibition ''Eyecatch'' at Objectspace gallery in Auckland. The first photographic exhibition held at Objectspace, the show looked at the relationship between jewellery and photography. In 2014 Freeman co-curated ''Wunderrūma: New Zealand Jewellery'' with

Karl Fritsch Karl Fritsch (24 February 1864 – 17 January 1934) was an Austrian botany, botanist. He was born in Vienna and educated mainly at the University of Vienna, obtaining his PhD degree in 1886 and his Habilitation in 1890. In 1900 he moved to ...

, a touring exhibition of New Zealand jewellery that showed at Galerie Handwerk in Munich as part of the Schmuck festival, at

, and at the

Auckland Art Gallery Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki is the principal public gallery in Auckland, New Zealand. It has the most extensive collection of national and international art in New Zealand and frequently hosts travelling international exhibitions. Set be ...

in 2015 .

Collections

His works are held various New Zealand and international collections, including at th
Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa
th
Auckland War Memorial Museum
the

Powerhouse Museum The Powerhouse Museum is the major branch of the Museum of Applied Arts & Sciences (MAAS) in Sydney, the others being the historic Sydney Observatory at Observatory Park, Sydney, Observatory Hill, and the newer Museums Discovery Centre at Castle ...

, the

Neue Pinakothek The Neue Pinakothek (, ''New Pinacotheca'') is an art museum in Munich, Germany. Its focus is European Art of the 18th and 19th centuries, and it is one of the most important museums of art of the nineteenth century in the world. Together with th ...

, the

National Gallery of Australia The National Gallery of Australia (NGA), formerly the Australian National Gallery, is the national art museum of Australia as well as one of the largest art museums in Australia, holding more than 166,000 works of art. Located in Canberra in th ...

, the

and the

Museum of Fine Arts, Houston The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (MFAH), is an art museum located in the Houston Museum District of Houston, Texas. With the recent completion of an eight-year campus redevelopment project, including the opening of the Nancy and Rich Kinder Build ...

Selected solo exhibitions

*''Owner’s Manual: Jewellery by Warwick Freeman'', various New Zealand locations (1995) *''Given: Jewellery by Warwick Freeman'',

Tropenmuseum The Tropenmuseum ( en, Museum of the Tropics) is an ethnographic museum located in Amsterdam, Netherlands, founded in 1864. One of the largest museums in Amsterdam, the museum accommodates eight permanent exhibitions and an ongoing series of tem ...

, Amsterdam (2004) and various New Zealand locations (2005-2007) *''It's Black or White'', Starkwhite, Auckland (2007) *''Shadowboard'', Bowen Galleries, Wellington (2008) *''Colour Slide'', Bowen Galleries, Wellington (2010) *''Jewellery by Warwick Freeman'', The National, Christchurch (2013) *''The Family Jewels'',

(2015),

(2016),

MTG Hawke's Bay MTG Hawke's Bay Tai Ahuriri (formerly Hawke's Bay Museum & Art Gallery) is a museum, theatre and art gallery in Napier in New Zealand. MTG Hawke's Bay occupies three buildings that were redeveloped in 2013. History The first building on the m ...

(2016) *''Prime'', Gallery Funaki, Melbourne (2015) *''Warwick Freeman'', The National, Christchurch (2015)

Selected group exhibitions

*'' Bone Stone Shell'', various international locations (1988) *''Open Heart'', First New Zealand Jewellery Biennial,

(1993-1994) *''Same but Different'', Second New Zealand Jewellery Biennial,

Auckland Museum The Auckland War Memorial Museum Tāmaki Paenga Hira (or simply the Auckland Museum) is one of New Zealand's most important museums and war memorials. Its collections concentrate on New Zealand history (and especially the history of the Auckla ...

and

Otago Museum Tūhura Otago Museum is located in the city centre of Dunedin, New Zealand. It is adjacent to the University of Otago campus in Dunedin North, 1,500 metres northeast of the city centre. It is one of the city's leading attractions and has one of t ...

(1996) *''Grammar: Subjects & Objects'', Fourth New Zealand Jewellery Biennial,

(2001) * ''Ornament as Art: Avant-Garde Jewelry from the Helen Williams Drutt Collection'',

and

Renwick Gallery The Renwick Gallery is a branch of the Smithsonian American Art Museum located in Washington, D.C. that displays American craft and decorative arts from the 19th to 21st century. The gallery is housed in a National Historic Landmark building that ...

, Washington (2008) *''Collecting Contemporary'',

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. ''Te Papa Tongarewa'' translates literally to "container of treasures" or in full "container of treasured things and people that spring fr ...

(2011-2012) *''Bone Stone Shell: 25 years on'',

(2013-2014) *''Wunderrūma: New Zealand Jewellery'', Galerie Handwerk, Munich (2014), The Dowse Art Museum, Lower Hutt (2014),

2015 *''The Bold and The Beautiful'', The Dowse Art Museum (2015)

Further information

Interviews

Interview with Warwick Freeman
Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa. 10 January 2012.
Warwick Freeman
Cultural Icons: conversations with iconic people.
Conversations about contemporary jewellery: Warwick Freeman.
Fran Allison / Manukau Institute of Technology.
Interview with Karl Fritsch and Warwick Freeman
''Saturday Mornings with Kim Hill'',

Radio New Zealand National RNZ National ( mi, Te Reo Irirangi o Aotearoa Ā-Motu), formerly Radio New Zealand National, and known until 2007 as the National Programme or National Radio, is a publicly funded non-commercial New Zealand English-language radio network operat ...

, June 2014
Interview with Warwick Freeman and Karl Fritsch on the exhibition ''Wunderruma''
Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tamaki, 2015 *Mackenzie Pato
Interview with Warwick Freeman
The Dowse Art Museum, March 2016.

Publications and articles on Freeman's work

* James Mack
Warwick Freeman: Maker of Things
''New Zealand Crafts'', Autumn 1985. * Julie Ewington,
Owner's manual / jewellery by Warwick Freeman
', Auckland: Starform, 1995. * Damian Skinner,
Given: jewellery by Warwick Freeman
', Auckland: Starform, 2004. * Andrea Stevens,
Indesign issue 48 pg 199, New Zealand contemporary jeweller, Warwick Freeman, on making meaning from ‘found’ objects
', Sydney: Indesign Media, 2011.

Publications on contemporary jewellery

* New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade
Bone Stone Shell: New Jewellery New Zealand
Lower Hutt: The Dowse Art Museum, 1988. . *Eléna Gee
'Open Heart: Contemporary New Zealand Jewellery'
Lower Hutt: The Dowse Art Museum, 1993. * Kobi Bosshard
The Second New Zealand Jewellery Biennial: Same But Different
Lower Hutt: The Dowse Art Museum, 1996. * Deborah Crowe
4th New Zealand Jewellery Biennale: Grammar: Subjects and Objects
2001. * Damian Skinner ''Pocket Guide to New Zealand Jewelry'', San Francisco: Velvet Da Vinci Gallery, and The Society of Arts and Craft, Boston, MA, 2010. * Damian Skinner and Kevin Murray, 'Place and adornment : a history of contemporary jewellery in Australia and New Zealand', Honolulu : University of Hawaiʻi Press, 2014.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Freeman, Warwick 1953 births Living people People from Nelson, New Zealand People educated at Nelson College New Zealand jewellers People from Auckland