On a Friday morning in July, in the Jackson Square neighborhood of San Francisco, just a stone’s throw from the Transamerica Pyramid, the cafes and galleries were starting to buzz with anticipation of the weekend.
Wendi Norris was standing in one such gallery — her own — and considering the next big show, Frieze Masters, running alongside Frieze London, from Oct. 16 to 19 in Regent’s Park.
“Each year, it’s always a challenge, pulling together an exhibit that will hopefully tell some untold stories,” Norris said, standing in the small, light-filled showroom.
This year, she added, she was especially excited to spotlight Leonora Carrington, a British-born painter and novelist who spent much of her adult life in Mexico and is known mostly for her works on canvas. Norris headed downstairs, then stood before one Carrington piece bound for the fair: “La Cuna” (“The Cradle”) (circa 1945), which was not a painting at all but a wooden cradle shaped like a sailboat.
Carved by Carrington’s friend and collaborator José Horna for his daughter’s birth, the cradle features painted images by Carrington that wrap around the hull and depict a girl’s journey from birth to womanhood. The work is rich with magical beasts and symbolism, a sort of Surrealist take on an unfolding heroic adventure. What makes it an especially transfixing piece of art is knowing it was used and loved.
Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.
Thank you for your patience while we verify access.
Already a subscriber? Log in.
Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
The post In London, a California Gallery Shows Expat Mexican Surrealists appeared first on New York Times.
