SF Fall Art & Antiques Show Starts with Design
Author:Lindsey ShookWhen it comes to the San Francisco Fall Art & Antiques Show, the design starts at the entry of the Fort Mason Paviliion, where the show runs until October 29.
That’s because the show’s organizers have partnered with top designers and de Gournay (the company did all the wallcoverings) to create a series of vignettes you experience before you get to the decorative arts. Given that it’s the 50th anniversary of SF’s Summer of Love, the theme for this year’s show is “Flower Power,” and designers have taken the four seasons as their inspiration.
Designer Pamela Babey selected spring for her vignette. The flora-laden wallcovering is the background for a fantastic rococo chair that’s inlaid with mirrors. “This chair is utterly frivolous,” Babey says describing the piece from Carlton Hobbs. “I can imagine it in my favorite Venetian Palazzo, Ca’Rezzonico.”
Spring is, of course, followed by summer. The summer season is recreated by New York City designer (and former San Franciscian) Ed Lobrano. The wallcovering is done in a chinoserie-style, and it’s fronted by a flower and bird bedecked mirror, also from Carlton Hobbs.
Fall is portrayed by Kendall Wilkinson, whose vignette is entitled “Secret Garden.” She drew on fashion as her starting point, and all of the autumnal hues are pulled from a flowered Valentino dress. She also utilized stone garden elements from Finnegan Gallery.
Jay Jeffers closes out the year with winter, and in his hands, the coldest season is envisioned in a warm, modernist way. The bold abstract pattern of the wallpaper plays off the collaged center table (from Carlton Hobbs). As Jeffers says, “I love it because the shape is simple and elegant but the collage work is at once unusual and a little naughty. It’s always fun to be a little naughty in design!”
The show kicks off with an opening preview party on October 25. For more information, including a list of lectures, check out the SFFAS website.
