Sculpture Objects & Functional Art Fair (SOFA) starts Thursday

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My mother always says, “Looking at beautiful things is my drug.”  So if you too get high on beauty, then prepare to get your SOFA on.  I have worked through a dozen press releases to cover some basics, bring you my personal picks, and extra info for the hard-core art crowd, as this is not your Aunt Gertie’s vase show.

Click on the images to supersize them. It’s fun.

Basics:

Sculpture Objects & Functional Art Fair – Navy Pier’s Festival Hall (600 E. Grand Avenue)
Nov. 6 – 8

Opening Hours:

2009 Opening Night Preview Gala – Thursday evening, Nov. 5.

First Choice Preview: 5 – 7 p.m. (by invitation only)

Public Preview: 7 – 9 p.m. – $50 tickets are available online in advance, or at the door beginning at 6:00 p.m. Weekend hours:

Friday, Nov. 6
Saturday, Nov. 7 from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m., and
Sunday, Nov. 8 from noon to 6 p.m.

Tickets are $15 for single day general admission and $25 for a three-day pass. Discounted student, senior and group tickets are available. Purchase at door or online.

Admission Price Includes:
68 International galleries
5 special exhibits
33 lecture series presentations,

NEW:

SOLO at SOFA, a special section of the show floor featuring installations by cutting-edge artists outside of the more
formal structure of the representing gallery’s exhibit booth.

Fancy Events for the public:

Fundraising dinner in honor of the late Sam Maloof (LINK) – 8:30 pm on the SOFA CHICAGO show
floor.

Arts Club of Chicago – Watershed Center for the Ceramic Arts of Newcastle, ME -  celebration of legendary ceramic artists Ruth Duckworth, Jim Melchert, Don Reitz and Toshiko Takaezu. Friday, Nov. 6, 7- 10 pm at the Arts Club of Chicago, 201 East Ontario Street.

Designers Breakfast. Guided by SOFA’s prestigious Designers Committee, designers and their clients may enjoy a champagne breakfast and an exclusive preview of the Fair before it opens to the general public on Friday morning, Nov. 6.

COOL STUFF:

BIGG: Breakthrough Ideas in Global Glass
40 international artists for this innovative exhibition, on view at SOFA CHICAGO 2009. The exhibit originated at Ohio State University’s Urban Arts Space and Hawk Galleries in Columbus, OH. More information at http://uas.osu.edu/bigg

Lecture about it – 4:00 – 5:30 pm Identifying Breakthrough Ideas in Global Glass
Room 327 Organizers and jurors of the exhibit discuss how they selected the artists.

(I insist you click on this picture)

My picks – lectures

4:00 – 5:00 pm LEGENDS: What Makes Them Great?
Room 324
Janet Koplos – editor of Art In America- talks about the work of Ruth Duckworth, Jim Melchert, Don Reitz and Toshiko Takaezu in terms of our time, as well as the context of their emergence and mastery in the ceramic arts.

9:30 – 11:00 am Curatorial Conundrums: From Collection to Exhibition
Room 324
Contemporary art jewelry often requires touch to be understood, an element that can be lost in the transition from private collection to public exhibition. Curator Namita Wiggers, Museum of Contemporary Craft, Portland OR, explores how curators communicate important experiential qualities of art jewelry in a museum setting.

My Tribe:

AIDA’s Gems – Israel’s Jewelers
Founded in 2003, The Association of Israel’s Decorative Arts (AIDA) returns to SOFA CHICAGO with an exhibition titled AIDA’s Gems -
Israel’s Jewelers. featuring art jewelry by former AIDA artists and newcomers.

Local Galleries at SOFA

Ann Nathan Gallery
Jean Albano Gallery
Ken Saunders Gallery
Perimeter Gallery
Pistachios
Portals Ltd.
SABBIA

All photo credits are available here

All information was taken fromSOFA’s  press matrials, except for the stuff that I wrote about my mom.

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