SOFA - Sculpture Objects and Functional Art Expositions: Chicago, New York and Santa Fe

SOFA WEST: Santa Fe 2010 Outstanding Dealer Presentations

If the artworks presented by the 28 premier galleries and dealers at the second annual SOFA WEST are about one thing, they are about freedom of expression. While many reference traditional artisan materials and methods, the works on offer reach for new heights of artistic vision and innovative, technical virtuosity. And like contemporary fine art, many are enlivened by sophisticated intellectual content. Maestros and masterworks at the fair include:


	Lino Tagliapietra Holsten Galleries

Lino Tagliapietra
Seattle Sunset, 2008
Holsten Galleries

The "master" of a new expressionism born of rich artisan traditions is Lino Tagliapietra, represented by renowned private dealer and consultant Kenn Holsten of Holsten Galleries, Santa Fe. Much honored by the world of studio glass, Tagliapietra has received numerous awards and his work is in the permanent collections of major world museums including The Victoria & Albert Museum, London, and Musee des Arts Decoratif, Paris. Achieving the coveted status of Maestro at age 25, Tagliapietra worked in association with several of the best known Muranese glass factories before coming to America in 1975 to share his knowledge with such acclaimed artists as Dale Chihuly (represented at SOFA WEST by Donna Schneier Fine Arts, Palm Beach, FL) and Dan Dailey (Scott Jacobson Gallery, New York), who in turn inspired Tagliapietra to create his own highly acclaimed glass oeuvre. Kenn Holsten says, "I am extremely proud to be presenting a one-person show of the glass sculpture of Maestro Lino Tagliapietra. It is not an overstatement to say that Lino is the world's greatest glassblower." Lino Tagliapietra will attend SOFA WEST.


Laura de Santillana David Richard Contemporary

Laura de Santillana
Light Violet Bodhi, 2008
David Richard Contemporary

Like Tagliapietra, blowing glass is also second nature for Laura de Santillana as her grandfather, Paolo Venini, was founder of the famed Venini glassworks in Murano, Italy, which was later headed by de Santillana and her father. De Santillana's abstract sculptures and vessel forms glow with subtle oppositions of brilliant versus muted tones, translucency versus opacity, materiality versus immateriality, setting up a tension between painting and sculpture. De Santillana is presently enjoying a travelling museum retrospective and is represented by David Richard Contemporary, new both to Santa Fe and SOFA WEST.


	Akiyama Yo Joan B. Mirviss, Ltd.

Akiyama Yo
Wheel thrown rectangular sculpture with blade-like top, 1995
Joan B. Mirviss, Ltd.

A tension between the old and the new can also be seen in the conceptual ceramic art of Japanese artist, Akiyama Yo, represented by Manhattan's Joan B. Mirviss, Ltd., long-time SOFA exhibitor in New York, but new to SOFA WEST. Widely considered to be one of the greatest ceramic artists living today, Akiyama was a member of the extremely influential Kyoto avant-garde group Sodeisha, which eschewed traditional Japanese ceramic functionalism in favor of modernist sculpture and contemporary abstraction. Mirviss says, "Akiyama's work is created with the theme of disintegration in nature and how life returns to clay. He flaunts the limitations of his medium as he seeks to expose the very nature of clay in his bold, expressive, inverted forms. Evocative of the natural and transformational course of geological processes, even his smaller scale sculptures convey a sense of monumentality and timelessness." His works are featured in countless museums around the world including national collections in Japan and prestigious museums in the US and Europe.


Martin Cary Horowitz Linda Durham Contemporary Art

Martin Cary Horowitz
Glass Pillows 3 x 4, 2009
Linda Durham Contemporary Art

Some artists at SOFA rediscover ancient artisan techniques like Santa Fe artist Martin Horowitz, represented by new SOFA WEST gallery Linda Durham Contemporary Art, Santa Fe, who uses gold as medium and palette for his wall reliefs, gold "paintings" and recent glass sculpture. Traditionally trained in the Renaissance water gilding process, Horowitz has translated this age-old artistic technique into the contemporary minimalist language of form, creating beautiful golden pieces vibrant with their own internal energy, that subtly reflect external movement and color. Horowitz is also known for his pop-art inspired, large-scale 6-foot Golden Grenade and gilded missiles that seem, ironically, too precious to destroy.


