DOPO IL SUO PRIMO GRANDE LAVORO SU COMMISSIONE, “TIME LANDSCAPES”, NEL GREENWICH VILLAGE DI NEW YORK, SONFIST HA RICEVUTO IL PLAUSO DELLA CRITICA PER L’USO INNOVATIVO DEGLI SPAZI URBANI COME RIFUGIO DELLA NATURA. I SUOI PRIMI LAVORI NEL 1960 E 1970 HANNO ISPIRATO I PIONIERI DELLA SCULTURA SITE-SPECIFIC. OGGI L’ARTISTA, CON I SUOI PROGETTI INTERNAZIONALI, CONTINUA A PROMUOVERE L’ENERGIA SOSTENIBILE E SI IMPEGNA NELLA SENSIBILIZZAZIONE VERSO IL CAMBIAMENTO CLIMATICO GLOBALE. RECENTEMENTE, SONFIST HA COLLABORATO CON GLI URBANISTI DI PORI (FINLANDIA) E TAMPA (FLORIDA) PER CREARE SPAZI PUBBLICI CHE RICALCHINO I PAESAGGI NATURALI DEL PASSATO.
CRESCIUTO NEL SOUTH BRONX DI NEW YORK VICINO ALL’HEMLOCK FOREST, IN SEGUITO DIVENUTA ISPIRAZIONE CHIAVE DI TUTTA LA SUA PRODUZIONE ARTISTICA, SONFIST HA FREQUENTATO L’HUNTER COLLEGE, DOVE HA RICEVUTO UN MASTER IN ART; E STUDIATO CON LO PSICOLOGO DELLA GESTALT, HOYT SHERMAN, PRESSO L’UNIVERSITÀ DELL’OHIO, APPROFONDENDO LA RICERCA SUI LINGUAGGI DELLA CULTURA VISIVA E LA LORO RELAZIONE CON LA PSICOLOGIA UMANA; RICERCA CONTINUATA CON UNA BORSA IN VISUAL STUDIES AL MIT DI CAMBRIDGE.
LA SUA PRIMA GRANDE PUBBLICAZIONE È SCATURITA DA UNA SERIE DI CONFERENZE TENUTE AL METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART NEL 1969, ANNO D’USCITA DI “ART IN THE LAND”, UN’ANTOLOGIA SULL’ARTE AMBIENTALE, RIPUBBLICATA IN EUROPA ED ASIA A GRANDE RICHIESTA. SONFIST È STATO INCLUSO NEI PIÙ IMPORTANTI CATALOGHI DI MOSTRE INTERNAZIONALI, COME LA DOKUMENTA, LA BIENNALE DI VENEZIA, E LA BIENNALE DI PARIGI. RECENTEMENTE, IL DR. ROBERT ROSENBLUM HA SCRITTO UN’INTRODUZIONE AL SUO LIBRO: “NATURE: THE END OF ART”, DISTRIBUITO DA THAMES AND HUDSON, E PUBBLICATO DA GIL ORI.
DURANTE LA SUA CARRIERA SONFIST HA DATO MOLTEPLICI CONTRIBUTI CHIAVE DURANTE EVENTI PUBBLICI E PRIVATI, E PER ISTITUZIONI ED ORGANIZZAZIONI COME LA PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIVERSITY, LA SOUTHERN SCULPTURE CONFERENCE, E L’AMERICAN LANDSCAPE ASSOCIATION DI MIAMI. E ‘STATO RELATORE D’ONORE IN NUMEROSI SIMPOSI E CONFERENZE ORGANIZZATI DA ISTITUZIONI D’INDUBBIO PREGIO COME IL METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART, IL THE BOSTON MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS, IL MIDWEST COLLEGE ASSOCIATION, LA CONFERENZA ONU SULL’ECOLOGIA, TENUTA A SAN PAOLO, IN BRASILE, E QUELLA DI BERLINO. SONFIST È STATO DOCENTE IN MOLTI IMPORTANTISSIMI ISTITUTI TRA CUI IL WHITNEY MUSEUM OF ART, IL NELSON-ATKINS MUSEUM OF ART, ED IL MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ART DI CHICAGO.
