Joseph Walsh National Craft Gallery of Ireland, Kilkenny

The latest cutting-edge design on the international scene is featured at SOFA CHICAGO with works by Wendell Castle at Barry Friedman Ltd. and Yves Boucard with Leo Kaplan Modern, to Joseph Walsh with the National Craft Gallery of Ireland. “For centuries, ahead of the curve, collectors have turned to artist furniture to complement the artistry of their paintings and sculpture,” says Scott Jacobson, who heads up the Manhattan-based Leo Kaplan Modern gallery.  “What’s different today is that the number of such sophisticated collectors demanding artist furniture has soared exponentially,” he says.  One index to the soaring popularity of this genre is that the work of Wendell Castle alone is now in 33 museums and countless corporate art collections like American Express and Bausch & Lomb. “At the age of 75, Wendell Castle is recognized as a giant in the field and his work is being acquired by collectors of contemporary painting, sculpture and design as well,” says dealer Barry Friedman.  Now, European and Asian collectors are taking on this category. To gleam what makes for museum-worthy Irish furniture and design, take in the lecture by Jennifer Goff, National Museum of Ireland curator, on Friday, at 12 noon.  She explores the Modernist tradition beginning in the 20th century right up to practically yesterday and pinpoints acclaimed designers like Joseph Walsh.

	Simon Cottrell Charon Kransen Arts, New York City

Contemporary artist jewelry, the hottest collecting field in the entire international art market is centered in SOFA CHICAGO. “With an overwhelming number of artist jewelers showcased at SOFA now represented in permanent museum collections such as that of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston and the Museum of Arts and Design in New York, this prized positioning emphatically validates their work in the discriminating fine art world,” says Mark Lyman, SOFA Fairs founder and director.  Such artist jewelry is increasingly used by fashion designers, worn by famed architects like Zaha Hadid and cherished by both seasoned and new collectors.  The reasoning for this new collecting trend is straightforward, say discriminating dealers. “Artist jewelers like Graziano Visintin who pioneered the gold granulation movement and has garnered every major award in Europe, literally come with their own gold seal of approval,” says Jenny David of the David Collection. “What’s also new is more major figures in the design and architecture worlds like architect Steven Holl, who designed the award winning Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City, and is completing projects in China and Prague as well, are taking on my artist jewelry,” says Stefan Friedemann of Ornamentum gallery.  Out of the box materials is another new trend as Australian jeweler Simon Cottrell with Charon Kransen Arts takes jewelry to a new level with his use of metal specifically designed for high fuel rockets.  Meeting major artist jewelers and hearing firsthand about their innovative techniques and inspirations adds yet another dynamic dimension to collecting and viewing artist jewelry at SOFA. On Friday, head to Cottrell’s lecture on his intergalactic artistry (3 pm), and famed European goldsmith Michael Zobel’s (Aaron Faber Gallery) presentation (11:30 am); and Museum of Arts and Design contemporary jewelry curator Ursula Neuman’s lecture on its groundbreaking collection on Saturday at 9:30 am.  The Art Jewelry Forum presenting their Emerging Artist Award at the fair further confirms SOFA CHICAGO as the international capitol for both cutting-edge and traditional artist jewelry.

	Chris Antemann Ferrin Gallery, Pittsfield MA

Emerging artists are what hip, contemporary art collectors zero in on but what distinguishes so many of such artists featured at SOFA CHICAGO is that far from simply young artists, many have already garnered major artist residencies and noted prizes.  For example, Chris Antemann with the Ferrin Gallery has snapped up key artist residency appointments not just in this country but also in China, where two museums hold her work. “Clients understandably want artists with a proven track record and Chris demonstrates both mature artistry along with international recognition,” says her dealer Leslie Ferrin. Other emerging artists with that kind of blue-chip status include Christina Cordova.  “Christina’s work has exploded on the art scene with an overwhelming response from collectors and curators,” says Chicago dealer Ann Nathan who represents the artist, among others. “AT SOFA, some of Christina’s life size ceramics and mixed media figures are already earmarked for inclusion in Puerto Rico’s Museum of Contemporary Art’s major exhibition this spring,” she says. Also emerging artists can be found on the jewelry scene, presented by Society of North American Goldsmiths. To learn more about them, go to the Emerging Artists panel on Friday at 9 am.  In addition, on Friday, up and coming glass artist Amy Rueffert with Seattle’s Elliott Brown Gallery discusses her newest work at 3 pm.

