A TRIBUTE TO MANFRED BISCHOFF

3 Stations
Munich Jewellery week 2016

copyright Galleria Antonella Villanova

Students pay tribute to Manfred Bischoff

43 of his former students from 22 countries who will each show a piece at
the exhibition, dedicated to Manfred’s golden “Fingerpuppets” by creating
their own little version of Manfred, the real golden boy.
German born Manfred Bischoff lived in Tuscany in a house that was in itself a
piece of exquisite art. Its magical interior made a natural and perfect
framework for his work that has been called by many names: sensual, poetic,
lyrical, great, intimate, strong, beautiful, satirical and always surprising. He
worked in 22K gold, as pure as he could manage and still maintain a rigidity
in the metal that allowed him to execute his ideas in delicate and well crafted
pieces, often accompanied with subtle pink coral and drawings.
His dedication to the language of jewellery and his visions were most likely
one of the reasons that the Alchimia school managed to become known and
respected internationally in a relatively short time span.

The teacher

As a student at Alchimia, you never really met Manfred until the third year.
He was a giant figure who arrived to the narrow street in Florence on
Tuesdays. He spent time with the older students, watched the world from
behind his sunglasses when he leaned onto the wall at coffee breaks, and then
he vanished again.
It was not until you were there yourself – in your final year – that you met the
myth and began to appreciate his capacity to engage in your work and to show
you how you might develop it. He was a surprisingly selfless teacher, and
during critiques in the small classroom he managed to create a space for you
and him to engage in a dialogue about your work that was stripped of second
agendas and based solely on how he could help you to become a better artist.
It is only later, you come to understand how exceptionally truthful and helpful
he tried to be in order to make you grow as a person and as an artist.

About the exhibition

A former student, Isabel Dammermann, took it upon herself to make a special
event for the teacher Manfred Bischoff who inspired so many. At the same
time, she has managed to create a very interesting exhibition that is on
display during the Munich Jewellery week 2016.

Jewellery artists from 22 countries all over the world come
together in a memorial exhibition for Manfred Bischoff who
passed away a year ago. At some point or other, they have
all been taught by Manfred at Alchimia, contemporary
jewellery school in Florence, and have each submitted one
piece to the exhibition that honours a great teacher.