The facade of the Park Avenue Armory, with the sign advertising SOFA New York.
Continuing through Monday, April 19th, SOFA New York has taken over the Park Avenue Armory, where organizers have subtitled the annual event: “Pushing the boundaries of art and design” With an official tally of 58 dealers showing work in a range of media, the Hot Sheet toured the show on Saturday to take stock of the type of work in glass that was selling. With many dealers removing successfully sold work to use the space to display additional pieces, our survey of red dots is far from a complete list of what customers were snapping up, but it does give some indication of what had moved during the second full day of the show. Chatting with the dealers also provided some insights into the mood of the market.
Barbara Silverberg of Montreal-based Option Art said she’s noticed a marked shift in art buyers over the past two years. “We’re seeing a lot of new people, not the big Chihuly collectors who may have lost fortunes in the Madoff scandal, but a new, more middle-of-the-road buyer.”
Option had sold a Jay Mcdonnell Pink and Purple glass sculpture from his “Articulated” series for $6,400, as well as work by Mel Munsen and Susan Rankin.
Jim Schantz of Schantz Galleries was having a good show as well, with several Charles Miner pieces selling, as well as a major Sydney Hutter vase. “It’s been a busy show for us,” he said. Schantz credited the in-person presence of all five of the artists he was showing, including Marvin Lipofsky, for the strong results.
Below, we present our Red Dot Gallery, taken during a walk-through of the show on Saturday, April 17th, in the afternoon.
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