The Twelfth Annual International Exposition of
Sculpture Objects & Functional Art:
SOFA CHICAGO 2005
October 28 – 30
Opening Night Preview: October 27
Festival Hall, Navy Pier

Mares, Ivan Yellow Wing, 2003 Cast Glass Sold by Heller Gallery, New York, NY at SOFA CHICAGO 2003 to the Mint Museum of Craft + Design

The Sphere of the Material

CHICAGO, SEPTEMBER 12, 2005. Whether one stands before a monumental ceramic human head made from 8000 pounds of clay by James Tyler, pondering the single word TRUTH carved repeatedly into it like a scar or mantra; the polished, raw surfaces of an Ivan Mares molded glass sculpture, at once a lamentation and tribute to nature’s brute carvings and selective sheen; or Norie Hatakeyama’s ectoplasm of simple packing paper, mysteriously alive, breeding dead-end tunnels from the inside—is to be confronted by these artworks’ very objecthood, their materiality and virtuosity of process.

Visitors at SOFA CHICAGO 2004.

Mark Lyman, President and Founder of SOFA CHICAGO and its sister show, SOFA NEW YORK in early summer, said, “Reports from dealers reflect their commitment to bringing the best of the new to the exposition. Many are investing in major presentations, including large-scale installations. And we are delighted with the number and quality of international galleries participating from Argentina, Australia, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Italy and United Kingdom.”

Chicago 2004 Opening Night Preview.

Join artists, collectors, curators and cognoscenti at the festive Opening Night Public Preview, 7-10 pm, Thursday, October 27, and be among the first to view and acquire top quality pieces at SOFA CHICAGO! Lyman said, “We were very pleased with the response to last year’s inaugural Public Preview with over 600 persons attending from 7 – 10 pm. At the affordable ticket price of $50.00, we hope to encourage a new generation of collectors.” 1800 key collectors and press are again expected to attend the invitation-only “First Choice” Preview from 5 – 7 pm, which also offers select non-profits like Northwestern Memorial Foundation the opportunity to host private fundraising events in conjunction with the Opening. DOWNLOAD OPENING NIGHT PUBLIC PREVIEW RESERVATION FORM. (adobe .pdf document)

Thirty two Lecture Series presentations are planned this year, complimentary with admission. (See Lecture Series Release and Lecture Schedule). Speakers include:

Wood Turning in North America Since 1930 2002 Exhibit at Yale University Art Gallery • Patricia Kane, Curator of Decorative Arts, Yale University Art Gallery; Jack Larsen, President, Longhouse Reserve; moderated by Kevin Wallace, writer and curator, on The Growing Role of Museums in the Crafts;
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1. Wren on Driftwood Attributed to Dexter Dockery, woodcarver Brasstown, NC 2. Articulated Mountain Dolls Attributed to Pauline Page, c. 1950 Pleasant Hill, TN 3. Steatite Smoking Pipe Maker Unknown Western North Carolina (left to right) • Stacy Tidmore, Ph.D, Arthur Mason, Anna Mendel and Dudley Anderson, on interpretations of collecting from the fields of psychology, art history, and cultural studies;
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	• Tina Oldknow, Curator of Modern Glass, Corning Museum of Glass on contemporary Latin American glass, examining the works of Silvia Levenson (Caterina Tognon Arte Contemporanea) and Einar and Jamex de la Torre;
Levenson, Silvia   It's Raining Knives   Cast glass, artificial   grass, nylon line   47.2 x 47.2”   The Corning Museum of Glass (2004)
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Mares, Ivan On Edge, 2005 Cast glass 20.5 x 43.75 x 8.75” Heller Gallery, New York, NY • Czech artist Ivan Mares (Heller Gallery) documents the creative and physical process involved in the casting of his massive glass sculpture, "Wing."
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Lee, Jennifer Olive, dark haloed trace, amber pot and pale, speckled granite and olivetrace pot, 2004 Hand-built colored stoneware 5 x 4.25” & 8.5 x 6.25” Photo: Alan Tabor Gallery Besson, London, UK • Jennifer Lee (Galerie Besson), UK’s master of the ceramic vessel form;
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Walker, Audrey Temptation (the Collectors) The Gallery, Ruthin Craft Centre, Denbighshire, Wales, UK • Artists Rozanne Hawksley and Audrey Walker (Ruthin Craft Centre), two of the UK’s great embroidery innovators;
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Slee, Richard Bananas, 2005 Clay 11.5 x 16 x 16.5" Photo: Philip Sayer Barrett Marsden Gallery, London, UK • Richard Slee (Barrett Marsden Gallery) winner of Great Britain’s prestigious Jerwood Applied Arts Prize for “expanding the dialogue between ceramic tradition and visual culture in ways that resonate outward”;
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Mueller, Louis ULTRAIST Sconce, 2005 Constructed bronze, enamel paint, light bulb 18 x 5 x 6” Photo: Ira Garber Elliott Brown Gallery, Seattle, WA • Metalsmith Louis Mueller (Elliott Brown Gallery) on the 25-year evolution of his work with sculptural lighting.

