Brave New World

Posted by Lisa & Rena

Every few weeks, we set out through our fine city of San Francisco to discover what’s happening in the world of art, crafts, and design.

This past week we found a goldmine at the Luggage Store Gallery, where we encountered "Feral" – a collaboration between artists Swoon and Monica Canilao. Using wood, paper, paint, and found materials, the artists created (and literally built) a extraordinary environment populated by both realistic and imagined characters, including strange animals, skeletal mermaids, she-wolves, spinsters, dreamers, and savages.

What struck us as much as the cast was the other-worldliness of the environment they shaped as well as the remarkable attention to detail and craftsmanship.

While viewing the installation, which takes up the entire gallery, the spectator is able to wander through shacks and pathways that lead to hundreds of small corners filled with the artists’ colorful and often haunting groupings.

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The installation is up at the Luggage Store only through Saturday, April 26, so if you happen to live nearby, we recommend dropping in.

In the meantime, we also suggest "This is Home" published in Spain and chock-full of images of Monica’s work.

Sneak peak: Join us next week for an interview with the prolific Betsy Walton whose work will be hanging in Rare Device in San Francisco from May 1 through June 1.

Photos by Faythe Levine.

Comments

[Andrew Ritchie]

Wow! I love this!