Jewellery designer Ana Khouri will present a solo exhibition in London for the first time next month. Ana Khouri: Jewels As Art opens at Phillips auction house on 17 September during London Fashion Week. It will include brand new pieces specially designed for the show as well as career highlights from a designer who is focused on dragging high jewellery into the 21st century.
A favourite among discerning film stars, fashion girls and art collectors alike, Khouri told Vogue in an exclusive interview that it is her background as a painter and sculptor which led to her distinctive, imaginative approach to jewellery design.
“When I am working on a piece, I am constantly thinking about how it will mould to the body,” says the New York-based designer. Indeed, her pieces come to life when worn. An earring of mixed-cut diamonds that wraps dramatically around the ear or the off-centre placement of an eye-popping emerald in a diamond collar at once reject jewellery conventions and captivate the viewer.
Her art background is also the reason that Khouri is designing an entire installation specially for the London exhibition, including creating the sculptures that will display the jewellery. “Being seen as an artist and being given this space to create where people can fully experience my work is what I’m excited about,” she says.
Her creative process as a jeweller is one of constant evolution. “I’m always trying to improve on what I’ve done before,” says Khouri. A signature earring design is reimagined for this show with a rainbow of multi-coloured sapphire links swinging from an electric-blue Paraiba tourmaline. “Lightness and movement are always paramount,” she says. “That’s how a woman should wear jewellery; otherwise, it wears her.”
Her latest design obsession is volume. “It’s hard because it adds more weight to a design, but I really wanted a new challenge.” It took months to perfect the effect in her Paris workshops but the result – immaculate tubes of hollow white gold set with pavé diamonds that wrap around the ear, finger or neck –create impact without weighing down the wearer.
The three-day selling exhibition is part of Phillips’s recognition of jewellery as an increasingly important contemporary design collectible. Sarah O’Brien, Phillips's international business development director for jewellery, said that Khouri, who first exhibited with Phillips in New York last year, is a natural choice for the auction house. “The soft contours and scintillating gem colour palette of her sculptural designs are feminine, unique and engaging for those women who share her non-conventional ideology,” she explains.
For Khouri, who lived in London a decade ago, being back in the city is a particular thrill. “London is a global centre for art and creativity so I’m honoured and humbled to have the opportunity to exhibit here.” Jewellery lovers will have to be quick. The show runs from 17-19 September at Phillips, 30 Berkeley Square, London.
