Biography

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   Jane Adam was born in London. After a short career in retail management at Heal’s and Liberty’s, she gained a degree in 3D Design at Manchester Polytechnic in 1981 and an MA in Metalwork and Jewellery at the Royal College of Art. When she graduated in 1985, she set up her studio in central London. 

Since then, she has concentrated full time on making jewellery, combining artistic integrity, ongoing experimentation and technical innovation with a grounded sense of practical reality, to design and create ranges of jewellery that appeal to women (and men) of all ages. This is shown in leading galleries and exhibitions internationally, and by Jane herself at shows such as Goldsmiths’ Fair. Her innovative work in anodised aluminium has been widely influential, and her jewellery is included in many museum, public and private collections. 

She was a founder, vice-chair and chairman of the Association for Contemporary Jewellery, and a maker trustee and then co-vice chair of the Crafts Council. She has been involved in many committees, selection and advisory panels for the crafts and jewellery sectors. She has taught and lectured in Portugal, Taiwan, India, China, the USA and in universities throughout the UK, and was Research Fellow at the School of Jewellery in Birmingham from 1997 to 2001. From 2015 to 2019, she served as a trustee of Cockpit Arts, where she had her workshop for many years before moving in 2015 to her own bespoke studio in South-west London.

Education

1978-1981  BA(Hons) 3D Design, Manchester Polytechnic

1982-1985 MA(RCA) Metalwork and Jewellery, Royal College of Art 

Public Collections (selected)

1984 Victoria & Albert Museum, London (Dept. of Prints and Drawings) 

1985 & 2008 Victoria & Albert Museum, London (Dept. of Jewellery)

1986, 1999 & 2000 National Museums of Scotland, Edinburgh

1987 Cooper Hewitt Museum of Design, New York

1987 & 2002 Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery 

1989 & 2007 Shipley Art Gallery & Museum, Gateshead 

1991 & 1999 Crafts Council, London 

2002 MIMA, Middlesbrough 

2003 Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh, USA

2004 National Museums Northern Ireland, Belfast 

2004 Aberdeen Art Gallery, Aberdeen

2005 Crafts Study Centre, Farnham

2007 Atkinson Art Gallery, Southport 

2008 Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge 

2009 Hove Museum and Art Gallery 

2010 & 2014  Goldsmiths’ Company, London

2017 Art Gallery of Southern Australia, Adelaide, Australia.

2018  Cominelli Foundation, Cisano de San Felice, Italy

2018 Spencer Museum of Art, Lawrence, Kansas, USA

Selected Solo Exhibitions (* indicates catalogue)

1999 The Scottish Gallery, Edinburgh

1999-2002  ‘Jane Adam Jewellery’, Ruthin Craft Centre, Wales & British tour *

2000 Arai Gallery, Tokyo, Japan 

2001 Noroeste, Santiago de Compostela, Spain 

2004 The Scottish Gallery, Edinburgh 

2006 Patina Gallery, Santa Fe, USA 

2009 The Scottish Gallery, Edinburgh

2009 Contemporary Applied Arts (showcase)

2010 Electrum Gallery, London (showcase)

2010 Gallery CAJ, Kyoto, Japan

2013 ‘Jane Adam - Beyond the Surface’, The Scottish Gallery, Edinburgh*

2018 ‘Jane Adam- Duality’, The Scottish Gallery, Edinburgh*

2019 ‘Never the Same River’, Bluecoat Display Centre, Liverpool*

2020 ‘Never the Same River’, Ruthin Craft Centre, Ruthin, Denbighshire*

Selected Group Exhibitions (* indicates catalogue)

1986 ‘Britain in Vienna’, Kunstlerhaus* and Galerie V&V, Vienna 

1987-1988 ‘The New Spirit’, Crafts Council Gallery, London and tour*

1988-89  ‘Contemporary British Crafts’, National Museums, Kyoto and Tokyo, Japan*

1991 ‘British Jewellery’, Crafts Council Gallery, London and tour*

1991 ‘Body Adornment’, Castle Museum, Nottingham and tour

1992-94  ‘All That Glisters’, British Council, India and international tour*

1998  ‘Jewellery Moves’, Royal Museum of Scotland, Edinburgh*

2000-2005  ‘Aluminum by Design: Jewelry to Jets’*, Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh, USA & 

           international tour 

2001-02 ‘Jerwood Prize for Applied Arts: Jewellery’*, Crafts Council, London & tour

2007 ‘From Minimal to Bling’, Society of Arts and Crafts, Boston, USA 

2008 ‘Contemporary Jewellery UK-Japan’, Gallery Shop Si, Kobe, Japan 

2008 ‘Collect’ (with Cockpit Arts), V&A Museum, London 

2009  Two-person exhibition (with Tom Hill), Velvet da Vinci, San Francisco 

2011 ‘Open Mind – International Contemporary Metal Art’,  Sungkok Art Museum, Seoul, Korea 

2012 ‘Diamonds: Take a Fresh Look’, Lesley Craze Gallery, London

2012 ‘New Directions in Contemporary Crafts’, Mottisfont House, Romsey, Hampshire

2013 ‘Contemporary Goldsmithing: Tradition and Excellence’, SNAG, USA (online)

