NEW YORK.- The 8th annual SOFA NEW YORK 2005, is open June 2 - 5 at the prestigious Seventh Regiment Armory on Park Avenue. It will assemble fifty-four of the world’s finest galleries and dealers presenting masterworks bridging the decorative and fine arts in a synergy of materiality, virtuosity and meaning. The Opening Night Preview Gala again benefited the Museum of Arts and Design, New York. The acclaimed SOFA Lecture Series featuring internationally renowned artists, collectors and arts professionals, and two Special Exhibits are complimentary with admission.

Mark Lyman, President and Founder of SOFA NEW YORK and its sister show, SOFA CHICAGO, said, “Many of the artworks at SOFA are outstanding material expressions, created with a virtuosity of process. And as with all serious art, they are often self-reflexive and rich with allusive meaning.”

The Opening Night Gala Preview at the Armory, again benefited the Museum of Arts and Design (MAD), New York. Lyman continued, “We are very pleased that SOFA NEW YORK 2005 Opening Night will benefit the Museum of Arts and Design for the 8th straight year, and officially kick off the Fourth Annual Contemporary Decorative Arts Week: Bringing Art to Life, a city-wide celebration of New York’s vibrant contemporary arts and design scene. MAD’s leadership role in promoting the value of materials and mastery of process in contemporary arts is unparalleled.”

Two Special Exhibits at SOFA NEW YORK 2005 spotlight international artworks bridging the decorative and fine arts.

Bellas Artes/Thea Burger of Santa Fe, NM and New York, NY, in cooperation with the Museum of Arts and Design, New York, NY, presents a Special Exhibit entitled Estelas by Colombian textile master, Olga de Amaral, about whom Janet Koplos wrote in Art in America: “Olga de Amaral is one of the textile artists who in the '60s turned tapestry from flat imagery imitative of painting to an abstraction emphasizing structure and materials.”
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The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, in cooperation with Helen Drutt: Philadelphia presents a Special Exhibit at SOFA NEW YORK of artworks from the Museum’s acclaimed decorative arts collection, including works from the newly acquired Helen Williams Drutt Collection of modern and contemporary jewelry, featuring many one-of-a-kind pieces that redefined the concept of jewelry.