	Dale Chihuly Wexler Gallery, Philadelphia, PA

Art market analysis is a critical concern to collectors at all levels so tips on the ins and outs of the fast-moving market is the focus of the panel The Roaring Market for Contemporary Decorative Arts and Design held Saturday at 4:30 pm.  Hear art world leaders Franklin Silverstone, founder and CEO of Collectify Software, and curator for both Charles and Stephen Bronfman; Elizabeth Levine, president of the International Association for Professional Art Advisors and  Partner of Minkin, Levine Fine Art Advisors; Lewis Wexler, founder and director of Wexler Gallery and Christie’s former Assistant Vice President; and Dale and Doug Anderson, collectors, Palm Beach and New York, all serving on the panel moderated by Brook Mason, US Correspondent of The Art Newspaper and contributing author of the newly published book, “The International Art Markets.”  “For many collectors, art appears a far more secure investment,” says Mason. “Although we have seen economic setbacks before, high quality works have always sold,” says Levine. She tells her clients that the current climate yields great opportunities for collecting.  For the latest market information, take in the panel and then head to the SOFA stands, featuring blue chip artists and emerging ones, too, all highly collectible.

	Ralph Bacerra, Racine Art Museum

Collectors panels: Creating an in-depth dialogue among seasoned collectors and museum donors on ensuring the value of contemporary arts and design through a series of panels is another pivotal innovation at SOFA CHICAGO.   The first panel in this groundbreaking series, The Philanthropy of Craft: Innovative Ways to Make Your Charitable Contributions Count, Friday at 1 pm,explores the impact art collectors are making on our culture by gifting important work to museums and financing key artist residencies. Led by Jim Hackney, Alexander Haas Martin managing partner, who in providing counsel to such prestigious clients as the American Association of Museums, plays a valuable role in creating a donor-focused culture. The panel includes Cindi Strauss, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, curator of Modern and Contemporary Decorative Arts.  Other panel members are Jean McLaughlin, Penland School of Crafts Executive Director; John E. Brown, III, Windgate Charitable Foundation Executive Director; and Dian Magie, Center for Craft, Creativity and Design Executive Director. Significantly increasing financial support to museums, schools and other non-profit art organizations ultimately nourishes creativity and educates the next generation of collectors, says a number of curators. Like Bruce W. Pepich, executive director of the Racine Art Museum, who will speak about this with collectors Dale and Doug Anderson, David Charak and others (Saturday, 2 pm). And Timothy Close, director, Tacoma Museum of Glass, WA, who will accept the Art Alliance for Contemporary Glass' annual award for an institution furthering the studio-glass movement (Saturday, 3:30 pm).

	The Chubb Personal Insurance VIP Lounge

Safeguarding your art collection is detailed in a lecture by Dorit Straus, Chubb & Son, Inc. Vice President. "With so many stories in the press about repatriation of antiquities by the Greek and Italian government authorities as well as continued revelations about Holocaust art restitution, a growing number of collectors are concerned about their rightful ownership and are looking for new approaches to the problem,” says Straus, while adding that contemporary art collectors also have concerns.”  Along with the prominent attorney Jonathan Ziss, Margolis Edelstein partner, Straus outlines critical issues related to avoiding art title disputes and stolen art in the lecture Who Owns Your Art? The Importance of Due Diligence for Art Collectors, Friday, 10 am. With Straus’s expertise at the global insurance giant Chubb & Son, Inc., which has 120 offices in 28 countries and which also participates as a major SOFA CHICAGO sponsor, strategic and sound advice for collectors is only steps away from the array of much museum class art at the fair.

	Lino Tagliapietra Donna Schneier Fine Arts, Palm Beach, FL

Prized secondary market contemporary decorative arts and design is more prominent than ever at the 15th SOFA CHICAGO in the same manner that major contemporary art fairs in Basel, London and New York routinely showcase historically important material.  So on the SOFA fair floor is glass, ceramics, jewelry, metal, wood and fiber by legendary artists who are designated leaders in their fields, cited in a slew of art history text books, some already with work in 200 museums and many with prestigious international awards.  Key dealers with outstanding secondary market art and design include Lewis Wexler, Barry Friedman, Donna Schneier and Galerie Besson which has on offer those 20th century masters of ceramic art, Lucie Rie and Hans Coper.  “Now my colleagues and I are witnessing large numbers of collectors rushing to take on secondary market pieces so that their art and design holdings span critical movements historically,” says Lewis Wexler, who served as assistant vice president of Christie’s and founded his Philadelphia gallery almost a decade ago.  He believes this new collecting trend tells of the increasing maturation and sophistication of the collecting base which, in turn, is fueling competition for key art examples.

