CRAFT ON THE DARK SIDE
by Chippendale


Just when stocks and bonds are skittering ever so slightly, contemporary craft -- that sometimes sly specialty made up of glass, ceramics, metal, fiber and wood -- is hitting a high. Simply consider the ninth annual International Exposition of Sculpture Objects & Functional Art in New York, June 1-4, 2006, otherwise known as SOFA, the brainchild of former potter Mark Lyman. When the 59 dealers at the fair closed up shop this past Sunday evening at the Seventh Regiment Armory at Park Avenue and 67th Street, they left in their wake banner sales, new price benchmarks and some startling new taste trends.

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