Frank Campanale travels to South America to stock his boutique and decorate his home.
(Suzanne Kreiter/Globe Staff)
My space
Frank Campanale has a thing for Latin America.
The owner of the South End home furnishings store diseño/bos, Campanale travels to Argentina, Brazil, and Uruguay every other month on the hunt for Bolivian blankets, cow hides, curly goat hair pillows, shearling sheepskin throws, Latin lounge music, and anything else he can stuff in his suitcase.
"The geography there is very beautiful. The cities are sophisticated and different architecturally," he said. "The people are warm, the food and music is rich, the buildings are painted in bright colors. It just speaks to me. South America has become my second home."
Campanale's retail store is chock-full of the goods. The storage space in his condo is also at capacity. But Campanale thinks there's still room for more in his two-bedroom loft, which is located two floors above his retail space on Harrison Avenue.
"You can't have too much stuff," said Campanale, a 53-year-old Shrewsbury native.
Campanale's living room, the space where he entertains friends once or twice a week, could be a small museum. There are South American artifacts in every direction. Displayed most prominently in the room are three colorful 6-foot-tall abstract oil paintings of men and women lying down in positions of anguish.
The paintings, in purple, green, and blue, are by artist Gladys Abitante, from Buenos Aires. "I saw these hanging in my favorite restaurant in Buenos Aires," said Campanale. "I carried them back on the plane.
"I like how fresh and contemporary they are. Yet they still communicate the angst and drama of Argentine culture. The history of the country with its political changes over the years has left the people with anxiety but also love for life," he said. "Who knows what's going to happen tomorrow?"
On the windowsill, overlooking Peters Park, stand three antique seltzer bottles in bright blue, pink, and green. "I got them at a flea market in Buenos Aires," he said. "They have dozens of these lined up and the sun streams through them. It's an amazing picture."
Hanging on a nearby chair are vintage bolas, a rope with lead balls attached to it. The balls are wrapped in leather. "I got this at a flea market in Buenos Aires too," he said. "The gauchos, or cowboys there, used to lasso cattle with this. The balls wrap around the bulls' legs and slow them down."
Campanale's beige microfiber couch is covered with a large caramel brown and white cow hide from Argentina. There are two white curly goat hair pillows on the sofa too, also from Argentina, and a chocolate brown shearling sheepskin throw from Uruguay. "For me, I like the warmth and richness of the furs," he said.
On the dining room table, a dark stained oak slab with pedestal legs from the Boston Design Center, sits a large ceramic bowl from Buenos Aires. The outside of the bowl has a coarse, aged look, achieved by wrapping pieces of cloth around it before the first firing. The inside has a smooth glazed green finish. Next to it are alpaca silver candlesticks made with cow bone, also from Argentina. "I just love the combination of silver and bone. It's casual but elegant," he said.
For a finishing touch, Campanale placed antique Bolivian blankets over the backs of his dining chairs.
"I think they're works of art," he said. "I've always loved blankets. You can put them on the wall, on the bed, on the couch. They add texture to an environment. And they're an entree to a story."
© Copyright 2008 Globe Newspaper Company.