	Neil Brownsword Galerie Besson, London

Green is in. Spearheading conservation is now integral to the entire SOFA CHICAGO fair organization while a growing number of artists strongly featured at the show are captivating collectors with their use and reinterpretation of found materials, right in sync with the growing emphasis on environmental-friendly practice.  For example, ceramics artist Neil Brownsword with the London-based Galerie Besson incorporates ceramic shards from 19th century British ceramic factories in his work, which some see as a political statement as well as a green one; and Santa Fe’s dealer Jane Sauer's artist Gugger Petter weaves fragile recycled newspaper, while Katherine Gray with Elliott Brown Gallery of Washington State opts for recycled glass in creating spare “topiaries”, which are transparent.  Testifying to such artistry, Brownsward is already in major museum collections like London’s V&A Museum.  Then Sherry Leedy Contemporary Art gallery artist Judy Onofrio turns to a range of materials from ceramic and glass shards, chandelier parts, intricate bits of mirror and even preserved bovine bones in the same manner other artists focus on paint and marble.  “Judy’s work is really about the transformation of everyday objects whether it is delicately hand craved trim from a chair or a portion of a brass chandelier, and they imbue her sculptural creations with rich, multiple layers and levels of meaning,” says Leedy. “The longer you look at an Onofrio, the more you see.” Snyderman-Works Galleries features Jo Stealey who creates paper using natural materials like leaves to create an astonishingly new and poetic artistry.  Catch her lecture on Friday, at 1:30 pm.

	Malene Müllertz Lacoste Gallery, Concord MA

Scandinavian artistry is of particular importance at SOFA CHICAGO with the work of superstar artists at multiple key galleries from Helsinki’s Galerie Norsu to Copenhagen’s Galleri Gronlund.  Nearby Galleri Undengaard, also of Denmark, is featuring both bronzes and ceramics by their native artists while Lacoste Gallery, of Concord, Massachusetts is staging an extensive special exhibition of Danish ceramics.  The reason for such artistry in depth is the Danes have a long history of clay and a marked reverence for the vessel as an art form going back centuries.  “In Denmark, ceramics have risen to such a high level that the overwhelming majority of work we showcase falls into the realm of sculpture, and practically all of the artists have been featured in many European museums and now, American museums also,” says Lucy Lacoste who heads up Lacoste Gallery.  “But surprisingly, for museum quality work, the price points are relatively modest with much of it under $5,000,” says Lacoste, who is bringing new work by Barbro Aberrg created specifically for the fair.  To learn more about this current scene along with historic traditions in Denmark, attend the lecture Fired/Burnt in Denmark: An Conversation in Contemporary Danish Ceramics, Friday at 2:30 pm.  Lecturers include Danish artist and professor, Morten Løbner Espersen, who hails from Goteborg University, Sweden; and Wendy Tarlow Kaplan, who curated the groundbreaking traveling museum exhibition From the Kilns of Denmark which headlined at the Museum of Art and Design in Manhattan recently.

	Ivana Šrámková Heller Gallery, New York City

Czech glass masters like the late Stanislav Libenský and his partner Jaroslava Brychtová have long been considered leaders of the 20th century sculptural glass movement and their work on view by SOFA CHICAGO dealers practically amounts to an entire Czech museum of glass. SOFA visitors can take in, study, appreciate and own work by the Czech masters but also learn about the collaborative careers and methods of Libenský and Brychtová from Jitka Pokorna, gallery founder and director, who will present her personal recollections in Libenský and J. Brychtová: The Bravura Legend on Friday, 2 pm. Equally compelling is Heller Gallery’s cast glass, which are distillations of figurative forms by Ivana Šrámková.  For this artistry, Šrámková was awarded the coveted Praque Glass Prize for emerging artists, and now her work is in close to a dozen museums including London’s V& A Museum and Lausanne’s Museum of Modern Art. Her meticulously cast work imbued with rare wit is now in the permanent collections of museums from Australia to Japan and Ireland.  Other dealers showcasing Czech artistry include Thomas R. Riley Galleries of Cleveland with the work of Latchezar Boyadjiev.

