The Art Fair Company Presents the 18th Annual SOFA Chicago Show

Written by Wesley Barclay Monday, 31 October 2011 23:48

Chicago, Illinois.- The Art Fair Company, based in Chicago, again presents two art fairs under one roof at Chicago’s historic Navy Pier (600 E. Grand Avenue) from Friday, November 4th through Sunday, November 6th. For the second straight year, SOFA Chicago 2011, the critically acclaimed International Sculpture Objects & Functional Art Fair, will share the Pier’s Festival Hall with The Intuit Show of Folk & Outsider Art. SOFA Chicago, now in its 18th year, enjoys the prestigious position of being the largest and longest continually running art fair in Chicago, a mainstay of the city’s cultural and social calendar. The Chicago Sun-Times hails SOFA Chicago as “amazing,” and Bradley Lincoln of Chicago Home + Garden raves, “This is one of my favorite art shows in Chicago – I guarantee you will see some flashy, jaw dropping works of…genius.” The SOFA Chicago and Intuit Show’s joint Opening Night Preview on Thursday, November 3rd will be open to the public from 7 – 9 p.m. with ticket purchase.

“My original vision for the SOFA fairs was to keep pressing to heighten the visibility of art on the cutting edge of the field,” says Mark Lyman, founding director of SOFA and president of The Art Fair Company. “SOFA has always complemented the artwork on offer with educational programming that reveals the deeper stories behind it.” To this end, SOFA Chicago will again feature special exhibits by renowned museums, universities and arts organizations, as well as an extensive lecture series, all included in the admission price. At SOFA Chicago 2011, Blue Rain Gallery’s exhibition will feature work created jointly by acclaimed artists Preston Singletary and Dante Marioni (who individually have very distinct and differing styles). The two share a longstanding history, having been high school friends - and when they collaborate, the blend of their talents produces something truly exceptional.

For the second year in a row, The Art Fair Company will produce The Intuit Show of Folk & Outsider Art on the same show floor as SOFA CHICAGO, due to the resounding success of 2010’s combined fairs. The Intuit Show runs concurrently with, and alongside SOFA Chicago 2011 in Festival Hall at Navy Pier, and will again be produced in conjunction with Chicago’s seminal non-profit organization, Intuit: The Center for Intuitive and Outsider Art. The Intuit Show will bring together leading dealers and galleries from around the country of self-taught art, outsider art, art brut, ethnographic art, non-traditional folk art and visionary art. All artwork is for sale. Lecture series presentations and special exhibits are also planned for The Intuit Show and, like SOFA CHICAGO’s educational programming, are included with paid admission.

Intuit Show exhibitors confirmed to date include: American Primitive Gallery (New York), The Electric Pencil (New York), Galerie Bonheur (St. Louis, Mo.), Just Folk (Summerland, Calif.), Lindsay Gallery (Columbus, Ohio), Outsider Folk Art Gallery (Reading, Pa.), The Pardee Collection (Iowa City, Iowa), Ricco / Maresca Gallery (New York) and Russell Bowman Art Advisory (Chicago). Admission to The Intuit Show of Folk & Outsider Art is included with purchase of SOFA CHICAGO 2011 general admission; no separate ticket purchase is required. For more information, visit outsiderfolkartfair.com.

Highlights of curated special exhibitions at SOFA Chicago 2011 include: Art Jewelry Forum’s Geography, an exhibit of approximately 80 pieces of jewelry from around the world; Innovations in "Glass and Metal: The Work of Richard Meitner, Jack Wax, and Louis Mueller", three iconic artists exploring abstraction and design through the use of glass, metal, bronze, and steel presented by SOFA. Friends of Fiber Art International will present a special exhibit of works from the collection of Karen Johnson Boyd, a Racine, Wisconsin philanthropist, renowned collector, and recipient of Friends of Fiber Art's first "Extraordinary Friend" Award. The American Association of Woodturners will present "The World Turns: American Association of Woodturners at 25". A celebration of the AAW’s 25th anniversary, the special exhibition consists of works by 25 renowned international artists. Bloomfield Hills, Michigan based Cranbrook Academy of Art will present "Monomater", works executed either in a single material or in ones with similar sensibilities, created by students and alumni of the Cranbrook metalsmithing department over the past five years. Aaron Faber Gallery (New York) will present "Two Generations: The Jewelry of Earl and Tod Pardon", featuring the acclaimed father-son jewelers. The Watershed Center for Ceramic Art will present "Legends: Watershed Artists Honor Artists" featuring four artists whose contributions to the field of ceramic art have influenced two generations of artists, collectors and students. Ceramic works from Val Cushing, Richard Shaw and Patti Warashina will be included, in addition to a collection of ceramic artist photographs by Paul J. Smith.

The Parents Circle – Families Forum, an organization dedicated to spearheading a reconciliation process between Israelis and Palestinians, will present an installation of political cartoons, "Cartooning in Conflict". This special exhibit is curated by Michel Kichka, one of Israel’s most famous cartoonists. The American Craft Council will present "Gold", an exhibition curated by Michael Monroe that features the work of 27 artists who received the ACC Gold Medal from 1994 to 2010. Also returning to SOFA Chicago by popular demand, The Corning Museum of Glass Hot Glass Roadshow presents live demonstrations of hot glass blowing, featuring SOFA-represented artists and master glassblowers. Special exhibits at SOFA CHICAGO include corresponding lectures, and are free with paid admission. Visit the fair's website at ... http://www.sofaexpo.com/chicago/2011

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