SOFA NEW YORK 2005:
MATERIALITY, VIRTUOSITY AND MEANING
Eighth Annual International Exposition of Sculpture Objects & Functional Art
Seventh Regiment Armory - Park Avenue and 67th
Thursday, June 2—Sunday, June 5
Opening Night Benefit for Museum of Arts and Design: Wednesday, June 1

SOFA NEW YORK 2004 Opening Night.

CHICAGO, MAY 2, 2005. The 8th annual SOFA NEW YORK 2005, June 2 - 5 at the prestigious Seventh Regiment Armory on Park Avenue, will assemble fifty-four of the world’s finest galleries and dealers presenting masterworks bridging the decorative and fine arts in a synergy of materiality, virtuosity and meaning. The Opening Night Preview Gala, 5 – 10 pm, June 1 at the Armory, will again benefit the Museum of Arts and Design, New York. The acclaimed SOFA Lecture Series featuring internationally renowned artists, collectors and arts professionals, and two Special Exhibits are complimentary with admission. VIEW LECTURE SERIES SCHEDULE.

Visitors to SOFA NEW YORK 2004 enjoy a terracotta wall sculpture by Paul Day, at Garth Clark Gallery, New York, NY

Mark Lyman, President and Founder of SOFA NEW YORK and its sister show, SOFA CHICAGO, said, “Many of the artworks at SOFA are outstanding material expressions, created with a virtuosity of process. And as with all serious art, they are often self-reflexive and rich with allusive meaning.”

At SOFA NY 2004 Opening Night, Susan Chin (far right), Deputy Commissioner for Capital Projects for New York Ciy’s Department of Cultural Affairs presented a Proclamation from Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg officially designating Contemporary Decorative Arts Week 2004 in NYC. From left, Holly Hotchner, Director, MAD; Mark Lyman; Nanette Laitman, President, MAD Board of Governors; Barbara Tober, Chairman, MAD Board of Governors.

The Opening Night Gala Preview, 5 – 10 pm, June 1 at the Armory, will again benefit the Museum of Arts and Design (MAD), New York. Lyman continued, “We are very pleased that SOFA NEW YORK 2005 Opening Night will benefit the Museum of Arts and Design for the 8th straight year, and officially kick off the Fourth Annual Contemporary Decorative Arts Week: Bringing Art to Life, a city-wide celebration of New York’s vibrant contemporary arts and design scene. MAD’s leadership role in promoting the value of materials and mastery of process in contemporary arts is unparalleled.” DOWNLOAD OPENING NIGHT GALA RESERVATION FORM

Two Special Exhibits at SOFA NEW YORK 2005 spotlight international artworks bridging the decorative and fine arts.

de Amaral, Olga ESTELAS, detail view # 1 and # 2 Presented by Bellas Artes/Thea Burger,Santa Fe, NM and New York, NY, in cooperation with the Museum of Arts & Design, New York, NY	• Bellas Artes/Thea Burger of Santa Fe, NM and New York, NY, in cooperation with the Museum of Arts and Design, New York, NY, presents a Special Exhibit entitled Estelas by Colombian textile master, Olga de Amaral, about whom Janet Koplos wrote in Art in America: “Olga de Amaral is one of the textile artists who in the '60s turned tapestry from flat imagery imitative of painting to an abstraction emphasizing structure and materials.”
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Chang, Peter; British, born 1944 Bracelet, 1991 Acrylic, gold leaf, resin, and PVC Photo: Thomas R. DuBrock The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; Helen Williams Drutt Collection	• The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, in cooperation with Helen Drutt: Philadelphia presents a Special Exhibit at SOFA NEW YORK of artworks from the Museum’s acclaimed decorative arts collection, including works from the newly acquired Helen Williams Drutt Collection of modern and contemporary jewelry, featuring many one-of-a-kind pieces that redefined the concept of jewelry.

Thirteen SOFA NEW YORK 2005 Lecture Series presentations take place in the Tiffany Room at the Seventh Regiment Armory from Thursday, June 2 – Saturday, June 4. Complimentary with admission (except where otherwise noted), speakers in the Lecture Series include:

• Norma Minkowitz, internationally renowned for her mysterious fiber structures—ethereal explorations of the body and other organic forms—that reflect her belief in "art unified by process, but freed from traditional use of materials". Minkowitz' work is in numerous collections including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Represented by Bellas Artes/Thea Burger, Santa Fe, NM and New York, NY.	Minkowitz, Norma Inhale/Exhale, 2004 Mixed media 14 x 16 x 12.5" Bellas Artes/Thea Burger, Sante Fe, NM & New York, NY
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• Contemporary Japanese sculpture artist Sakiyama Takayuki, winner of the prestigious Emperor's Cup (top award) at the 2005 Nihon Togei Ten (2005 Japan Ceramics Exhibition), whose art was acquired in 2004 by the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York for its permanent collection. Represented by Joan B. Mirviss Ltd., NY, NY.	Sakiyama, Takayuki (b. 1958) Globular vase with spiraling design sand and orange glaze, 2004 Stoneware 13 x 16.5” Joan B. Mirviss, Ltd., New York, NY
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• Jack Lenor Larsen, President, LongHouse Reserve, East Hampton, NY and internationally known textile designer, author, and collector, will honor the late art critic Rose Slivka for her seminal critical discourse on the essential nature of the pure object.	Slivka, Rose
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• Key principals and artists discuss The Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America, a five-year program of The Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution to record and transcribe 100 oral history interviews with key figures in the craft and decorative arts field.	Bacerra, Ralph Sketch of Shoji Hamada at a Hamada Workshop at the University of Southern California, September 1963 Collected Ralph Bacerra Papers, 1959-2003 The Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America, Smithsonian Institution
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• Design expert Lily Kane will examine how the current lexicon of art and craft in the United States has been shaped by the role of craft in the decorative arts of the 20th century, and what the word “craft” means in the 21st century marketplace. Organized by The Bard Graduate Center for Studies in the Decorative Arts, Design, and Culture to complement its exhibition Cherished Possessions: A New England Legacy, on view during SOFA NEW YORK. Advance registration required.	Jane Adlin (left), Assistant Curator, Department of Modern Art, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, leading tour of SOFA NEW YORK 2004, sponsored by Bard Graduate Center.

While many of the artworks at SOFA NEW YORK 2005 reference rich artisan traditions, they are strong in contemporary formal qualities and creative expression—a unique synergy of materiality, virtuosity and meaning.