Creator and Collector: A Conversation with Jack Lenor Larsen

Searching for the Harmonic Chord

Artist Michael Glancy shares insights into his creative environments, with an intimate look at the studios, interests and experiences forming the intellectual foundation of his work in glass and metal, in a conversation with writer and curator William Warmus.

Michael Glancy is Adjunct Faculty, Jewelry and Metalsmithing Department, School of Fine Arts, Rhode Island School of Design, since 1982. He is represented at SOFA by Barry Friedman, Ltd., New York.

The Nakashima Legacy:
Continuity and Change

George Nakashima:
The Aesthetics of Design

A close look at Nakashima’s innovative furniture designs. A consistent philosophic and aesthetic approach will be shown to inform his work from conception through to final product. Dr. Robert Aibel, owner/director, Moderne Gallery, Philadelphia.

Mira Nakashima and the Studio,
1990-2000

A slide presentation of Studio production since 1990, including the Krosnick house in Princeton, the reading room for the James A. Michener Museum in Doylestown, the Gabellini projects, and David Hovey installations; illustrating how the work evolves from tree to client by way of pencil drawings and final cutting in the workshop—an inherently unpredictable process. Since her father’s death in 1990, Mira Nakashima has been the creative director and designer of the Nakashima studio, in New Hope, PA, where she produces her father's classic furniture designs as well as her own work.

Mira Nakashima attended Harvard University and received a master’s degree in architecture from Waseda University in Tokyo. She worked for many years with her father, George Nakashima, as a colleague and designer in his workshop. She is represented at SOFA by Moderne Gallery.

What Postmodernism is Not!

Postmodernism is a big sprawling field that is deliberately difficult to define. Instead, Mark Del Vecchio will show cutting edges in postmodern ceramic art today and explain what postmodernism is “NOT”.

Mark Del Vecchio is director of Garth Clark Gallery, New York.

British Craft Now

Contemporary British craft has flourished since the end of the Second World War, spurred in large part by two of Britain’s finest and most prolific studio potters, Lucie Rie (1902-1955) and Hans Coper (1920-1981). Together they sparked new interest in making contemporary ceramics and influenced subsequent generations of artists. British craft expanded to include art made from glass, fiber, and metal, and young designers began to produce one-of-a-kind or limited-series avant-garde furniture, jewelry, and lighting for the art market. Art historian Jane Adlin will explore the vitality of Britain’s craft tradition in an introductory lecture, 10:30 am ­
11:00 am, followed by a tour of selected objects on view at SOFA, 11:00 am ­ Noon.

Jane Adlin is assistant curator in the Department of Modern Art at The Metropolitan Museum of Art where she has contributed to the organization of exhibitions including Significant Objects from the Modern Design Collection, Beyond Textiles: Contemporary Art in Fiber, and Art Deco Paris (forthcoming).

This program has been organized by The Bard Graduate Center for Studies in the Decorative Arts, Design, and Culture in conjunction with SOFA to complement Bard’s exhibition “The Devonshire Inheritance: Five Centuries of Collective at Chatsworth.”

Tickets: $35 general; $25 seniors and students (includes admission to SOFA and a catalogue). For more information or to register, call the Bard Graduate Center Public Programs Department at 212.501.3011 or email programs@bgc.bard.edu

Whitman, Joyce, Sex, Death and God

Paul Stankard illustrates the evolution of his glass botanicals into personal symbols, influenced by poetry; a 40 year journey culminating in his retrospective at The Museum of Arts and Design in NYC, which opens May 28.

Paul Stankard is a studio artist, represented at SOFA by Marx-Saunders Gallery, Chicago.

MADOLA’s Work

MADOLA, M^a Angels Domingo Laplana, of Barcelona talks about the development of her ceramic sculpture and its influences: primitive art, the ancient cultures, Picasso, Miro, Voulkos, Tapies and architecture of all époques; and the realization of large scale commissions in Spain, England and other countries.

MADOLA has a degree in sculpture and doctorate courses on urban space from the College in Barcelona. She will exhibit a body of new work at SOFA with Galerie b15 of Munich.

Spatial Concepts

Sculptor John Mason will speak about the history of his early works, from the late 1950's and 60's, and how those concepts transcend through the succeeding decades into his most recent work.

John Mason, with Peter Voulkos, led the ‘Revolution in Clay’ in the 1950’s, changing the course of contemporary ceramics from a functional medium into a vigorously expressive one. He is represented at SOFA by Franklin Parrasch Gallery, New York.

My Life as a Journey

Kiwon Wang’s traditional Korean upbringing is evident in her jewelry’s ongoing dialog between east and west, tradition and modernity. She will present a brief history of Korean jewelry and envision its developmental path; and speak about her personal experience as a Korean jeweler who works and resides permanently in America.

Kiwon Wang received a master’s degree from the Rhode Island School of design. She is curator of Fresh Air from Korea, a traveling exhibit of Korean metalwork on view at Snyderman-Works Galleries, Philadelphia, where she is exhibiting at SOFA.

Three Master European Silversmiths: Historic Perspective, Contemporary Practice

Silversmiths David Huycke, Belgium, Allan Scharff and Claus Bjerring, Denmark, elaborate on what they believe is essential in their contemporary expression of form with a historic perspective, as seen from a European angle.

Allan Scharff and Claus Bjerring have designed collections for George Jensen. The silversmiths are represented at SOFA by Galerie Tactus, Copenhagen.

Working Toward the Center

Lush foliate imagery and richly carved forms combine in Sharon Church’s jewelry to create metaphors about life and longing. The artist will discuss her mid-life search for increasingly poignant imagery through iconic form. Presented by the Society of North American Goldsmiths in conjunction with SOFA.

Sharon Church is a professor in the College of Art and Design of The University of the Arts, Philadelphia. She received her MFA from the School for American Craftsmen, Rochester Institute of Technology and is represented at SOFA by Helen Drutt: Philadelphia.