	Toshio Iezumi, Chappell Gallery, New York City

Contemporary Asian decorative arts and design is attracting collectors at all levels from Elton John and Whoopie Goldberg, decorator Noel Jeffrey, architects and people totally new to collecting. “The appeal is two fold,” says Manhattan dealer Beatrice Chang of Dai Ichi Gallery. “The art work coming out of China and Japan is fascinating but with reasonable prices—For $1 million, you can build a major collection of contemporary Chinese and Japanese ceramics sculpture,” she says.  Then Chelsea dealer Alice Chappell is seeing Asian art collectors with precious 18th century Ming porcelain as well as architects and designers like Noel Jeffrey’s take on the newest Asian artists’ work. In addition, attorneys are making sculptures by glass artist Toshio Iezumi (who lectures on Friday, 4pm) the focal points of their corporate lobbies. Prices for Iezumi and Naomi Shioya have tripled, says Chappell. Chicago dealer Frank Paluch of Perimeter Gallery is seeing his clients zero in on Toshiko Takeazu. “Collectors of contemporary painting and sculpture are drawn to her traditional forms with vibrant glazes that approach abstract art,” says Paluch, while adding that her work has shot up in value just like contemporary Chinese painting.  To learn more about this artistry and the rising values, attend the panel New Asian Fusion and hear key artists and collectors on Saturday at 11am.

	SOFA CHICAGO 2008 Lecture Series attendees.

SALON SOFA: it’s the art world’s own university of contemporary decorative arts and design.  An unprecedented 28 panels, lectures and artist conversations by such stellar figures in the art world as Dr. Christopher Lightfoot, Metropolitan Museum of Art curator are on the roster, illustrated with the work of artists Iwao Matsushima and Miriam Di Fiore, both represented by Mostly Glass Gallery.  “With so many collectors at all levels leading demanding professional and personal lives, but wanting direct contact with leading artists, museum curators and art market journalists in order to keep pace with the fast moving art world, we created SALON SOFA in response to their needs,” says Anne Meszko, who heads up the Fair’s innovative educational component.  Coupled with the full roster of SALON SOFA events are four specially curated exhibitions including the Association of Israel’s Decorative Arts (AIDA), which last year presented the hugely popular Offering Reconciliation exhibit featured prominently in the international press. Also, the Mint Museum of Craft and Design and the Racine Art Museum will mount exhibitions curated specifically for the discriminating SOFA CHICAGO audience. And, for the price of a single SOFA CHICAGO ticket, fair-goers can enjoy an entire international film festival. SOFA exhibitor Ateliers d’Art de France presents the best of the International Film Festival on Clay and Glass, held biannually in Montpellier, France. Also showing is the documentary The Gold Weaver, featuring Swiss goldsmith and jewelry designer Lucie Heskett-Brem, represented by Aaron Faber Gallery, New York.

	Frank Stella Damascus Gate II, 1968 Bank of America Corporate Collection

The SOFA CHICAGO VIP Salon is another innovative dimension to the fair for VIP pass holders that includes exclusive visits to private collectors' homes, along with corporate collections and behind-the-scene curator-led tours of museums.  These visits further enhance the annual fair and raise the bar on understanding new shifts in collecting at the highest levels.  Exclusive tours of two of the most important decorative arts and design collections in the nation, those of John Bryan and Richard Driehaus are featured.  In addition, VIP pass holders, who may register for VIP events via the information accompanying their pass, gain rare access to the famed JP Morgan and Bank of America corporate art collections and much more!

	Li Lihong Dai Ichi Arts, New York City

Political art, a pivotal specialty, meaning work by artists who infuse their creations with political and social commentary is showcased at SOFA CHICAGO.  A growing number of glass artists, ceramicists, jewelers and textile artists on view are now commanding attention on a global scale for their political sophistication.  “More international artists are using clay to reveal the social, political, environmental, gender and material issues of our time,” says Judith Schwartz, New York University professor. “Their work can be characterized as irreverent, sometimes disturbing, occasionally humorous, but always passionate, as they create objects that speak to the angst of our day and in doing so, strengthen the relationship of art to society,” she says. Don’t miss Schwartz’s lecture The Ceramist as Social Critic: An International Perspective on Saturday, 12 noon. Underscoring the importance of this fascinating niche category is that powerhouse art critics like Arthur Danto, Peter Schjeldahl, Donald Kuspit and Roberta Smith, among others, are writing about their appreciation and understanding of political art. To explore this powerful genre, also hear Ferrin Gallery artist Richard Notkin’s lecture 40 Years of Social Commentary in Ceramic Sculpture on Saturday at 3 pm, which highlights war, peace, the environment and other critical issues. Notkin’s confrontational works can be found in many museum collections. Other political artists include jeweler and professor Lisa Gralnick at Ornamentum Gallery, who will speak on her exploration of gold in her incisive three-part Gold Standard Project on Saturday, 11 am, as “a material fraught with both moral ambiguity and a troubling but fascinating capacity for reinvention."

