Image: Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston will release the exhibition catalogue ‘Going Underground: The Jewels of Bernhard Schobinger’ on September 3, 2026. The publication examines more than 50 works by the Swiss avant-garde artist, whose jewelry reworks scavenged and alternative materials into objects that challenge conventional ideas of adornment.
The catalogue is being offered for preorder through the MFA Shop ahead of its release. It is edited by Cindi Strauss and Elisabeth Essner and accompanies ‘Going Underground: The Jewels of Bernhard Schobinger,’ an exhibition organized by the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. The available announcement does not specify the exhibition’s opening or closing dates.
According to the publication’s description, Schobinger uses found and unconventional materials to treat jewelry as a subversive medium. The catalogue considers how his objects can disclose “hidden layers of history,” while presenting a selection of more than 50 pivotal pieces of experimental jewelry.
The book traces what the museum describes as Schobinger’s radical career through several of the artist’s stated or identified sources of influence. These include Dadaism and Concrete art, as well as his Swiss cultural inheritance and sustained interest in Japanese culture. The catalogue therefore places the jewelry within a network of artistic and cultural references rather than presenting the works solely as examples of craft or personal adornment.
Its broader framework also connects Schobinger’s practice to political and cultural forces extending from the aftermath and continuing impact of World War II to the punk underground. The publication describes these contexts as part of the history informing the artist’s approach, positioning his material experimentation alongside periods associated with rupture, dissent and alternative cultural production.
The exhibition and catalogue form part of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston’s programming in decorative arts, craft and design. The museum’s announcement also points readers toward an international symposium on contemporary jewelry planned for the following month, although no date or further programme details are provided in the supplied material. ‘Going Underground: The Jewels of Bernhard Schobinger’ is scheduled for catalogue release on September 3, 2026.
