Let's start with, of course, our main area of interest- The SWAIA booth! SWAIA - http://swaia.org/ , is Santa Fe's Indian Market organization. Alongside their support for indigenous artists all over the nation, they've been promoting their contemporary artists and jewelers in broader, more arts-oriented events such as SOFA. This allows the artists to broaden their reach and obtain recognition outside the spheres of Indigenous arts. I have to say, this particular booth event presented some of the best work I've seen from these artists so far.
Cody Sanderson's (http://www.codysanderson.com/) booth, alongside some very skilled jewelry, contained a phenomenally intricate Silver Rubix Cube - the picture doesn't do it justice, but check it out. Talk about innovative skill. Check out the rest of his pieces :
Pat Pruitt (http://www.patpruitt.com), of course, in hardcore style, presented his unique Stainless Steel pieces. What I love about Pat's work is that he's managed to take an inherently masculine raw material and craft such delicate and intricate detail into it. Technology meets tradition, indeed, but stainless steel has become something altogether unique with Pat.
Here's a picture of Pat explaining his work:
And another SWAIA booth for kicks :
Clark/Delvecchio gallery also had something to say in the realm of native arts -
Christine McHorse's pottery sculpture is- breathtaking. In the domain of innovation, creativity and continuity in indigenous visual productions, this one took the hat at this year's SOFA. I believe it was also the "poster child" for the event.
Les Naminga's pottery pieces were eclectically fabulous. The design on these pieces is a maze of color and geometry.
Let's move on to non-indigenous gallery representation. Now, I've done a lot of these fairs, Frieze (London), FIAC (Paris), among others, and the quality of the work as a whole is never consistent. The level of work and the artists chosen by galleries in SOFA Santa Fe was impressive, an in terms of contemporary art meets design, it really did have superior pieces. Here are some of the notable ones.
One of the galleries I was duly impressed with was Galleri Bruno Dahl (Denmark), representing Lars Calmar (http://www.larscalmar.dk/).
Heidegger wrote, in "Remarques sur l'art,sculpture, espace" (I'm fully aware Heidegger was not French, but I'll save the search for German title for dissertation writing time), in relation to the artist-as-sculptor :
"A head is not a body which has been granted ears and eyes but a corporal phenomenon which has received the imprint of "being-in-the-world", hearing and seeing. Sculpting a head, the artist seems only to reproduce what is superficially visible. In reality, he molds a figure of what is properly invisible, that is the manner in which this head looks at the world, the way it inhabits it in the openness of space. The artist confers to a figure what is essentially invisible and, as he responds to the essence of art, allows each time to be perceived what has until now never yet been seen."
Indeed, Lars Calmar's piece reflect Heidegger's musings on the sculpture-as-body. His bodies see in the world, inhabit the world and confront space with life of their own, gazes of their own, gestures of their own. We might interact with them as objects-in-space but it isn't so. In fact, they challenge our own bodies in the space between us and them we can perceive the 'invisible', the inside of the piece, the emotional agency granted to the assemblage of ears and eyes.
One of the galleries I was duly impressed with was Galleri Bruno Dahl (Denmark), representing Lars Calmar (http://www.larscalmar.dk/).
Heidegger wrote, in "Remarques sur l'art,sculpture, espace" (I'm fully aware Heidegger was not French, but I'll save the search for German title for dissertation writing time), in relation to the artist-as-sculptor :
"A head is not a body which has been granted ears and eyes but a corporal phenomenon which has received the imprint of "being-in-the-world", hearing and seeing. Sculpting a head, the artist seems only to reproduce what is superficially visible. In reality, he molds a figure of what is properly invisible, that is the manner in which this head looks at the world, the way it inhabits it in the openness of space. The artist confers to a figure what is essentially invisible and, as he responds to the essence of art, allows each time to be perceived what has until now never yet been seen."
Indeed, Lars Calmar's piece reflect Heidegger's musings on the sculpture-as-body. His bodies see in the world, inhabit the world and confront space with life of their own, gazes of their own, gestures of their own. We might interact with them as objects-in-space but it isn't so. In fact, they challenge our own bodies in the space between us and them we can perceive the 'invisible', the inside of the piece, the emotional agency granted to the assemblage of ears and eyes.
Lars' piece and the gallery owner, gazing at the crowd.
I was also intrigued by Ron Laporte's wooden sculptures. What struck me at first as a contemporary version of a NW coast motif later changed as I understood Laporte's influences from Greek and Roman mythological scenes. Landscapes of nymphs and doe eyed deer with little horns, the grace of the 'fauve' (nothing to do with fauvism in this case) has been transferred to clean and intricate Sycamore and Maple pieces.
"Mask of Eos, Goddess of the Dawn" 2008
"Mask of Eos, Goddess of the Dawn" 2008
Lastly, I'd like to bring to light Jan Huling's beadwork. Now, we have seen some phenomenal contemporary art beadwork done in the spheres of Native Art (Marcus Amerman being one of the best), so it was interesting to observe Jan's work with a critical eye. Her work, however, is wonderfully fantasia. Animals sit on top of colorful patterns of beaded mazes and pop out of masks and pillars. The precision and chromatic assemblage of her work is quite spectacular, even more so as I overheard her saying 'I don't sketch anything out in advance, I just go with it."
And some close ups :
Well, that's it for now. I'm a better academic than I am a blogger, apparently, but enjoy the images and let me know what you think!