2014 ’30 Years in the Making’, Lesley Craze Gallery, London 

2015 ‘A Sense of Jewellery’, Goldsmiths’ Centre, London

2017 ‘Make’, Ruthin Craft Centre, Ruthin, Wales

2017 ‘Loot – MAD About Jewelry’, Museum of Art and Design, New York, USA

2018 ‘Melting Point’, Craft in the Bay, Cardiff

2018 ‘Nexus’, Kirkcaldy Art Centre and Ruthin Craft Centre

2018 ‘Stock – Scion Interaction: Jewelry by Jane Adam and Michihiro Sato’, 

          BMFJ Studio and Gallery, Taipei, Taiwan

2019 ‘Making Connections – Notions of Beauty’*, BR Gallery, Yunnan, China

2020  Collect (with Goldsmiths’ Fair), Somerset House, London

2020 MAD virtual trunk show Museum of Arts and Design, New York (online)

2020‘Dazzle Invites’, Dazzle (online)

2021 ‘Dazzle: 40 Brooches for 40 Years’, Dazzle (online)

2021 - 2022 ‘What Colour is Metal?’*, Dublin Castle, Dublin, Eire; National Design & Craft Gallery, Kilkenny, Eire; 

          Winchester Gallery, Winchester

2021 'Coded Colours', Two person show with Yi Zhao, BR Gallery, Today Art Museum, Beijing, China.

2021 ‘Dazzle: 40 Brooches for 40 Years’ Dazzle (online)

2023 Collect (with Contemporary Applied Arts), Somerset House, London

2024  'MAD About Jewelry", Museum of Arts and Design, New York, USA

2025  Collect (with Contemporary Applied Arts), Somerset House, London

Publications and Broadcasts (selected)

1999 ‘Jane Adam’, Ruthin Craft Centre

2001- 2020  Film ‘Art and Empire’, British Galleries, V&A Museum 

2003 ‘Rich Alchemy: Jane Adam’, Ornament, USA 

2005 ‘Jane Adam’, ‘Interior World’ Magazine, Taiwan 

2008 ‘The Face of Craft’, Craft and Design Magazine 

2008 Interview with Corinne Julius, Woman’s Hour’, BBC Radio 4

2009 'Woman of Mettle',  BBC Homes and Antiques Magazine 

2009 ‘Exhibition in Print’, Metalsmith magazine

2011 ‘21st Century Jewelry’, Martha le Van, Lark Books 

2014 ‘I am Jane Adam’, Making Jewellery

2014 ‘One of Us: The Jane Adam Club’, Craft Arts International

Awards

1985 RCA Major Travelling Scholarship (to India)

1985 RCA Allen Lane Penguin Book Prize

1985 Crafts Council Setting Up Grant

1991 Visual Production Award, Greater London Arts 

1997-2001 Research awards, University of Central England 

2000 Shortlisted for Jerwood Prize for Applied Arts (Jewellery)

2010 ACJ Origin Prize 

Professional Experience

1972-1977  Worked in retail management at Heal’s, Guildford and London, and Liberty’s, London. 

1985  Set up her workshop in central London.

1985 – 1986 Visited India as recipient of RCA Major Travelling Scholarship.

1985-1997 Taught in various colleges and universities in the UK, USA and Portugal.

1992  British Council visiting lecturer, touring India with the exhibition ‘All That Glisters’.

1994-2015 Studio at Cockpit Arts, London.

1997  Guest speaker, 'Jewellers' Exchange' international conference, Newcastle upon Tyne.

1997-2001 Research Fellow, Jewellery Industry Innovation Centre, School of Jewellery, Birmingham. 

1997-2000 Founding member and vice chairman, Association for Contemporary Jewellery.

2000 Guest presenter, SNAG conference, Boston, USA. 

2000 Co-organiser, ‘A Sense of Wonder’, ACJ international conference, Birmingham.

2000 Guest speaker, ‘Aluminum by Design’ international symposium, Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh, USA. 

2000-2002 Chairman, Association for Contemporary Jewellery. 

2001-2007 Member of Jewellery Purchasing Advisory Panel, Middlesbrough Institute of Modern Art.

2002-2010 Maker Trustee, Crafts Council.

2003-2006 Chair, Crafts Council Development Award.

2004 Visiting artist, Tainan National College of the Arts, Taiwan.

2004-2007 External examiner, Glasgow School of Art.

2009-2010 Co-deputy Chair, Crafts Council.

2015 Set up new studio in South West London.

2015-2019 Trustee, Cockpit Arts.

2016 Commission for large mobile sculpture, Kapor Center for Social Impact, Oakland, California, USA.

2018 Workshop and public lecture, BMFJ Studio and Gallery, Taipei, Taiwan.

2019 Annual Gardner-Medwin lecture, Bluecoat Display Centre.

2019 Guest artist, BR Gallery, Yunnan, China.

2021 Judge, Goldsmiths’ Craft and Design Council Awards.

2021 SNAG Voices, online presentation and virtual studio tour, Society of North American Goldsmiths, USA. 

2022 Elected to membership of the Art Workers’ Guild.

2023 Freeman of the Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths.

2023  Freeman of the City of London.

February 2025