In Los Angeles – a city of shape-shifters and perpetual reinvention – some of the biggest discoveries are hiding in plain sight. Siglo Moderno, Jorge Luis Cruzata’s singular design gallery and showroom, is no exception. Cruzata, who works on interior projects as well as being a gallerist and designer in his own right, relocated from Melrose Avenue to a deconsecrated 1930s Spanish colonial church in Silver Lake in late October.
‘Being an LA native I had discovered this church some ten years ago,’ says Cruzata, who decided to change gears from the traditional storefront format into something more atypical and experiential. ‘The space really grabbed my heart and the timing was right. It offers a new direction and the chance to have a lot of new conversations and collaborations.’
Detail of 'B4', 2016, moose horn, reed and black Danish wood, pulp rope
The first of those experiments – and the new gallery space’s inaugural exhibition – is devoted to the work of Angeleno Dax Savage, known primarily as a jewellery designer and fine artist. It was, as Cruzata explains ‘the perfect union’, a witchy brew of art and design that perfectly complemented the church’s original architecture, particularly its Empyrean altar.
‘I had always wanted to move into the interior design and functional art world so I just love how this is all happening organically,’ says Savage. The work, which has been immediately embraced by collectors, reinterprets the designer’s familiar themes (the natural world, religion and the nature of the American West) in a functional context. The elemental baskets, inspired by the lo-fi antler prototypes his mother had created, feel at once primitive and relevant. ‘I definitely feel like I connect more with an old fashioned, utilitarian time in humanity when one would make whatever they needed using what is available in their immediate surroundings,’ Savage says. ‘My antler baskets truly are vessels carrying me into new territory.’
'B10', 2016, shed deer antler, reed, Oriental sea grass, and black Danish wood pulp rope
The same could be said of Cruzata’s gallery, which has resonated with the architecture, art and design community in California and beyond. ‘Dax’s work perfectly spans worlds and that’s exactly what I hope to do with this space,’ Cruzata, who also represents names such as Lee Broom, Overgaard & Dyrman and Olivia Booth, explains.
If the exhibition’s opening night, an only-in-LA kind of affair attended by the likes of design collective Commune, gallery owner Lorca Cohen, antique dealer Joel Chen and design curator and AD France critic Mallery Morgan Roberts, is any indication, Siglo Moderno will continue to be a site of genuflection and inspiration for years to come.
Left, ’B5’, 2016, hanging shed elk antler, reed, black Danish pulp rope, and black leather. Right, ’B6’, 2016, white tail shed deer antler, reed, Oriental sea grass, and Danish wood pulp rope
INFORMATION
’FĀBER VĀS’ is on view until 4 December. For more information, visit the Siglo Moderno website
ADDRESS
Siglo Moderno
1629 Griffith Park Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90026
-
Out of office: the Wallpaper* editors’ picks of the weekIt was a jam-packed week for the Wallpaper* staff, entailing furniture, tech and music launches and lots of good food – from afternoon tea to omakase
-
Peugeot brings back a classic performance badge for the electric era: meet the E-208 GTiPeugeot has unveiled the new E-208 GTi, a performance EV designed to hark back to a golden age of compact sports cars
-
This 18th-century Puglian villa has been restored with contemporary touchesThe updated stonemason's workshop is a haven of centuries-old brick and sophisticated made-in-Italy design
-
Basic.Space launches its first IRL shopping event – in an empty West Hollywood mallWith the launch of its first in-person event in LA this weekend, the e-commerce platform is looking to bring collectible design to a whole new audience
-
Design Miami 2024 is alive with possibility: here are 14 things to seeDesign Miami 2024 opens 4-8 December – let Wallpaper* guide you to the highlights, from dazzling installations to plump sofas and anthropomorphic sculptures
-
Nendo’s collaborations with Kyoto artisans go on view in New York‘Nendo sees Kyoto’ is on view at Friedman Benda (until 15 October 2022), showcasing the design studio's collaboration with six artisans specialised in ancient Japanese crafts
-
Italian craftsmanship comes to Los Angeles in this eclectic Venice Canals apartmentBoffi Los Angeles celebrates a juxtaposition of texture throughout a waterside bolthole
-
Design Miami/Basel 2022 explores the Golden AgeDesign Miami/Basel 2022, led by curatorial director Maria Cristina Didero, offers a positive spin after the unprecedented times of the pandemic, and looks at the history and spirit of design
-
Kvadrat’s flagship New York showrooms encompass colourful design codesIndustrial designer Jonathan Olivares and architect Vincent Van Duysen have worked with Danish textile brand Kvadrat on the vast new space, also featuring furniture by Moroso
-
What to see at New York Design Week 2022Discover Wallpaper’s highlights from New York Design Week 2022 (10 – 20 May 2022): the fairs, exhibitions and design openings to discover
-
Colour defines LA ceramics studio and showroom of Bari ZipersteinStep inside the multifunctional ceramics studio, office and showroom of designer and artist Bari Ziperstein, designed by local firm Foss Hildreth
