SOFA Chicago 2017 Catalogue

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SOFA Chicago 2017 Sergott Contemporary Art Alliance


ABOUT Established in 2012 by Thomas Sergott, Sergott Contemporary Art presents two divisions focusing on works by local, bi-national (Northern Mexico & Southern California) artists, Latin American artists and international photo-based artists. The gallery presents a rotating schedule of exhibitions and participates in numerous art fairs throughout the year. We are open by appointment only in Rancho Santa Fe, California. http://www.sergottart.com

ARTISTS Joseph Caroff Einar & Jamex De La Torre Emily Halpern Beliz Iristay Al Johnson Jeffery Laudenslager Marco Miranda Maidy Morhous Julia S. Rasor Deanne Sabeck Shinpei Takeda

Image: Marco Miranda, Paisajes Intervenidos V, 2017. Mixed media/plexiglass, 24� x 42�


Joe Caroff b. U.S.A.

“Caroff’s work is about the vital inner world of the artist as well as a response to the broader world and current events. Often suggestive narrative elements seep into abstract forms. Color accents the monochromatic. Forms define negative and positive space. Lines interface and rise from the surface. Through his work, Joe Caroff strives to unify diverse aesthetics and influences to create a unique internal harmony. His intuitive process – guided by the interaction between line, color and space – defines the direction of each work as it evolves.” – Tracy L. Adler, Director of the Ruth and Elmer Wlin Museum of Art

The Matron, 2005 mixed media 29” x 24.5” x 1.25” (framed)


De La Torre Brothers b. Mexico, lives and works in both Mexico and the U.S.A.

“Brothers Einar and Jamex de la Torre were born in Guadalajara, México (1963 & 1960), where they grew up until a sudden family move to California in 1972. They are presently living and working on both sides of the border with studios in Ensenada, Mexico and San Diego, California. Jamex started flame-working glass in 1977, attended California State University at Long Beach, and received a BFA in Sculpture in 1983. Einar started work with glass in 1980, while also attending California State University at Long Beach. In the 1980s, they ran a flame-worked glass figure business while also developing their assemblage style of work. In the early 90s, they began working collaboratively as studio artists; later in the decade, they began work in installation art with participations in Biennales such as inSITE and Mercosul (Brazil). In the year 2000, the brothers began their work in public art; they now have six major projects completed. They have exhibited their work internationally, participating in exhibits in France, Japan, Canada, Germany, Venezuela, and Brazil, as well as the US and Mexico.” –Mindy Solomon Gallery

Wellness Mandala, 2017 Lenticular print, 16/20, aluminum frame, signed 23" x 23” x 1"

El Astronauta, 2012 Blown glass, cast resin base ~30”


Emily Halpern b. U.S.A.

“My paintings map my inner world. My process seeks to open the locked door of the unconscious through methods suggested by Surrealism. I use a square format that negates hierarchical narrative composition, whether top-to-bottom or left-to-right. As I work, I frequently rotate the canvas in order to disorient the view, helping new directions emerge and facilitating my stream of consciousness approach. Color is used to reconstruct different moods and to connect to fragmentary, cryptic narratives. My goal is to create "nowhere" spaces with an absence of horizon lines and populated by what psychoanalyst Carl Jung referred to as archetypal imagery such as flying and floating contraptions, rocks and snakes. The mark varies from heavy and textural to a light touch befitting the content of the piece. My intention is to engage by slipping away, leaving gaps for viewers to fill as a springboard for their own imaginations.” – Artist Statement

Falling in Love with Icarus 2016 mixed media and resin on panel 16” x 16”

Shipwrecks and Soulmates 2016 mixed media and resin on panel 16” x 16”


Beliz Iristay b. Turkey, lives and works in Mexico and U.S.A.

Born in Izmir,Turkey, Iristay graduated from Dokuz Eylul Fine Art University with a focus on Turkish Ceramics Arts. She moved to both USA and Mexico in 2005. In her work, Beliz often uses the venerable traditions of her home country(s) and combines them with contemporary techniques. She collects the subject materials for her work from the traditions and politics of the countries she is living in. Iristay now passes on her ceramic knowledge by teaching in her studio in EnsenadaMexico. As an artist, she continues to explore new ways to develop her work in different forms. Iristay has shown her work internationally in Usa,Turkey and Mexico. She has been nominated for several arts grants and public art projects in San Diego, CA, as well as in Izmir,Turkey. Currently, she lives in two locations: Baja California, Mexico and in San Diego, California with her family.

El Luca Libre 2017 Low fired slip cast clay, handpainted acrylics, gold leaf, la bolsa de agua caliente 7” x 7” x 14”


Precious 2017 low fired Mexican Adobe brick from Guadalupe Valley 16” x 16”


Al Johnson U.S.A

Al Johnson, illustrator, fine artist, educator and mentor has developed an artistic style that captures the classical, weaves it with the contemporary to create bodies of work that exemplifies his individual style. Spiritually connected to his work, his mix of color and shapes through abstract expressionism allows the viewer to interpret what they see and feel. While formally trained in the techniques of the great masters, Johnson honed these skills while attending famed institutions such as Pratt Institute, the Albert Pale School of Commercial Arts and the Arts Student League, constantly challenging the creative force within. Johnson most recently exhibited in the Maison des Arts Gallery located LeBacares, France where his “New Yorkers” exhibition was widely received by the residents of the south of France. The 40+ paintings in this show will also be on tour in five major cities in France. His work has also been shown at the Tokyo Metropolitan Museum in Japan, the Guangzhou International Art Fair in China, countless galleries in New York and other major cities within the United States.

