DC DESIGN MINDS:
COMPLETE FABRICATION
By Kerri Pinchuk
modern luxury >

In a primo pairing of art-craft, the brains behind Penn Quarter's Art on Foot Festival (Sept. 11, artsonfoot.org), Michael Berman and furniture craftsman Matthew Falls have jump-started the collaboration of fine arts and functionality on F Street.
At a time when everything from canvas to carpeting gets digitized, the duo is celebrating the second anniversary of Caos on F, their showroom that specializes in hand-painted furniture. The partnership evolved into an audacious arts movement when classically trained Berman began painting on Fall's furniture. Recognizing the resulting work's character, Berman soon marshaled a slew of DC-based artists. "Next thing we knew, we had created a coalition," says Falls, who has been constructing furniture for three decades.
Since its inception, the "Caos"-Coalition of Artists on Shore- has expanded to include a revolving roster of attests, often drawn from local festivals, markets and schools. Paintbrushes in hand, artists embrace the collaborative concept, working both individually and cohesively to create current, contemporary and functional art worthy of DC's hippest homes.
The firm's newly launched textile line, Caos on Fabric, is exclusively composed of hand-painted designs available by silk, linen and cotton yardage, suited for interior window treatments and upholstery. Artists also create large-scale art panels that serve as instant, vibrant home decor. Embodying Berman and Fall's vision of a grassroots fine arts movement, Caoso n F proves that home is where the art is.