DESIGN: CHICAGO
Sculpture Objects Functional Art + Design Fair
Now in its 21st year, the Sculpture Objects Functional Art + Design fair (SOFA) returns to Chicago’s Navy Pier this weekend to showcase works from nearly 70 galleries. SOFA focuses solely on three-dimensional works that blend art and design seamlessly to create pieces aimed at the more practically minded collector. Aside from objects created by Japanese bamboo-artist Hideaki Honma and the work of Mary Giles, whose metal-and-fibre sculptures are made using techniques derived from the textile industry, the fair also has an ongoing lecture series throughout the weekend.
Navy Pier Festival Hall, 600 E Grand Avenue. Open Saturday, 11.00-19.00; Sunday 12.00-18.00. Until 9 November.
sofaexpo.com
ART: LONDON
Mino Maccari: Love’s Fool, Prints 1966-1975
Love’s Fool at London’s Breese Little gallery features a series of 50 prints by Italian satirical artist (and lawyer) Mino Maccari this weekend. The artist’s work for political publications such as Il Selvaggio and particularly his painting, drawing and printmaking won him international acclaim during the latter part of the 20th century and this particular collection of colourful and abstract prints dates back to Italy’s post-Fascist era. These are images that used humour to caricature and pointedly critique the former regime and its cult of personality while also highlighting Maccari's and his country’s creative liberation.
Breese Little gallery, 30b Great Sutton Street. Open Wednesday to Friday, 12.00-18.00; Saturday, 12.00-16.00. Until 6 December.
breeselittle.com
PHOTOGRAPHY: VIENNA
Eyes On: The Vienna Month of Photography
With 175 exhibitions taking place over the course of a month across Vienna, Eyes On isn’t merely a weekend commitment. For the whole of November, galleries and unconventional spaces will host shows ranging from a collection that displays Lebanese photographer Lucien Samaha’s early-90s experiments with the first commercial digital camera, to the restaging of First World War battles captured in Polaroids by off-kilter duo Marshall!yeti. Eyes On is just one part of the European Month of Photography in which multiple cities across the continent will be staging shows. But if you’ve only got time for one of those in Vienna, don’t miss out on Lena Lapschina’s work in the fourth-floor gallery at the Office Campus Gasometer building – a critical look at both the underbelly and glitzier side of urban living.
‘Eyes On’ takes place at venues across Vienna. See website for details.
eyes-on.at
ART: HONG KONG
Jeff Koons: Hulk Elvis
Gagosian Gallery in Hong Kong has a show from influential US artist Jeff Koons this weekend – his first major solo retrospective in Asia. Koons has become a giant of the art world in recent years while drawing inspiration heavily from pop-culture iconography and his “Hulk Elvis” series follows that form, presenting a selection of paintings and bronze sculptures inspired by the unmistakable comic book hero the Incredible Hulk. While these eye-catching pieces are arresting takes on a well-loved western icon, Koons claims they also represent eastern guardian gods who play a key role in the region’s mythology as protector figures, so don’t go making them angry.
Gagosian Gallery, 7/F Pedder Building, 12 Pedder Street, Central. Open Tuesday to Saturday, 11.00-19.00. Until 20 December.
gagosian.com
MUSIC: GLOBAL
Les Sins: Michael
Les Sins is a new name for a new project – one from the musician many will know better as loveable US synth wizard Toro Y Moi (aka Chaz Bundick). For debut album Michael Bundick is embracing a stripped down dance-music sound which is more about pumping house beats than the smooth pop textures that he is known for. But songs such as “Why” still contain enough inventiveness and melody to be mistaken for perhaps a more minimal offcut from MJ’s Off The Wall, which is no bad thing. “Drop”, on the other hand, sounds like pretty much nobody else making music today – not a bad thing either.
‘Michael’ is available now’
carparkrecords.com/artists/les-sins
