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SOFA 2009: Highlights of sculpture and innovation
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Works by Mirielle Riggie. Breath- pate de verre glass, wood, paint and Madre-glass.
Running the gamut from traditional forms to contemporary explorations, thronging with guests and filled with treats for the eye and the collector, this year’s Annual Sculpture Objects and Functional Art Fair is a grand success. Featuring over sixty-eight galleries, eight SOLO artists, eight Special Exhibits, and thirty-one lectures with artists, collectors and organizations the 16th Annual SOFA has something for every taste in three dimensions.
Beginning the tour of the Navy Pier Festival Hall with special exhibits, visitors were treated to the classic curves of Sam Maloof’s furniture in tribute to his legacy and in honor of his life. Bold new directions were illuminated in BIGG: Breakthrough Ideas in Global Glass, and insights into the student mentor relationship were explored within The Evolving Art of Woodturning. Ceramics were in the spotlight at Watershed Artist’s LEGENDS booth, exhibiting a range of techniques and styles, from Honor Artists at the Watershed’s residency program.
The displays from local, national and international galleries and artists included delicate works in glass with powders which seem to be of great antiquity from artist William Morris at Wexler Gallery and Hawk Gallery. Explorations of collaboration on the sense of momentary perception and the qualities of water between glass artist Stine Mikkelson and video artist by Martin Oluf Thaulow were visible in Falling Water at the Special Exhibit BIGG. The mixed media wall hangings of Jeanne Raffer Beck at Maria Elena Kravetz Gallery bridged the written word and lost personal histories utilizing silk screen. In woodworking, talents such as Joey Richardson explored turned and pierced forms containing incredibly detailed stories in personal symbology, along with other constructions and lathe turned creations by artists represented by Del Mano Gallery. In ceramic, Don Reitz, represented by Lacoste Gallery, exhibited his layered and patinaed stoneware which seems to float weightily on the wall as part of the Special Exhibit Legends: Watershed Center for the Ceramic Arts Honor Artists. Mark Chatterly’s freestanding and wall hanging figures which boldly embrace tones unlike skin while presenting texture and story within the forms at Next Step Studios & Gallery. Galleria San Marco Arte & Design, Venezia’s own Roberto Bortollo explores the forms of bamboo with glass mosaic and chromed brass, creating free standing sculptures that create delicious reflections of all that surrounds them. Mirielle Riggie creates delicate leaves much larger than life in fused glass that cup and exude luminosity in her works Breath and Madre. Also exhibited at the Special Exhibit BIGG, Ditte Johansson employs textile techniques and the appeal of handmade clothing in her series of glass works, including Vigg, Bathingsuitez and Lodjursogz. Michael Rogers marries etched metal and glass in his ambiguous works, such as The Language of Bees, while encouraging a vintage appeal at Bullseye Gallery. Canadian Mary K. McIntyre works with supple bronze and patinas to create nature inspired jewelry like the Antler Tiara modeled by executive assistant, Anna Kempffer of Lafreniere Pai Gallery.
Working with prints, artificial sinew and animal forms, Anne Lemanski provokes viewers to think about human impact on the larger biosphere with works like Deerfield USA at Ferrin Gallery. Drawing inspiration directly from the environment, Peter Bremers returns to the studio to cast incredible sculptures in light and glass that harken back to his recent journey through the Antarctic, and is represented by Litvak Gallery. Riikka Latva Somppi plays with nature’s geometry and the idea of preciousness with her adventurous metal leafed blown glass at Galleria Norsu .
For more information about this years SOFA, see the website at: www.SOFAEXPO.com
For information about these Galleries:
Del Mano Gallery www.delmano.com
Bullseye Gallery www.bullseyeglass.com
Hawk Gallery www.hawkgalleries.com
Maria Elena Kravetz Gallery http://www.mariaelenakravetzgallery.com/
Litvak Gallery www.litvak.com
Galleria San Marco Arte & Design http://www.galleriasanmarcoartedesign.com/
Next Step Studios & Gallery www.nextstepstudio.com
Galleria Norsu www.norsu.info
Ferrin Gallery www.ferringallery.com
Wexler Gallery www.wexlergallery.com
Artists: Jeanne Raffer Beck www.jeannebeck.com
Stine Mikkelson www.stinediness.dk
Martin Oluf Thaulow www.thaulow.dk
Peter Bremers www.bremers.com
Riikka Latva Somppi www.latvasomppi.com
Works: Falling Water www.fallingwater.dk
Watch for further articles on many of these artists including interviews and gallery profiles from this Examiner in the following week.
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