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31/10/2007

Sofa Chicago 2007

Art Chicago, Chicago

14th international exposition of Sculpture Objects and Functional Art

CHICAGO – SOFA CHICAGO 2007, the critically acclaimed international exposition of Sculpture Objects & Functional Art, returns to Navy Pier’s Festival Hall, Nov. 2–4 to present masterworks bridging contemporary design and fine art from 100 international galleries and dealers. 19 are presenting for the first time, joining galleries from 18 countries including the United States, France, Japan, Australia, Hong Kong, Canada, Italy, New Zealand, Israel, England, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Korea, Argentina, Ireland, Switzerland and Turkey.

Galerie Besson, London; Leo Kaplan Modern/Galerie Vee, New York and Hong Kong; Galleri Grønlund and Galleri Udengaard, Denmark; Galerie Pokorná and Galerie Meridan, Czech Republic; Heller Gallery, New York; Holsten Galleries, Stockbridge, MA; Ann Nathan Gallery and Perimeter Gallery, Chicago are among the premier galleries exhibiting artworks at the fair in an atmosphere that provides a platform for interaction between enthusiasts, collectors, curators and artists. SOFA CHICAGO celebrates opening night with a Mise-en-scène Public Preview Thursday, Nov. 1 from 7 to 10 p.m., and is sponsored in part by Chubb Personal Insurance, one of the world's preeminent insurers of fine homes and possessions, and Collectify, a leader in industry-standard collections management and cataloguing software.

This acclaimed art fair also features a Lecture Series of renowned artists, critics and museum curators in 31 presentations, along with seven special exhibits, all complimentary with admission. Special exhibits of exceptional note are Offering Reconciliation, an emotionally moving display of 135 works of art created by prominent Palestinian and Israeli artists on the theme of reconciliation; and Contemporary Furniture at Crab Tree Farm drawn from the rarely seen collection of Chicago philanthropist John H. Bryan. This exhibit features the work of renowned British designer John Makepeace, who will attend SOFA CHICAGO, and two of his former students, Mike Jarvi and Critz Campbell. John H. Bryan is a past chairman of the Board of Trustees of The Art Institute of Chicago and the Chairman of Millennium Park, Inc.

A standout special exhibition entitled Offering Reconciliation was organized by the Parent’s Circle—Families Forum (PCFF) made up of bereaved Palestinian and Israeli families who have all lost family members due to the violence in the region. Offering Reconciliation presents artworks by 135 prominent Palestinian and Israeli painters, sculptors, photographers and poets. Each artist began with identical blank ceramic vessel forms as canvases on which to express his/her interpretation of reconciliation and hope for peace in the region. Utilizing many media, contributors include Israeli furniture designer Ron Arad, Israeli photographer and video artist Michal Rovner and photographer Aliza Olmert, wife of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.

As a finale to the exhibition’s international tour that included the World Bank and United Nations, all 135 artworks in Offering Reconciliation will be auctioned online, with 15 stand-out ones featured in a live auction at SOFA CHICAGO, Nov. 2 at 6:15 p,m. Auction pre-registration is available on sofaexpo.com. On-site registration and a reception begin at 5:30 p.m. All proceeds will support PCFF educational programs in Israeli and Palestinian communities. Offering Reconciliation is sponsored by the Association of Israel’s Decorative Arts (AIDA), which for the fifth straight year, is mounting a curated special exhibit at SOFA of contemporary decorative artwork by artists currently living in Israel.

Collector and philanthropist John. H. Bryan, presents a special exhibit Contemporary Furniture at Crab Tree Farm, featuring the work of renowned British artist John Makepeace and two of his former students, Mike Jarvi and Critz Campbell. Makepeace, who will attend SOFA CHICAGO and co-chair its Designers Breakfast on Nov. 2, is one of the most celebrated contemporary British furniture designers. His commissioned work is showcased in dozens of permanent collections including the Victoria and Albert Museum in London and the Art Institute of Chicago.

SOFA CHICAGO’s Lecture Series features internationally renowned curators, scholars and artists in 31 presentations, and is considered the largest and most distinctive forum at any art fair dedicated to exploring both the works on display and worldwide trends in today’s art scene. Speakers include: Janet Koplos, senior editor, Art in America; Audry Whitty, curator, National Museum of Ireland; Jane Milosch, curator, Renwick Gallery, Smithsonian Institution; Julie Muniz, curatorial research associate, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; Dorit Straus, National Fine Arts Specialist, Chubb Insurance; Heather Becker, CEO, Chicago Conservation Center; and artists Lino Tagliapietra, Gerd Rothmann, Christina Cordova, Tod Pardon, Bernd Munsteiner, Liam Flynn and many others.

In conjunction with Offering Reconciliation, a late-breaking addition to the SOFA CHICAGO line-up are special film screenings of Encounter Point (2006), the award-winning documentary about an Israeli settler, a convicted Palestinian fighter, a bereaved Israeli mother and Palestinian bother who overcome anger and grief to press for a grassroots movement for reconciliation. Encounter Point, directed by Ronit Avni and co-directed by Julia Bacha, features Robi Damelin (Israel), one of the principal organizers of the Offering Reconciliation special exhibit and Ali Abu Awwad (Palestine), fellow member of the Parents Circle—Families Forum; both will speak after film screenings and in the Lecture Series.

Image: Julie York, Compression, 2005

Thursday, November 1 - Opening Night Mise en scène
Invitation Only: 5:00pm - 7:00pm; Public Preview: 7:00pm - 10:00pm
Friday, November 2 11:00am – 8:00 pm
Saturday, November 3 11:00am – 8:00 pm
Sunday, November 4 Noon – 6:00 pm

Art Chicago
Festival Hall on Navy Pier,
600 E. Grand Ave., Chicago

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