THIRTEEN LECTURE SERIES PRESENTATIONS AT
SOFA NEW YORK 2005
EXPLORE ROLE, MEANING AND COLLECTION OF DECORATIVE ARTS

Let us not make teacups but be studio artists!
—Peter Voulkos, 1950

VIEW LECTURE SERIES SCHEDULE

Lecture Series attendees at SOFA NEW YORK 2004.

Complimentary with admission to SOFA NEW YORK 2005 (except where otherwise noted), the acclaimed Lecture Series will feature internationally renowned artists, collectors and arts professionals. Topics include how decorative arts and artists have transcended their traditional roles and meaning, responding to cultural change and the fine arts market; and the collection and presentation of contemporary decorative arts in the museum. The Lecture Series takes place at the exposition from Thursday, June 2 – Saturday, June 4 in the Tiffany Room at the Seventh Regiment Armory.

Jack Lenor Larsen at SOFA NEW YORK 2004.

Jack Lenor Larsen, President, LongHouse Reserve, East Hampton, NY and internationally known textile designer, author, and collector, will honor art critic Rose Slivka in Readings from Rose Slivka’s Five Decades of Writings Instigating the Metamorphosis of Craft. Paying tribute to her seminal critical discourse on the essential nature of the pure object, Larsen and select panelists will read key writings by Slivka, who passed away last year.

Rose Slivka

Of Slivka, Art in America wrote: “Her perceptive reviews and essays always evinced a strong personal sympathy for artists… based on her roots in the New York art world of the 1950s and '60s.” From 1959 to '79, Slivka was the editor in chief of the magazine Craft Horizons, which later became American Craft. This period saw a significant erosion of the traditional boundaries between the fields of fine art and craft in large part due to Slivka, who focused her writings on artists concerned with formal qualities and creative expression rather than with traditional skills and techniques. Among her subjects were Peter Voulkos, Dale Chihuly, Isamu Noguchi and Lenore Tawney. In 1978, she published the influential Peter Voulkos: A Dialogue with Clay. In the mid-80’s, she became the art critic for the East Hampton Star on Long Island.

Bacerra, Ralph Sketch of Shoji Hamada at a Hamada Workshop at the University of Southern California, September 1963 Collected Ralph Bacerra Papers, 1959-2003 The Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America, Smithsonian Institution

The Lecture Series presentation Vision & Voice: The Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project will feature key principals and artists discussing The Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America, an important program of The Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution. A five-year project, the Archives will record and transcribe 100 oral history interviews with key figures in the craft and decorative arts field. The grant will also support a major campaign to collect the papers of prominent artists working in clay, glass, fiber, metal and wood, whose contemporary artworks have roots in traditional processes and materials. Panelist include: Liza Kirwin, Curator of Manuscripts and Mija Riedel, West Coast Field Researcher, Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project, Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution; Helen W. Drutt English, author, founder and director of Helen Drutt: Philadelphia; William P. Daley, ceramic artist and Professor Emeritus of the University of the Arts in Philadelphia; Tacey Rosolowski, writer and independent scholar; Robert Ebendorf, jeweler and Carole Grotnes Belk Distinguished Professor, East Carolina University School of Art, Greenville, North Carolina.

Libensky, Stanislav and Brychtova, Jaroslava Man Kurt II, 1987 Cast glass 24 x 9 x 8" Photo: Eva Heyd Donna Schneier Fine Arts, New York, NY

Presented by the Czech Center New York, Dr. Sylva Petrova, Professor in Glass, University of Sunderland, U.K., will give an illustrated outline of topical trends and events in the Czech studio glass scene, including new, unknown masterpieces and emerging artists. Petrova was Curator of 20th Century Glass and Deputy Director of the Museum of Decorative Arts in Prague before joining the School of Art, Design, Media & Culture at Sunderland University, and has since become the Director of its Institute for International Research. During her distinguished career, she has published 5 books and contributed to 43 others and has also written over 100 essays and articles for various catalogues, as well as curated and juried glass exhibitions throughout the world.

A renowned example of the International Style, inside the Caroline Wiess Law Building at Museum of Fine Art, Houston, one of only two Mies van der Rohe Mies designed museums in the world.

Complementing its Special Exhibit at SOFA NEW YORK, The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (MFAH) will present an illustrated lecture on the development of its decorative art collections, including the newly acquired Helen Williams Drutt Collection of modern and contemporary jewelry. Located in the heart of Texas’s largest city, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, is a dynamic cultural complex consisting of two museum buildings, two art schools, two decorative arts centers, and a sculpture garden. Cindi Strauss, Curator, Modern and Contemporary Arts and Design at MFAH will discuss selection criteria and the museum’s commitment to placing decorative arts in context with other media, while celebrating its roots.

