Art Knowledge News
Vitra Design Museum presents "The Works of Fernando + Humberto Campana" |
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| Written by rubin |
| Wednesday, 20 May 2009 04:43 |
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The Campanas’ “Favela” and “Vermela” armchairs, both produced by the Italian furniture manufacturer Edra, the “Banquete” armchairs created by hand in small series in their Sao Paulo based studio, as well as their inflatable table or the “Plastico Bolha” easy chair made of bubble wrap – each of these objects rapidly became an icon of contemporary design. However, due to the fact that much of their creative work results in these limited series or one-off pieces that often are produced as private commissions, little is known of the true variety and scope of their oeuvre, which has been augmented in recent years by a number of spectacular works. Furthermore, only few attempts have been made to date to trace the guiding principles of their complex body of work.  Concept Through a series of exceptionally successful seminars that the Campanas conducted for its summer workshop program, the Vitra Design Museum established a close relationship with the pair. This association provided the basis for the preparation of this major retrospective offering an overview of their most important works as well as their background. The exhibition highlights the characteristics of an oeuvre whose preoccupation with recycling, the melding of natural and artificial materials and the simultaneity of cultures sketches out a fascinating picture of our time. From the early days up to the present, their work has navigated a narrow path between design and pure art und spawned the most astonishing collages of objects and materials: “It’s a kind of flirt with the material which stands up asking: what can we be transformed into? The material dictates the form and the function in our work.” Thus the exhibition devotes special attention to the Campanas’ working method, which is influenced by various sources of inspiration – the exuberant nature of Brazil’s primeval forests, the improvisations of street hawkers and the shacks of the slums, as well as film, music and fine art. The organization of their studio and the collaboration with external workshops as well as with international companies like Alessi, Edra or Vitra will be documented along with the interdisciplinary work on their latest projects. Biography Following a biographical introduction with data, photos, a filmed interview and the two chairs “Negativo” and “Positivo” that marked the start of the brothers’ collaboration, the exhibition goes on to present the oeuvre through the structuring of the work in regard to the fundamental formal and technical principles pursued by the Campanas since the beginning of their partnership. Each group comprises iconic key objects that define decisive steps in their career while showing the growth of formulations around these creative principles. Hybrids Following a number of experiments in the mid-1990s, the Campanas have returned in recent years to the combination of contradictory materials. The exhibition’s largest object, a sculptural seating of wicker and crystals, realized by the Campana brothers on the occasion of their appointment as Design Miami’s “Designers of the Year” in 2008, will be presented in an installation with other “Hybrids” such as the “Animado” rug of cowhide and synthetic turf from 1997. Objets Trouvés Many of the Campanas’ artistic techniques recall methods utilised by surrealist artists in their painting, graphics, sculpture or film. They link the influence of Surrealism on 20th South American art with the widespread practice of recycling prefabricated objects in their native Brazil and reinterpret these as materials for their own designs. Organics The fascination nature exerts on Fernando and Humberto Campana is especially evident in numerous pieces of furniture and accessories that take the form of living creatures: in two fruit bowls from 1990, for example, in Edra’s sofa “Kaiman Jacaré”, in their “Drosera” wall pockets for the Vitra Edition or their “Mandacarú” toys. Here as well, the subject will be illustrated by a slide show of some of their excursions.  Flexed Planes The works from the second half of the 1990s seem to hold an exceptional position within their oeuvre. All of a sudden we come across functional objects in sleek geometric forms made of industrial materials: the “Inflavel” side table produced by MoMA in New York for a number of years, the “Labirinto” shelf or the “Cone” armchair, both from 1997, are the most well known examples. At second sight, however, we recognize that these objects too owe their inspiration to a genuine Brazilian motif: the audacious Modernism of an Oscar Niemeyer or Roberto Burle Marx, which are already reflected in Humberto Campana’s sculptures of the early 1980s. Paper Pieces The Campanas work almost exclusively with inexpensive everyday materials and discovered the versatility of corrugated cardboard early on. Following a series of Vitra Design Museum’s workshops in Boisbuchet and parallel to the preparation of this exhibition, they are working with Vitra Design Museum on the development of several industrially produced utensils made of paper that the exhibition will present for the first time, along with a documentation of the process of design and production. Clusters The earliest article of daily use in the exhibition is a mirror – one of many that Humberto Campana designed in the early 1980s, excessively decorated with hundreds of seashells he had collected himself at the beach. This exuberant sensualism too is a motif which the Campanas’ work repeats in the most diverse of forms. In their limited series of “Multidao” or “Banquete” armchairs, for example, which have fetched top auction prices in recent years, the Campanas succeeded in using this impulse for their invention of new materials – another example of the recycling that has a constant presence in the streets of Sao Paulo. Exhibits The exhibition encompasses approximately 70 pieces of furniture, 13 lamps, 8 pieces of jewellery and clothing, 50 domestic objects, 20 art objects, 3 architectural models, 25 objects that the Campanas collected themselves, 4 films, 1 slideshow, approx. 10 blow-up photos. The unique exhibition is on view at the Vitra Design Museum from 16 May, 2009 through 28 February, 2010. Visit :www.design-museum.de Click on logo below to add this article to your favorite Social Website ~ |
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