	Diego Romero CLARK+DEL VECCHIO

Diego Romero
Siege of Santa Fe, 2009
CLARK + DEL VECCHIO

Native ceramic artist Diego Romero, represented by CLARK + DEL VECCHIO, Santa Fe, also boldly takes tradition into his own thoroughly contemporary hands. Traditional Cochiti Pueblo earthenware pots become canvasses for Romero's painted images drawn from ancient Greek vessels and other cultures, including his Native Chongo character, whose heroes and values match those of the Native American. Garth Clark says, "Diego is one of a handful of potters, the so-called Free Spirit potters, whose work takes on pueblo reality instead of the sentimentalized revival ware that dominates the Native art market." Romero uses humorous, tongue-in-cheek satire to convey the message of his peoples' struggle--a little sugar on a bitter pill, which makes it easier to swallow and ironically--more deeply digested by both contemporary Native and non-Native audiences. Diego Romero will attend SOFA WEST.


Yasuhisa Kohyama browngrotta arts, Wilton CT

Yasuhisa Kohyama
SAI
browngrotta arts, Wilton, CT

Another artist who explores the tension between contemporary expression and ancient processes is Japanese ceramicist, Yasuhisa Kohyama, a renowned Shigaraki artist represented by new SOFA WEST gallery, browngrotta arts, Wilton, CT. Kohyama first gained widespread attention in Japan in the 60s when he built one of the first anagama kilns since medieval times-wood-fired kilns filled with swirling ashes that impart rough textures and muted, earthy tones to vessels and sculptures, popularized in the U.S. by Peter Voulkos (Donna Schneier Fine Arts, Palm Beach, FL). The Tokyo exhibition of works from the first firing of the Kohyama's anagama created widespread interest in his work, with famous potters such as Shoji Hamada visiting the exhibition. Collectors and museums were quick to acquire his works, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Cleveland Museum of Art, and the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Yasuhisa Kohyama will attend SOFA WEST.


	Howard Ben Tré Habatat Galleries

Howard Ben Tré
The Lightness of Being, 2010
Habatat Galleries

Some artists push traditional artisan techniques to the extreme. For example, Howard Ben Tré (Habatat Galleries, Royal Oak, MI) in the United States is often ranked with Stanislav Libensky and Jaroslava Brychtova in Czechoslovakia as seminal in the creation of large-scale, mould-melted glass sculpture. Like Constantin Brancusi and Isamu Noguchi, Ben Tré's primary interest is in architectural forms, particularly spires, minarets and obelisks. Ferdinand Hampson of Habatat Galleries says Ben Tré's works are "a profound mix of power and elegance...he is a legend among artists that work with glass and his sculpture has been acquired by over 85 public collections throughout the world, including most of the prominent museums in the U.S. In size, concept, and recognition, Howard Ben Tré has made glass acceptable to the fine art world."


Richard Jolley Scott Jacobson Gallery

Richard Jolley
Elemental #1, 2008
Scott Jacobson Gallery

Richard Jolley (Scott Jacobson Gallery, New York) is widely known for his innovative and signature modeling of hot glass with a propane torch. "It's always a matter of pushing the boundaries, of stretching the limits." explains Jolley. "The ideal is to transcend technology with the statement, to move beyond the materials and the process." By melting colored canes of glass and applying them to monochromatic glass pieces, Jolley creates large-scale, fluid figurative sculptures. He is represented in many public collections, including the Los Angeles County Museum of Modern Art, Los Angeles, CA; and Renwick Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. The Knoxville Museum of Art has recently commissioned Jolley, a longtime Knoxville resident, to create a permanent installation in glass and metal for the walls of the museum's Great Hall. Richard Jolley will attend SOFA WEST.


	Klaus Moje Bullseye Gallery

	Richard Marquis Bullseye Gallery

Klaus Moje
Borders 3, 2010
Bullseye Gallery (Left)

Richard Marquis
Duck Toy Pistol 08-3, 2008
Bullseye Gallery (Right)

Klaus Moje (Bullseye Gallery, Portland, OR) the "father of the Australian glass movement," explores the expressive and technical possibilities of the age-old process of kiln-formed glass in his colorful, abstract geometrical forms and panels. Klaus is the founder of Australia's premier center for glass art, the Glass Workshop at the Canberra School of Art, and is widely represented in museum collections and retrospectives in Europe, Australia, Japan and the U.S. Moje will attend SOFA WEST, make a Lecture Series presentation, and participate in an In-booth talk at the fair. He will also be the honored guest at SOFA WEST Celebrates at the Santa Fe Opera on Thursday July 8, an evening of food, wine and song (a few tickets still available!). Bullseye Gallery also presents new works by Richard Marquis, "master of murrine" glass-an ancient artisan technique taking back to Egyptian times-whose witty, conceptual works share much with postmodern object art.