Paley, Albert; American, born 1944 "Double Fibula" Brooch, 1968 Gold, silver, bronze, pearls, moonstone, Madagascar labradorite Photo: Thomas R. DuBrock The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; Helen Williams Drutt Collection, gift of Mr. and Mrs. John W. Mecom, Jr., by exchange

In a related lecture, Helen W. Drutt English of Helen Drutt: Philadelphia/Hurong Lou Gallery will make a presentation entitled The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Helen Williams Drutt Collection: Building a Collection. The Helen Williams Drutt Collection has been part of the permanent holdings of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston since 2002, and is recognized internationally for its depth and quality, with some 57 artists from 17 countries represented. The Drutt Collection features many one-of-a-kind works that redefined the concept of jewelry—pieces that moved beyond ornamentation and preciousness, pushing the boundaries of traditional decorative art forms. Drutt will discuss the Collection’s formation during the mid-1960’s and its transition from the private sector to a public institution.

Arneson, Robert Wow Too, 1990 Ceramic 16 x 13 x 7" Photo: David Behl The Jerry and Simona Chazen Collection

David Revere McFadden, Chief Curator, Museum of Arts & Design, New York, NY will speak on the subject of When Is A Collection More Than A Collection? McFadden said, “There is an ironic contradiction in defining what it means to collect: on one hand, the collector is assembling and preserving a body of works for posterity, yet the objects so gathered continue to evolve in their meanings over the lifetime of the collector and beyond. It might be suggested that collecting is a variant form of writing one’s autobiography.” This talk will look at the layers of meaning embedded in any collection, with specific reference to the collection formed by Jerry and Simona Chazen.

Jane Adlin (left), Assistant Curator, Department of Modern Art, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, leading tour of SOFA NEW YORK 2004, sponsored by Bard Graduate Center.

Organized by The Bard Graduate Center for Studies in the Decorative Arts, Design, and Culture to complement its exhibition Cherished Possessions: A New England Legacy, on view during SOFA NEW YORK, design expert Lily Kane, will examine how the current lexicon of art and craft in the United States has been shaped by the role of craft in the decorative arts of the 20^th century, and what the word “craft” means in the 21^st century marketplace. This introductory lecture will be followed by a tour of selected objects on view at SOFA. Tickets for this program are: $35 general; $25 seniors and students, and include admission to SOFA NEW YORK 2005 and a catalogue. For further information or to register, call the Bard Graduate Center Public Programs Department at 212-501-3011 or e-mail programs@bgc.bard.edu.

Major artists speaking in the Lecture Series whose work blurs the boundaries between the arts, while retaining the unique qualities of time-honored materials, include:

• Norma Minkowitz represented at SOFA NEW YORK by Bellas Artes/Thea Burger, internationally renowned for her mysterious fiber structures—ethereal explorations of the body and other organic forms—that reflect her belief in "art unified by process, but freed from traditional use of materials." Minkowitz' work is in numerous collections including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, National Museum of Art of the Smithsonian Institution, Washington D.C., and M.H. De Young Memorial Museum, San Francisco.	Minkowitz, Norma Inhale/Exhale, 2004 Mixed media 14 x 16 x 12.5" Bellas Artes/Thea Burger, Sante Fe, NM & New York, NY
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• Contemporary Japanese sculpture artist Sakiyama Takayuki, winner of the prestigious Emperor's Cup (top award) at the 2005 Nihon Togei Ten (2005 Japan Ceramics Exhibition), whose art was acquired in 2004 by the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York for its permanent collection. Represented by Joan B. Mirviss Ltd.	Sakiyama, Takayuki (b. 1958) Globular vase with spiraling design sand and orange glaze, 2004 Stoneware 13 x 16.5” Joan B. Mirviss, Ltd., New York, NY
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• Artist Jung Sil Hong, Professor, Wonkwang University, South Korea, on the subject of jjoum-ipsa, the traditional Korean damascene technique of inlaying metal in steel, as utilized in her works of art. Represented by Gallery Gainro. Presented by the Society of North American Goldsmiths (SNAG).	Hong, Jung Sil Deep Spring of Subconsciousness, 2003 9.4 × 12.2" Gold, Silver, Copper, Steel, Korean Lacquer Gallery Gainro, Seoul, South Korea
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• Israeli-American artist Noam Elyashiv, speaking on her seductive and minimalist work in metal from the past ten years. Represented by Sienna Gallery. Presented by the Art Jewelry Forum.	Elyashiv, Noam ME neckpiece, 2004 18k gold Photo: Kevin Sprague Courtesy Sienna Gallery, Lenox, MA
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• Red Weldon Sandlin presents a mid-career survey of her figural works in ceramics—autobiographical narratives combined with tales from children’s literature in a sculptural framework referencing the teapot form. Represented by Ferrin Gallery.	Sandlin, Red Weldon Miss Etteaquette Ceramic Courtesy Ferrin Gallery, Lenox, MA
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• British born John Rose, whose organic wood sculptures are a combination of complex juxtapositions such as strength and fragility, with, in Rose’s words an “overall Zen sensibility.” Represented by Bentley Projects.	Rose, John Ring, 2005 Poplar wood 18 x 17” Courtesy Bentley Projects, Phoenix, AZ