Galerie Negropontes presents Black Jewelry, an exhibition devoted to a series of black jewels produced in very limited editions. At the intersection of contemporary jewelry and sculpture, it highlights the work of four artists represented by the gallery: Walid Akkad, Éric de Dormael, Elena Syraka and Agnès Baillon.

Thirteen pieces are brought together around the same guiding principle: to explore the aesthetic and formal potential of black in jewelry creation. This color, often associated with elegance or mystery, is here considered as a material in its own right, a common language between distinct artistic universes.

Jeweler Walid Akkad presents, within his Bestiaire collection, the Taureau bracelet, crafted in black Gabon ebony and yellow gold. The deep intensity of this black, combined with the precious brilliance of the metal, enhances the sculptural character of the piece. Through the extreme simplification of forms and the perfect mastery of materials, this jewel embodies both strength and refinement. It conveys the symbolic power of the animal world while subtly dialoguing with the legacy of modern sculptors such as Brancusi and Arp, evoking a universe that is both timeless and contemporary.

Éric de Dormael translates into jewelry the principles that define his sculptural work: the relationship to line, volume, and light. His creations, crafted in blackened brass, retain the structural elegance inherent in his pieces. The exhibition notably features the brooches Folded and Phila, the pendant Black Celest, and the earrings Black Cubes. Sculptural works that play with solids and voids, angles and curves.

Renowned jewelry designer Elena Syraka draws inspiration from mythology and foundational narratives to conceive pieces of striking symbolic power. With her Minotaure collection, she presents a necklace, a ring, and earrings crafted in black diamonds and 18k gold. These creations, both precious and powerful, evoke the labyrinthine imagination of the myth while asserting a contemporary aesthetic. They enrich the exhibition with a narrative and mythological dimension, where black becomes the setting for a dialogue between history, memory, and modernity.

A sculptor renowned for her silent and sensitive figures, Agnès Baillon presents a series of jewel-fragments: Camée visage dans carré noir (Cameo Face in Black Square), Yeux cachés dans carré noir (Hidden Eyes in Black Square), Camée bouche dans carré noir (Cameo Mouth in Black Square), and Camée romain (Roman Cameo). These miniature works, at the frontier between jewelry and sculpture, revisit a recurring motif in her work: the human face, reduced to isolated, almost archaeological elements. Presented as brooches or pendants, they condense the intimacy and expressiveness characteristic of her oeuvre into a miniature format.

Black Jewelry offers a reflection on jewelry as an art form in its own right, freed from the traditional codes of ornamentation. In a subtle dialogue, the works of the four artists question the relationship to the body, to form, and to matter, through a deliberately reduced palette. Here, black becomes a field of experimentation and a starting point for four singular artistic expressions.