SONFIST HA RICEVUTO PRESTIGIOSI RICONOSCIMENTI E PREMI DA ORGANIZZAZIONI STATALI E PRIVATE, INCLUSO IL NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR THE ARTS, LA GRAHAM FOUNDATION FOR ART AND ARCHITECTURE, LA CHASE MANHATTAN BANK FOUNDATION, E L’INFORMATION AGENCY DEGLI STATI UNITI. I LAVORI DI SONFIST SONO PARTE DI NUMEROSE COLLEZIONI PUBBLICHE INTERNAZIONALI COME IL METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART, IL GUGGENHEIM, IL WHITNEY, IL MUSEO D’ARTE CONTEMPORANEA DI LOS ANGELES, IL CENTRE GEORGES POMPIDOU DI PARIGI, VILLA CELLE, IN TOSCANA, IL TODAY ART MUSEUM DI BEIJING, ED IL MUSEO LUDWIG DI KOLN, IN GERMANY.
TRA LE SUE PERSONALI PIÙ IMPORTANTI RICORDIAMO: “THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF ALAN SONFIST” AL BOSTON MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS, “ALAN SONFIST LANDSCAPES” ALLO SMITHSONIAN AMERICAN ART MUSEUM, “TREES” ALL’HIGH MUSEUM IN ATLANTA E “TRINITY RIVER PROJECT” AL MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS DI DALLAS. ALCUNE DELLE SUE OPERE SU COMMISSIONE INCLUDONO: “LOST FALCON OF WESTPHALIA” RICHIESTA DA PRINCE RICHARD, “TIME LANDSCAPE OF INDIANAPOLIS” VOLUTA DALL’EITELJORG MUSEUM OF AMERICAN INDIANS AND WESTERN ART, E “CIRCLES OF TIME” DALLA TENUTA GORI DI FIRENZE. GLI ATTUALI PROGETTI IN CORSO DI SONFIST INCLUDONO “ANCIENT OLIVE GROVE” A FIRENZE E XEROSCAPE LANDSCAPE PER LA CITTÀ DI LOS ANGELES.
SONFIST HA ORGANIZZATO UN TEAM DI SPECIALISTI PER AFFRONTARE TUTTE LE PROBLEMATICHE COINVOLTE NELLA CREAZIONE DI UN PAESAGGIO ECOLOGICO FUNZIONALE CHE, NATURALMENTE, SI ADATTI ALL’AMBIENTE URBANO E SUBURBANO CONTEMPORANEO.
OGGI, SONFIST CONTINUA A PROMUOVERE, CON IL SUO LAVORO, UN’ATTEGGIAMENTO ED UN’AZIONE POSITIVA VERSO LA SOSTENIBILITÀ AMBIENTALE ED RISPETTO DELLA FRAGILITÀ DELLA NATURA.
BEGINNING WITH HIS FIRST MAJOR COMMISSIONED WORK, “TIME LANDSCAPES” IN GREENWICH VILLAGE, NYC, SONFIST RECEIVED CRITICAL ACCLAIM FOR HIS INNOVATIVE USE OF URBAN SPACES TO DESIGN HAVENS OF NATURE.HIS EARLY WORK IN THE 1960S AND 1970S HELPED PIONEER THE BURGEONING MOVEMENT OF SITE-SPECIFIC SCULPTURE. TODAY, HE CONTINUES TO PROMOTE SUSTAINABLE ENERGY AND STRIVES TO RAISE AWARENESS FOR GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE WITH HIS INTERNATIONAL PROJECTS. RECENTLY, SONFIST COLLABORATED WITH CITY PLANNERS IN PORI, FINLAND AND TAMPA, FLORIDA TO CREATE PUBLIC SPACES THAT VISUALIZE NATURAL LANDSCAPES FROM THE PAST.
AFTER GROWING UP IN THE SOUTH BRONX OF NYC NEAR THE HEMLOCK FOREST, WHICH LATER BECAME A MAJOR INSPIRATION FOR HIS ART, SONFIST ATTENDED HUNTER COLLEGE, WHERE HE RECEIVED A MASTERS IN ART. IN ADDITION TO HIS STUDIES AT HUNTER COLLEGE, HE ALSO STUDIED WITH GESTALT PSYCHOLOGIST, HOYT SHERMAN AT OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY. HIS RESEARCH THERE CONCERNED THE LANGUAGE OF VISUAL CULTURE AND ITS RELATIONSHIP WITH HUMAN PSYCHOLOGY. LATER, HE WENT ON TO PURSUE A RESEARCH FELLOWSHIP IN VISUAL STUDIES AT MIT, CAMBRIDGE, MA.