As Luck be Denied, 2017 Mixed media on masonite 15” x 15”

Shakespearean Cowboy, 2017 Mixed media on masonite 15” x 15”


Jeffery Laudenslager b. U.S.A.

“The work I do today is kinetic sculpture that consists of geometric shapes which are joined and balanced so that wind alone will activate them. And there is a sort of history to the development of this current work. I began using the figure as a basis of early work and that quickly became quite abstract, but the gestural, human qualities remained. An extended period of "illusionist" sculptures played with masses that defied gravity and retained a bit of narrative quality to them as well. I became increasingly interested in the levitating appearance of discreet parts that made up the entire sculpture. I wanted to see things float and move. My last 15 years of artistic production have been devoted to making my art practice as precise, visually satisfying, seductive and, well, yes, beautiful as I can achieve.” – Artist Statement

OVAL RIPPLES, 2016. Stainless steel and titanium, 98.4" x 50.64"


Marco Miranda Originally from Hermosillo, Sonora, a graduate of the Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of Sonora majoring in Printmaking. From a young age he has made plásticasu profession and life, always led by the great desire for experimentation and mixtures, very evident in his work. Filing in Baja California since 2004, when incursions into pictorial elámbito, currently works full time in his studio in one Mexicali, with the representation of galleries in Tijuana and Los Angeles, CA.

Paisajes Intervenidos V, 2017 Mixed media/plexiglass 24” x 42”

Gravedad I, 2017 Mixed media/plexiglass 12” x 12”

Gravedad I, 2017 Mixed media/plexiglass 12” x 12”


Maidy Morhous U.S.A.

An accomplished printmaker as well as sculptor Maidy Morhous was born in Upstate New York. She currently creates out of her studio in Del Mar thirty minutes north of San Diego, California. Morhous received her Master of Fine Arts degree while continuing studies at Stanley Hayter’s Atelier 17 in Paris, France in the mid-1970’s. Before returning to the States she traveled to Italy to study casting techniques at the Marinelli Foundry, in Florence. Morhous became fascinated with how bronze; a cold hard metal could take on such a soft sensuous appearance, and has since worked exclusively with bronze as her form of creative expression.

Empty Dreams, 2016 Bronze 21” x 7” x 14”

Doctor’s Orders!, 2016 Bronze 12” x 6” x 5”


Deanne Sabeck (b. USA, lives and works in USA)

My light sculptures are created from pure light refracted into the brilliant colors of our physical world. Using dichroic glass, which divides the light spectrum, transmitting one color while reflecting its opposite, I create sculptural light paintings with forms and colors that continually evolve, appear and disappear in meditative patterns. – Artist Statement

Box of Moonlight 10, 2017 Aluminum and glass with dichroic mosaic Dimensions vary


Julia S. Rasor Julia is an award winning professional figurative sculptor living in Fallbrook California who is versatile in a wide range of media - steel, mesh, ceramics, concrete, plaster, bronze, wax, mixed media - and often incorporates found wood and rusty steel artifacts thus preserving history in her sculpture. Her works have been described as dynamic, edgy and dramatic revealing an artist who has melded an intellectual understanding of human physiology and anatomy with a knowledge of mechanics from her life-long profession as a medical device inventor and entrepreneur (inventing the tools that physicians use, www.MedicalDevice.com), thus creating a dichotomic style and unique, expressive body of work (www.FineArtSculpt.com, Art page). Julia creates sculpture in series that range from realistic figures to highly abstract stylized designs. Her works can be seen at the San Diego Botanic Garden and other public venues and galleries. She holds Open Studio, Workshop, and Artist Retreat events at the San Diego Artist Retreat she founded at her Fallbrook mountaintop avocado ranch studio and gallery.

Avant-Garde—Just the Right Amount of Wrong, 2017 bronze 60” x 11” x 22”


With the Flow, 2/25 2012 bronze 7” x 13” x 9”


Clockwise from top: 1. Danseur and Danseuse 2016 bronze 12” x 6” x 4” 11” x 9” x 4” 2. Modernism Vibe 2017 bronze 13” x 10” x 3” 3. FractAlien Scull II 2016 bronze 12” x 4” x 4”


Tom, Dick, and Harry 2017 bronze 10” x 23” x 8”

Spirit Form 9 2017 bronze 15” x 8” x 6”


Stacked and Hung 2011 ceramic 13” x 6” x 6”

Haute Couture 2015 mixed media 84” x 18” x 9”


Shinpei Takeda Shinpei Takeda is a visual artist and filmmaker. His works involve a wide range of themes regarding memories and history. He uses multi-media installations, sound interventions, documentary films, large-scale photography installations, and collaborative community projects in various public contexts. Shinpei is also a Founder and Creative Director of The AJA Project, a nonprofit dedicated to working with resettled refugee children in San Diego and displaced youth in Colombia and Thailand using a participatory photography. As a documentary filmmaker he works on films with diverse topics including pre-WWII Japanese immigration to Tijuana, Mexico and the atomic bomb survivors living in the Americas (Atopus Studio). As an artist, he creates site-specific installations / interventions such as an outdoor urban photo montage in collaboration with the community, or visual installations on floor of a gallery. As a performance artist, he directs Ghost Magnet Roach Motel, a noise performance unit from Tijuana, Mexico.

A Thread for the Unknown Future, 2017 Acryl on canvas 23� x 30�


P.O. Box #239 Rancho Santa Fe, CA 92067 (858) 756-2377 sergottart.com info@sergottart.com


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