Special Exhibits at SOFA CHICAGO 2005: (See Special Exhibits/ Events Release and Special Exhibits/Events Schedule).

Rory Hooper My Memories, 2005 Smashed silver and gold rings 28d Photo: Rory Hooper "Updating Traditions" AIDA Special Exhibit • An exhibit of contemporary decorative artwork by nine artists currently living in Israel entitled Updating Traditions, curated by Dale Anderson with advisors Jane Adlin, assistant curator, Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY; Aviva Ben-Sira, Eretz Israel Museum, Tel-Aviv; Riva Saker, Sotheby’s Israel and Davira S. Taragin, director of exhibitions and programs, Racine Art Museum, WI. Presented by the Association of Israel’s Decorative Arts (AIDA), in cooperation with the Eretz Israel Museum;

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Curtis LaFollette Three Piece Flatware Set 1216/04-2 Flatware Series, 2004 Sterling silver, steel largest: 1 x 1.5 x 8" "Flatware: Function + Fantasy" SpecialExhibit • Metalsmith magazine’s 2005 Exhibition in Print: Flatware: Function + Fantasy, an exhibit of contemporary, exuberantly imaginative place settings, knife-fork-spoon, comparable eating implements and serving pieces. Co-curated by Rosanne Raab, independent curator/collection adviser, and Boris Bally, designer/metalsmith. Presented by Society of North American Goldsmiths;

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Peter Prasil Debacle 98, 2004 Plywood, polyurethane foam, fiberglas, automotive paint, aluminium, stainless steel 47 x 29.5 x 37.5" Photo: Peter Whyte "Convergence: Crossing the Divide" Special Exhibit • Convergence: Crossing the Divide—The Studio Furniture of Tasmania and America. Makers from opposite ends of the world share factors of craftsmanship and design, transcending time and space. Co-curated by John and Penny Smith, head of the Furniture Design Studio at the University of Tasmania and senior research fellow, respectively, in association with Wendy Maruyama, head of Woodworking and Furniture Design, San Diego State University. Presented by the Furniture Society.

Hot Glass Roadshow at SOFA CHICAGO 2004.

The Hot Glass Roadshow of The Corning Museum of Glass, Corning, NY returns to SOFA CHICAGO! The world’s premier mobile glassblowing studio and SOFA CHICAGO will team up for the fourth straight year to present internationally renowned glass artists creating signature vessels and sculpture from molten glass. On-going throughout the exposition.

Also returning to SOFA CHICAGO—live sculptural and turned wood presentations! Sponsored by Collectors of Wood Art and organized by Chicago Woodturners, a local chapter of the American Association of Woodturning. On-going throughout the exposition.

Over 33,000 visitors are expected to attend SOFA CHICAGO 2005 and delight in the fine artworks, whose formal properties are often more than illusory, more than a mere falling of light. Their very objecthood leads to a conjuncture of viewer and object in the imaginary sphere of the material, a circle of presence, where materiality itself may be momentarily transcended.

Click here for a complete list of artists participating in SOFA CHICAGO 2004

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