HIS FIRST MAJOR PUBLICATION WAS ON HIS LECTURE SERIES AT THE METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART IN 1969. SONFIST EDITED “ART IN THE LAND,” AN ANTHOLOGY ON ENVIRONMENTAL ART WHICH WAS REPUBLISHED IN EUROPE AND ASIA DUE TO ITS RECEPTION BY CRITICS AND ARTISTS ALIKE. HE HAS BEEN INCLUDED IN MULTIPLE MAJOR INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITION CATALOGS SUCH AS THE DOKUMENTA, THE VENICE BIENNALE, AND THE PARIS BIENNALE. RECENTLY, DR. ROBERT ROSENBLUM WROTE AN INTRODUCTION TO SONFIST’S “NATURE: THE END OF ART” WHICH WAS DISTRIBUTED BY THAMES AND HUDSON, AND PUBLISHED BY GIL ORI.
THROUGHOUT HIS CAREER, SONFIST HAS GIVEN SEVERAL KEYNOTE SPEECHES FOR PUBLIC AND PRIVATE EVENTS AND ORGANIZATIONS SUCH AS PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIVERSITY, THE SOUTHERN SCULPTURE CONFERENCE, AND THE AMERICAN LANDSCAPE ASSOCIATION IN MIAMI. HE HAS BEEN A FEATURED SPEAKER IN NUMEROUS SYMPOSIUMS AT MAJOR INSTITUTIONS AND CONFERENCES INCLUDING THE METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART, THE BOSTON MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS, THE MIDWEST COLLEGE ASSOCIATION, THE U.N. ECOLOGICAL CONFERENCE IN SAN PAULO, BRAZIL, AND THE BERLIN ECOLOGY CONFERENCE. SONFIST HAS BEEN A FEATURED LECTURER AT NUMEROUS MAJOR INSTITUTIONS INCLUDING THE WHITNEY MUSEUM OF ART, THE NELSON-ATKINS MUSEUM OF ART, AND THE MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ART OF CHICAGO.
SONFIST HAS RECEIVED MAJOR AWARDS AND GRANTS FROM PRIVATE AND GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS INCLUDING THE NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR THE ARTS, THE GRAHAM FOUNDATION FOR ART AND ARCHITECTURE, THE CHASE MANHATTAN BANK FOUNDATION, AND THE U.S. INFORMATION AGENCY. SONFIST’S WORKS ARE INCLUDED IN MANY INTERNATIONAL PUBLIC COLLECTIONS SUCH AS THE METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART, THE GUGGENHEIM, THE WHITNEY, THE MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ART IN LOS ANGELES, THE CENTRE GEORGES POMPIDOU IN PARIS, VILLA CELLE, IN TUSCANY, ITALY, THE TODAY ART MUSEUM IN BEIJING, AND THE MUSEUM LUDWIG IN KOLN, GERMANY.
SOME OF HIS MOST NOTABLE SOLO EXHIBITIONS INCLUDE “THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF ALAN SONFIST,” AT THE BOSTON MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS, “ALAN SONFIST LANDSCAPES” AT THE SMITHSONIAN AMERICAN ART MUSEUM, “TREES” AT THE HIGH MUSEUM IN ATLANTA, GA, AND “TRINITY RIVER PROJECT” AT THE DALLAS MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS. A FEW OF HIS COMMISSIONS INCLUDE, BUT ARE NOT LIMITED TO: “LOST FALCON OF WESTPHALIA,” COMMISSIONED BY PRINCE RICHARD OF GERMANY, “TIME LANDSCAPE OF INDIANAPOLIS,” COMMISSIONED BY THE EITELJORG MUSEUM OF AMERICAN INDIANS AND WESTERN ART, AND “CIRCLES OF TIME,” ON THE GORI ESTATE IN FLORENCE, ITALY. SONFIST’S CURRENT PROJECTS INCLUDE “ANCIENT OLIVE GROVE,” IN FLORENCE AND A XEROSCAPE LANDSCAPE FOR THE CITY OF LOS ANGELES. HE HAS CREATED A TEAM OF SPECIALISTS TO ADDRESS ALL OF THE ISSUES INVOLVED IN CREATING A FUNCTIONAL ECOLOGICAL LANDSCAPE THAT WILL NATURALLY ADAPT TO THEIR CONTEMPORARY URBAN AND SUBURBAN ENVIRONMENTS.
TODAY, HE CONTINUES TO PROMOTE HIS MESSAGE OF ECOLOGICAL SUSTAINABILITY AND TIMELESS RESPECT FOR THE FRAGILITY OF NATURE IN HIS WORK.
CONTEMPORARY WINE 