Through July 20 - The Marianas* (Stephanie Syjuco and Michael Arcega): Montalvo Historical Fabrications and Souvenirs (A Pop-Up Shop) at Montalvo Arts Center. If you browsed the Shadowshop installed at the back of the fifth floor galleries of SFMOMA during early 2011 you have already experienced the work of Stephanie Syjuco, mastermind of brilliant art market subversion. She and partner Michael Arcega have literally taken residence in the Project Space Gallery at Montalvo with a fully fleshed-out souvenir shop they staff in front and their fabrication area in back. I spent a delightful hour with the artists last Saturday afternoon as they hawked their wares to random passers-by and intentional visitors alike. At first glance the shop looks like any other, rows of carefully arranged knick-knacks and neatly packaged items in cellophane bags, until you start looking more closely at the descriptive text that accompanies each souvenir. In the hands of Syjuco and Arcega a bug zoo becomes Insect Alcatraz, a wry commentary on the history of incarceration in California, and Syjuco reported that their Invasive Species Potpourri (eucalyptus detritus, natch) and Chinese-made dream catchers were also flying off the shelves. I bought the special collector's box, a veritable jackpot of Genuine Faux Fool's Gold, Mystery Wood ("never identified!"), an official Villa Montalvo Hiking Patch, some Mist of Montalvo, Wild Griffin Feathers, a pin ("I went to Montalvo and all I got was this lousy pin"), and an East/West Diplomacy Kit. That last item is a packet that contains a tiny American flag crossed with a cocktail umbrella and supplemented with loose confetti, all to commemorate Villa Montalvo's founder James Phelan and his campaign to keep Asian immigrants out of America. Syjuco and Arcega have a ton of fun with history and mythology as they purposefully confound the two, but their work has a refreshing bite to it too.
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