“A piece of jewellery stands between the body and the world, representing a sort of link between the inner and the outer”

 BIOGRAPHY

Born in Bellinzona in 1974, Kiko Gianocca studied gold and silversmithing at the Art Institute CFP in Florence, graduating with a bachelor in fine arts in 1999. From 2000–2001 he studied in the invited student program at the Escola Massana in Barcelona. From 2003 to 2008 Kiko lived in Melbourne, where he completed his master degree at RMIT University (2003-2004) and where he also taught from 2004 until 2007.
In 2006 he was awarded with the Emerging Artists Grant from the Australian Government. After returning to Switzerland in 2008 he won the Swiss Design Prize and in 2014 the Mari Funaki Award for Contemporary Jewellery.
His work has been exhibited around the world and collected by Australian National Galleries in Melbourne, Brisbane and Adelaide, as well as at the Pinakothek der Moderne in Munich, the CODA Museum in Apeldoorn and the MUDAC in Lausanne.
His teaching experience in the field of artistic jewellery has continued since 2017 at the Hochschule in Lucerne and in 2018 he has been the tutor for students at the IED school in Milan.

CV

SOLO EXHIBITIONS

• 2019 Well Deep Well, Galerie Rob Koudjis, Amsterdam

• 2019 Last Night I had Too Much To Dream, Galerie Birò, Munich

• 2017 The Elephant on Mars, Galerie ViceVersa, Lausanne

• 2016 Pareidolia, Gallery Funaki, Melbourne

• 2013 Ends Meet, Galerie ViceVersa, Lausanne

• 2013 How do you like me now?, Next Level Gallery, with Ben Lignel, Paris

• 2012 On second thoughts, Gallery Funaki, Melbourne

• 2010 To hold and be held, Gallery Funaki, Melbourne

• 2008 Wittenbrink zeigt Schmuck, Galerie Wittenbrink, Munich

• 2007 Things Hold Together, Gallery Funaki, Melbourne

• 2007 Things Hold Together, Galerie al 65, Vilanova i la Geltrù

• 2005 White Lies, Gallery Funaki, Melbourne

GROUP EXHIBITIONS (SELECTION)

• 2019 Master Makers, RMIT Gallery, Melbourne

• 2019 Welcome to enter..., during Autor, Bucharest

• 2019 Heavy Metal, Gallery Beyond, Antwerp

• 2018 Parable, Galeria Tereza Seabra, Lisbon

• 2018 Fotocopy, Munich/New York

• 2018 With Other Eyes, Ruthin Craft Center, Ruthin

• 2018 Inedit n. 2, Viceversa Gallery, Lausanne

• 2018 Thinking Hands n. 1, Irene Belfi Gallery, Milan

• 2018 WCC-BF exhibition, Jewellery and Light, Les Anciens Abattoirs, Mons

• 2017-2018 Bijoux en Jeu, Power Station of Art, Shanghai

• 2017 Swiss Design Prize, Art Basel, Basel

• 2017 Zooanthropia, parcours bijoux, Galerie Design et Nature, Paris

• 2017 Artificio, White Balmelli, Lugano

• 2016 Everyday Epics, Kunstpavilion, Munich

• 2016 Open Space – Mind Maps, Nationalmuseum Design at Kulturhuset Stadsteatern, Stockholm

• 2016 Artificio, Limonaia di Villa Saroli, Lugano

• 2015 Lux is the dealer, Kunstpavilion, Munich

• 2014 La Mort vous va si bien, Janus Gallery, Montreux

• 2014 Multiple Exposures, Museum for Art and Design, New York

• 2014 Mari Funaki Award Exhibition, Gallery Funaki, Melbourne

• 2014 Bonzo Gonzo, Projektraum J. Baumeister, Munich

• 2013 Schmuck, Internationalen Handwerksmesse, Munich

• 2013 Design Bijou Suisse, Fondation Suisse (Le Corbusier), Paris

• 2012 Unexpected Pleasures, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne

• 2012 Mirror Mirror, Galerie Solidor, Cagnes Sur Mer/London Design Museum, London

• 2011 Jewellery Unleashed!, Museum Modern Art, Arnhem/Museum Bellerive, Zurich

• 2010 By Example, Museum of Arts & Crafts, Itami  

• 2009 Schmuck, Internationalen Handwerksmesse, Munich

• 2009 Criss&Cross - Design Made in Switzerland, Travelling exhibition, China & Japan

• 2008 Swiss Federal Design Grants Exhibition, Bellerive, Zurich

• 2008 Schmuck, Internationalen Handwerksmesse, Munich

• 2008 Just Must, Estonian History Museum, Tallin

• 2006 Colin & Cicely Rigg Design Award, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne

• 2003 Art Jewellery in Switzerland in the 20th Century, Museo Vela, Ligornetto

COLLECTIONS

• Pinakothek der Moderne, Danner Collection, Munich 

• National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne 

• National Gallery of Queensland, Brisbane 

• National Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide 

• MUDAC, Lausanne

• CODA Museum, Apeldoorn

AWARDS

• 2017 Finalist, Swiss Design Awards, Federal Office of Culture, Bern

• 2014 Mari Funaki Award for Contemporary Jewellery

• 2014  Mention, Councours international de bijoux contemporains, La mort vous va si bien, Janus Gallery, Montreux

• 2008 Swiss Design Awards, Federal Office of Culture, Bern

• 2006 Emerging Artists Grant, Australian Council for the Arts, Pyrmont NSW

EDUCATION

• 1999 studied gold and silversmithing at the Art Institute CFP in Florence

• 2000–2001 invited student program at the Escola Massana in Barcelona

• 2003-2004 Master in Fine Arts, Gold- and Silversmithing Dept., RMIT University, Melbourne

• 2004-2007 Teaching, Gold- and Silversmithing Dept., RMIT University, Melbourne

• 2017-2019 Teaching, XS-Schmuck, Hochschule Luzern, Luzern

• 2018-2019 Teaching, Tutorial Program IED (Istituto Europeo del Design, Milano)