If you're in Chicago this week, you havta go to the Navy Pier for SOFA Chicago 2008! No, it's not a furniture show, silly, it's pretty much the coolest fine art sculpture show in the world. Yes, it's uber posh on opening night, but the following day, until closing, is relaxed-I-don't-really-have-a-hangover, intensely-trying-to-look-casual-like-I-don't-really-care art collecting.SOFA is the acronym for the Sculpture, Object, and Functional Art exhibition that has been taking place annually for the last 15 years in Chicago. It has a sister show in New York, but this is the one to go to. Lately, a lot of glass sculpture has been the rage (for about the last 15 years!), so, yes, there is a ton of glass sculpture ... and goddammit, it's pretty amazing stuff! Artists and collectors from all over the world come to sniff out the goods - from Argentina, Denmark, Paris, Tokyo, even the wilds of Manhattan and San Francisco!
Why? Well, artworks by such sculpture legends as Bill Morris, Dale Chihuly, David Gilhooly, and Lino Tagliapietra are amongst the attractions. Fabulously lofty works by exciting emerging artists, are the real lure, with newly developed conceptual sculptures in a variety of mediums ranging from glass (natch) to gold to ceramic and thread. Huh? Yes, must see! November 6-9, 2008.
