S.O.F.A. 2008

Rudy Autio (1926-2007)


This is my third year of blogging about the Chicago S.O.F.A. show
-- and I'm feeling a bit frustrated.

The problem is the figurative art.


There's always plenty of it,
but it's always plenty bad.

There's only a few artists that I like,
it's often the same ones
I've seen before,
and most many them,
like Rudy Autio,
are very old and/or dead.





Keld Moseholm (b. 1936, Denmark)

I was happy to discover this guy on this trip,
Denmark has a great 20th C. figurative tradition.

This piece is more like joke-art,
but I found some really nice things
over on his website


Is there some reason that
good figurative sculpture
has to be jokey
if it's going to be considered
decorative?




Lindsey De Ovies

And here's an even funnier joke.
(how appropriate that I'm
writing this post on Thanksgiving day)






Rusty Wolfe



This was the only painting
that interested me on this trip,
I guess because I've recently been collecting
images of geo-form paintings.

Apparently this self-taught guy has some sort of
mechanical process to generate all these lines.

I find the results
to be as enjoyable
as any of the other
geo-form paintings that I've found.




Lucie Rie (1902-1995)

and at last we get to the potters.

This older generation
showed a little more restraint
(and much better taste)
than my more exuberant contemporaries




Ewen Henderson (1934-2000)

And here's another one
that shows the same
restraint

















Jeff Shapiro (b. 1949)


But I like this guy,
maybe because
nothing appeals to me more
than a bubbling hot
cheesy pizza!

It's almost pornographic
(especially if you're hungry)






Shigemasa Higashida


This fellow is mentioned on the
previous potter's website,
so I'm thinking he's a friend and/or mentor






Shigemasa Higashida

I often see this kind of work
in the Ando Gallery at the Art Institute,
so I guess it's characteristic
of contemporary high-art Japanese ceramics.

(and it's wonderful to look at)






Hiroshi Yamano (b. 1956)

Moving on to the glass
(and there's always plenty of glass)

I liked this fish specialist.












Emily Brock


and I especially like her.
(I showed her work last year as well)

She was my favorite figure sculptor at the show.
(but these things must be a nightmare to keep dust-free)




Jong Pil Pyun


Closing out with an especially whimsical piece
(in a Korean kind of way)