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OBSESSIONS. DECORATION. SALIENT FACTS. 28 G isela Borghi's online store, Ora et Labora, represents emerging and independent designers in Italy and Argentina. The photographer and stylist has ties to both countries: She was born in Buenos Aires and reared in Tuscany. The clothing, jewelry, and home textiles she imports are also sold at pop- ups throughout the country, including Denver, where Ora et Labora co-owner and Dallas native Mary Margaret Hocker lives. This month, Ora et Labora pops up at antiques emporium Wolf Hall for a month-long showcase of Hocker and Borghi's coveted collection. Borghi forges personal relationships with the artisans and designers, sometimes trekking into the mountains where they work. "They have a determination to keep the traditions alive," she says. "They still use the noble materials they always have, and design in the traditions of their culture. I help put them in a modern environment." Ora et Labora works with several textile designers, including one in Patagonia, where fine knit clothing is loomed from THE GAUCHO WAY ART NOTES P owerful Pairing: A t w o - p e r s o n show can be tricky to pull off, but when it succeeds, it amplifies the message and media of both talents. Such is the case with "Reckoning: Annabel Livermore & Mary McCleary" at Kirk Hopper Fine Art (December 8 –January 12). Both Texas-based iconoclasts practice outside traditional isms, dealing in ritual, narrative, fable, and the arcane while pulling from current events. Nacogdoches- b a s e d M c C l e a r y 's d e n s e encrustations of collage dialogue with the expressionist, painterly visions of Livermore, who resides in El Paso. Texas art historian, scholar, and curator Susie Kalil organized the exhibition. Trust the Public, Once Again: Artist, book publisher, graphic designer, and curator Brian Gibb is always reinventing himself and refreshing his art space, The Public Trust. After a brief temporary closure, the gallery is back, with ambitious programming. Good news: Gibb still holds court in the Design District, rolling out his new space at 2042 Irving Boulevard. His inaugural show highlights name sounds familiar, there's good reason: Shelter's uncle is master sculptor Richard Serra. At The Public Trust, we've got dibs on Shelter's handmade blue Birkin handbag sculpture. (He's no stranger to luxury goods, having done collaborations with Chanel and Helmut Lang.) Stay tuned for more talents to collect in Gibbs' stable including; coming in 2019 are solos for Miley Cyrus- fave Dan Lam and photographer Dan Winters. Catherine D. Anspon organic merino wool and cotton. Many of the goods are inspired by the traditional gaucho culture, such as polo belts cured with salt under the sun and unprocessed felted-wool gaucho hats. Jewelry comes from Italy, such as Etruscan-inspired designs in bronze and Pietra Serena stone. Borghi's designers in Buenos Aires work with indigenous communities across Argentina to translate traditional designs into wool rugs with natural dyes. Ora et Labora pop-up throughout December, at Wolf Hall, 122 Howell St., wolfhallantiques. com; oetl.com. Rebecca Sherman Shelter Serra's Homemade Hermes Birkin Bag (Aqua), 2018, at The Public Trust COURTESY THE ARTIST AND THE PUBLIC TRUST Mary Margaret Hocker Ora et Labora's alpaca wrap and collar an artist making his Dallas debut, Shelter Serra, whose sculptural works comment on current events, geopolitics, and consumer culture (through January 5, 2019). If the Annabel Livermore's October 22, 2010, the night 13 young innocent people were gunned down in their host's home, while celebrating a birthday party, 2010, at Kirk Hopper Fine Art COURTESY THE ARTIST AND KIRK HOPPER FINE ART