Carol Shinn Jane Sauer Gallery

Carol Shinn
Chimney Rock, 2010
Jane Sauer Gallery

Another artist challenging boundaries between the fine and applied arts is Carol Shinn, whose extraordinary machine stitched "canvases" will be represented by Jane Sauer Gallery, Santa Fe. Jane Sauer explains, "Using marks made by thin sewing machine threads as a paint brush, Shinn explores an uncanny range of colors layered one over another. Most recently the Denver Art Museum purchased Mud, a micro view of organic shapes and colors in drying mud. For SOFA WEST, Shinn pushed the limits of this medium by creating a 43" long view of a favorite New Mexican vista Chimney Rock, which brings the viewer to the edge of this grand and astonishing accomplishment of nature." Carol Shinn will attend SOFA WEST, make a Lecture Series presentation, and sign her new book, Freestyle Machine Embroidery (see In-booth Talks).


	Jin Morigama TAI Gallery

Jin Morigami
Dream II, 2009
TAI Gallery

TAI Gallery, Santa Fe, will represent one of the most artistically giftedof the younger generation of Japanese bamboo artists, Jin Morigami , who will attend SOFA WEST, presenting on-going demonstrations of bamboo art making, including preparing the bamboo, splitting, platting and other construction techniques. Attesting to his premier artistry, The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York recently acquired two of Morigam''s baskets, and his pieces are in many major museum collections. Gallery owner Rob Coffland reports Morigami is presently working on a series of topography-themed sculpture made in a style of hexagonal plaiting that is a radical departure from the traditional.


Toots Zynsky David Richard Contemporary

Toots Zynsky
Buongrado, 2010
David Richard Contemporary

David Richard Contemporary, Santa Fe will also showcase colorful freeform vessels by Toots Zynsky, known internationally for her innovative and distinctive "filet de verre" technique of fusing and thermoforming color glass threads. Zynsky was the first contemporary glass artist to have work directly commissioned by the Museum of Modern Art, New York in 1985, and was among the founding artists of Philchuck Glass School and UrbanGlass. Her works can be found in many other of the world's major museums and private collections including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; Hokkaido Museum of Modern Art, Sapporo, Japan; and Museé des Arts Décoratifs du Louvre, Paris. Toots Zynsky will attend SOFA WEST.


	Kenneth Johnson SWAIA @ SOFA

Kenneth Johnson
Lightning Bear Claw Necklace, 2010
SWAIA @ SOFA

On the cutting edge of both traditional processes and forms are four Native American jewelers represented in the Southwestern Alliance of Indian Arts (SWAIA)@ SOFA booth-Robin Waynee, Kenneth Johnson, Pat Pruitt, and Cody Sanderson. Bruce Bernstein, Director of SWAIA, producer of the famous International Indian Market in Santa Fe, said, "First and foremost these are four supremely talented artists, whose work is aesthetically stunning and emancipating-stunning because the work fits everyone and anywhere, and emancipating because they're clanging down boundaries and setting horizons so far off in the distance we have yet to stumble upon them. Their artistic vision is sharp and unflinching, and their craftsmanship impeccable. Their jewelry is as Southwest as chollo cactus, but as American as a New York skyscraper." All four artists will attend SOFA WEST and participate in a Lecture Series panel discussion.


Jan Huling Lyons Weir Gallery

Jan Huling
Buddha's Urn, 2010
Lyons Weir Gallery

And last but not least deserving of special mention is Jan Huling, represented by new SOFA WEST exhibitor Lyons Weir Gallery, New York. Huling employs an ancient artisan method, in this case, seed beading, to create three-dimensional collages of found objects with intricate surface design, sometimes touching on narrative themes. Continually fascinated with indigenous and popular culture and world religions, Huling juxtaposes cultural icons with an eclectic assortment of objects, challenging the viewer to consider them in an altered context. Inspired by a recent trip to India, Huling's recent work combines western graffiti culture with classic eastern spirituality. Jan Huling will attend SOFA and will give an In-booth talk at the fair.

Visit Live Updates at www.sofaexpo.com during the show to view images from the fair and artwork sold!

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