	Jay Macdonell Option Art, Montreal

Award winning Canadian artists’ latest work is on view at SOFA CHICAGO, proving the rising importance of this niche area.  For example, Peter Powning with the Lafrenière & Pai Gallery creates sculptures of cast bronze, glass, copper and stone. He won the coveted 2006 Sadye Bronfman Award of $25,000 and has completed a number of prominent public commissions. Then Jay Macdonell of the Montreal Option Art gallery creates art glass, which explores botanical imagery in fluid, graceful forms.  He has won important artist residencies at the Museum of Glass, Tacoma, Washington, the Bay Area Glass Institute and others.  To learn more and meet Canada’s most important artists, attend the panel Snow-not the only cool stuff that comes from Canada panel moderated by Franklin Silverstone, founder and CEO of Collectify Software as well as curator to the renowned Charles and Stephen Bronfman collections on Saturday, 1 pm. Also Galerie Elena Lee of Montreal artist Susan Edgerley will lecture on her large-scale glass wall sculptures at 3 p.m.

	Mark Lindquist rakovaBRECKERgallery Dania Beach, FL

In celebrating wood, considered the most organic of all materials, SOFA CHICAGO spotlights an in-depth special exhibition, A Perfect Marriage: Wood and Color.  Sponsored by the national organization Collectors of Wood Art, this groundbreaking exhibition is curated by Paul W. Richelson, Mobile Museum of Art assistant director.  “A new generation of artists like Binh Pho are injecting their wood creations with vivid color by paint, dye, and even gold leaf,” says Richelson, referring to the del Mano Gallery artist.  A total of 23 artists are showcased and each is represented in major museums ranging from the Detroit Institute of Art to the Museums of Fine Arts in Boston, Houston and San Francisco, to name just a few.  This new artistry in wood which extends far beyond vessels to furniture like that of Leo Kaplan Modern designer Jay Stanger, all of which is further addressed in the panel Enhancing Nature: Wood and Color, Friday, 4pm, moderated by Richelson.  Panel members include Gretchen Keyworth, Fuller Craft Museum director and chief curator as well as five key wood artists: Roger Bennett, Craig Nutt, Ron Fleming, Binh Pho and Jay Stanger.  “No where else but at SOFA CHICAGO can you see the range of Jay Stanger’s new work, hear him explain his technique and meet him,” says Scott Jacobson. Then Terry Martin and Kevin Masters, authors of the critically acclaimed book on wood artists speak on their book “New Masters of Woodturning” and detail specific renowned artists and how to assess both developments and artists on Saturday at 10 am. And don’t miss Contemporary Wood Sculpture: Revenge of the Icons, featuring Mark Lindquist and David Ellsworth (both represented by rakovaBRECKERgallery) on Saturday, 12:30 pm. With an educational outreach program like this, collecting wood just got a whole lot easier.

	Aleksandra Stoyanov  browngotta arts Wilton, CT

Fiber art at the highest levels is featured at SOFA CHICAGO. Take the Philadelphia Snyderman-Works Galleries artist Lanny Bergner known for his artistically coiled, frayed, twisted, glued and knotted constructions of industrial wire mesh, which have racked up awards internationally.  Now his work is on exhibition at the Bellevue Arts Museum.  Then Snyderman-Work’s fiber artist and jeweler Joyce J. Scott has been honored with a national museum-touring exhibition originated by the Baltimore Museum of Art. With that kind of recognition, fiber art has been rising in value.  Bruce Hoffman of the Snyderman galleries cites artist Karin Birch and her work, which has gone from $1,500 to $13,500 in just over five years.  On view with the Connecticut based browngrotta arts gallery is the latest fiber art by the Ukrainian born Aleksandra Stoyanov, who turns to political commentary as a focus point for her haunting images in wool and sisal.  Her work has received international recognition. To gain a greater appreciation of fiber artists take in the Fiber Forum I panel of five artists including Lanny Bergner on Friday at 9 am; and Fiber Forum II with a different grouping of five fiber artists at 10:30 am, both presented by the national collector group, Friends of Fiber Arts International.