Well-qualified Crowds Discover 2nd SOFA WEST
Dealers and galleries at the second annual SOFA WEST: Santa Fe 2010 held July 8-11 at the Santa Fe Convention Center reported steady sales, most to new clients from all over the United States. Overall fair attendance climbed to 12,000 from 10,000 persons last year. An estimated 1800 persons attended Opening Night on July 7, which was a special member preview for the prestigious Museum of New Mexico Foundation and SOFA VIPs.
Renowned specialist in contemporary Japanese art, Joan B. Mirviss, Ltd. of Manhattan, New York, new to SOFA WEST this year, says, “I’m thrilled at the level of aesthetic sophistication” of attendees, which she noted was on a par with collectors at New York’s venerable Asian Art Fair. Mirviss continues, “Even those who had never seen this work before, knew what they were looking at and some audibly gasped.” Mirviss reported steady sales—most to new clients—and that collector attendance at the fair “from both Coasts” was very strong. By 7:30 pm Opening Night she had decided she would return as an exhibitor next year.
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by Brook S. Mason
While the Chelsea art world grinds to a halt and New York City swelters in 90-degree heat, the Santa Fe art district in marked contrast is surprisingly buoyant. A total of 250 galleries line the streets of the New Mexico state capital, and empty shop fronts are few...
"All were new clients -- the level of sophistication is high here and by 7:30 of opening night, I decided to sign up for next year," says Mirviss. Pounced on immediately were a 1991 Suzuki Osamu sculptural object drenched in a fiery red glaze, and a Wada Morihiro vessel. The Wada with its textile references, from its kimono shape to design patterns, was snapped up by a collector who sits on the board of two East Coast museums, reports Mirviss.
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Akiyama Yo
A tension between the old and the new can also be seen in the conceptual ceramic art of Japanese artist, Akiyama Yo, represented by Manhattan's Joan B Mirviss, Ltd., long-time SOFA exhibitor in New York, but new to SOFA WEST. Widely considered to be one of the greatest ceramic artists living today, Akiyama was a member of the extremely influential Kyoto avant-garde group Sodeisha, which eschewed traditional Japanese ceramic functionalism in favor of modernist sculpture and contemporary abstraction. Mirviss says, "Akiyama's work is created with the theme of disintegration in nautre and how life returns to clay. He flaunts the limitations of his medium as he seeks to expose the very nature of clay in his bold, expressive, inverted forms. Evocative of the natural and transformational course of geological processes, even his smaller scale sculptures convey a sense of monumentality and timelessness." His works are features in countless museums around the world including national collections in Japan and prestigious museums in the US and Europe.
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Summer in Santa Fe
Fair City:
Santa Fe gears up for summer, its busiest season, with a packed schedule of art fairs and associated events.
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www.whomyouknow.com
The Joan B. Mirviss Ltd. booth at SOFA NEW YORK 2010
Even opening the fair on tax day did not scare off buyers. A stunning case in point—Joan Mirviss of Joan B. Mirviss Ltd., New York sold 23 pieces by the celebrated Japanese ceramicist Koike Shoko within 30 minutes of the show's opening. "Opening night was very strong," said Mirviss. "In addition to SOFA's regular clients, there were many new faces who expressed serious and knowledgeable interest in what we presented. I could have sold my show twice and some pieces 2 or 3 times. It's the best SOFA I've had thus far."
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artinfo.com
The opening of this week's Sculpture Objects and Functional Art Fair (SOFA) packed the Park Avenue Armory with dealers, collectors, and contemporary design and decorative art by some of the world's most esteemed craftspeople. With a buoyant crowd of 2,500 — a full 300 more than last year's record-breaking turnout — the aisles teemed with booths manned by 58 dealers from 11 countries, who will be selling their wares through this Monday.
New York dealer Joan Mirviss brought 23 pieces of Japanese ceramics by Koike Shoko, one of the leading female ceramicists to come out of postwar Japan, known for her shell-inspired spiral clay forms. Within a half hour of the show's opening, 22 of them had been sold.
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'Idiosyncratic Fashionistas,' Majestic Vessels, Unwieldy Jewels at SOFA's Opening Night
by Lyn Hsieh
After the tremendous upsurge in interest in contemporary art in 2006-2008, and the market doldrums of 2009, this year’s Asia Week has repositioned itself and was jointly organized by the Asia Society and the Asian Art Dealers of New York (AADNY).
AADNY hosted a reception at the Rubin Museum of Art on March 19, heralding the
official start of Asian Art Week.
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artdaily.org
NEW YORK, NY.- The Asian Art Dealers New York (AADNY) will launch Asia Week New York with thirty special exhibitions opening concurrently at galleries throughout Manhattan, commencing on March 20-21, 2010. This is the first time a group of dealers, acting as a unified entity, has staged an event of this magnitude. International dealers will travel to New York from England, France, Italy and Japan to join their American colleagues in presenting rare works of art to collectors, curators, and scholars who converge here annually for Asia Week New York to see the very best on offer.
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http://www.artdaily.org/index.asp?int_sec=2&int_new=36251
Style Compass with Paul Vincent Wiseman
http://www.1stdibs.com/articles/style_compass/paul_wiseman/index.php
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Surimono: The Art of Allusion in Japanese Prints
Museum of East Asian Art (Museum für Ostasiatische Kunst)
Universitätsstraße 100, D-50674,
Cologne, Germany
Oct 31, 2009 To Jan 10, 2010
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March 13, 2009: As a highlight of Asia Week in New York, we spoke with Joan B. Mirviss, a veteran dealer who specializes in Japanese painting, woodblock prints, and contemporary ceramics. Mirviss discusses the market, the Haughtons, and Kawase Shinobu, the ceramics artist whose work is currently on view at her gallery.
www.themagazineantiques.com - View Article
December 12, 2008 - April 13, 2009
Surimono: Poetic Allusion in Japanese Prints
Museum Rietberg Zürich
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