SOFA Chicago

We visited the 19th annual SOFA Chicago (Sculpture Objects, Functional Art + Design Fair) at Navy Pier the first weekend in November. The exposition of contemporary and modern art and design featured nearly 70 artists, galleries and dealers. There were aisles upon aisles of high-end art, sculpture and furniture. It gave us a chance to see what will be “vintage” art and collectibles 50 years from now.

A lot of the displays involved repurposed materials, images of vintage Americana and popular consumer brands, and artistic representations of natural elements like flowers, branches, wheat, water and light made out of glass, metals, pottery or wood.

The pair of chairs pictured brings to mind an antique tête-à-tête, while the “memory coat” is like a memory jug—a piece of pottery covered with all sorts of everyday objects. The shovel bench is actually made of an old slab of wood and used shovel handles, and the newspaper outfits look like papier-mâché sculptures. Cracker Jack has been around since the 1890s, and its packaging and prizes are icons today. Both Cracker Jack and Lego blocks, first made in the 1930s, were inspirations for artists at the expo.

There was great Internet and cell-phone reception, probably because the displays depended on computer technology and the artists and designers used mobile devices to show off their work. Many of the vendors handed out elaborate packets, magazines and booklets designed and published just for SOFA Chicago.

Captions:
2.
Highland Love Seat, steam-bent oak, made using ancient and modern techniques, Angus Ross, Craft Scotland, United Kingdom, $5,760 each.

3.
Spiritual Love Memory Coat, crocheted metal, vintage pins and mixed media, Donna Rosenthal, 11 1/2 by 16 by 2 in., $3,000. Rosenthal was offering other “memory coats” as well, one decorated with gold rose pins and another with multicolored butterflies.

4.
He Said … She Said, mixed media including newspaper comics pages, Donna Rosenthal, each 13 by 22 by 10 in., 2012, $3,800 for the pair. There were several of these, some made of road maps, some of newspapers.

6.
21 and Over, wood and “found” shovel handles, Tom Loeser, 2012. This bench was featured on the cover of the October–November 2012 American Craft magazine, which featured winners of the 2012 American Craft Council Awards. Loeser said he’s interested in the ways people are repurposing materials.

7.
Cracker Jack, fused, slumped, silk-screened and torch-worked glass, Tamara Coatsworth, 7 3/4 by 3 by 1 1/4 in., $1,000. This looks very realistic.

8.
Mega/Multi Necklace, frozen kiln-cast glass, Dena Pengas, UrbanGlass, Brooklyn, N.Y. The glass pieces resemble Lego blocks.

11.
Spring Dawn Kimono, one of a series representing the four seasons, made of 19 pieces of woven glass supported by a metal mannequin, 2012, 125 lbs., 5 1/2 ft. h., arm span 4 ft., 2012, $125,000. This piece sold while we were at the show.