NEW YORK, Long considered the world's premier fairs for outstanding contemporary decorative arts and design, the next edition of SOFA, the 12th annual international Sculpture Objects & Functional Art Fair in New York City will feature an unrivalled range of arts and design with consistently demonstrated asset class values in today's international markets. Slated for April 16-19, 2009 with an Opening Night Preview Gala on Wednesday, April 15 at the historic Park Avenue Armory, SOFA NEW YORK regularly draws record numbers of collectors, curators, art advisors, architects, interior designers and new enthusiasts.
"Proven values in arts and design distinguish SOFA NEW YORK throughout as our dealers showcase artists and designers who have achieved prominent placement in world renowned museums with a great deal at accessible price points," says Mark Lyman, Founder/Director of the SOFA Fairs and Vice President, dmg Art and Antiques. "That museum representation further confirms the validity of the extraordinary artistry showcased at the fair in the global marketplace," he says. Sixteen years ago, Lyman noticed that contemporary decorative artists and designers merited an international fair and since then he has developed three SOFA fairs, adding a new edition June 11 – 14, 2009 in Santa Fe, NM, Opening Night Preview, Wednesday, June 10 to benefit the New Mexico Museum of Art’s inaugural Design Collection. At SOFA CHICAGO last November, CBS MarketWatch cited the fair for sales exemplifying market stability.
Among the many artists coveted by collectors and curators is ceramicist Miyashita Zenji, renowned as a living legend in Japan and represented in museums far beyond Asia, showing at SOFA NY with New York dealer Joan B. Mirviss Ltd. She is presenting the first solo show of the artist outside Japan, as well as ceramics by other Japanese artists.
"With Miyashita's works gracing the collections of over thirty museums, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art and The Minneapolis Institute of Arts, as well as a loyal following of private collectors, his prices have remained strong and gone up 40 percent over the last decade," says Mirviss. Miyashita's sculptural work perfectly marries abstract landscape imagery with innovative form via colored clay applications in subtle hues on stoneware and is priced from $3,000-$15,000.
"The fact that his sculptures are in the Metropolitan Museum's Asian art collection as well as their 20th century decorative arts holdings demonstrates his wide appeal across multiple specialties," says Mirviss, who has sold to more than 40 museums as well as a number of corporate collections such as Goldman Sachs and Coca Cola. She says lately new buyers from France, Holland and Germany have been scooping up examples by Japan's latest ceramicists, indicating the new international reach of such artists.
