'polifonia campana' debuts at luciana brito galeria in são paulo

‘Polifonia Campana’ attests to the brothers’ polyvalent vision

At its new location in São Paulo, Luciana Brito Galeria presents its first exhibition by Fernando and Humberto Campana titled ‘Polifonia Campana’. Altogether, around fifty artworks, most shown for the first time, occupy all of the gallery’s spaces, in direct dialogue with the vintage residence designed by architect Rino Levi and 1958 landscaping by Burle Max, activating its habitable characteristics and creating contrasts through the juxtaposition of materials. The gallery is thereby transformed, presenting, for the first time, the plurality of the ‘Campana DNA.’

‘Polifonia Campana spotlights not only the polyvalence of the Campana brothers, but also the representativity of their continuous and consistent trajectory, rooted in the truth of the materials, constructed by the artists in nearly forty years of work. […] The word campana, which means ‘bell’ in Italian, reverberates in the title ‘Polifonia Campana’ in a visual sonority that transposes our senses and evokes the Brazilian identity through the materials, forms, colors and textures,’ writes Luciana Brito Galeria.

all images © Edouard Fraipont

where the brazilian vernacular meets modernism

This recent collaboration with Luciana Brito Galeria is the first for the brothers. Renewing its programs and exhibitions, the gallery has relocated to Residência Castor Delgado Perez, an impressive building designed in 1958 by architect Rino Levi, jointly with Brazilian master Roberto Burle Marx, for its remarkable gardens. All rooms host works that establish a dialogue between the vernacular – a leitmotif in the Campana brothers’ compositions – and the house’s modernist design. Interestingly, materials such as charcoal, bamboo, and Styrofoam reveal counterpoints with classic elements such as concrete, glass, and wood.

‘Sofá Cratera’ (2022)

As one of the show highlights, Fernando and Humberto Campana developed a brand-new series of pieces in terracotta to occupy the gallery’s Annex Space. Titled ‘Sopro na argila’, the collection features small tables and lamps that recover not only the Brazilian regional typology, but also the artists’ affective memory.

Returning to their origins in Brotas, these works revisit Campana’s relationships with their surroundings during childhood and adolescence and the discovery of one of the first materials of their repertoire: clay. Essential in Brazilian vernacular culture, the clay receives tones of contemporaneity in the hands of the artist duo, raising it from the banal to the original. The materials’ manifestation has always guided the Campana brothers’ research, conferring identity and revealing histories.

In addition to the clay series, the exhibition spotlights ‘Sofá Cratera’ (2022), made by hand in leather and Styrofoam, for the Modernist Room, ‘Babel’ lamp (2022), the ‘Cobogó’ tables (2020) and ‘Botânica’ installation (2022) which links the room to the garden through its transparency. Finally, in the former bedroom, the ‘Corallo’ bed (2019) and ‘Espelho Carvão’ mirror (2022) put the finishing touches on the house’s most private space. For their part, the gardens by Burle Marx receive the ‘Campana de Carvão’ bronze bell (2022), as well as the ‘Cocar’ stainless steel vases (2022), ‘Foguete’ vase (2022), and ‘Eterea I’ (2022), at the gallery’s entrance.

‘Corallo’ bed (2019) and ‘Espelho Carvão’ mirror (2022)

Beyond design, the ensemble of the artworks also includes stand-alone works attesting to the creative independence of the brothers individually, such Fernando Campana’s structures, involving the combination of diverse and contrasting materials such as lead, plastic, wood, and resin, as well as a selection of drawings on paper.

‘Campana brothers’ work trespasses the boundaries of our everyday lives and design practices. With the capacity to adventure in other fields and to experiment with new techniques, the duo goes from industrial design for major international furniture brands to limited edition pieces, from materials research to creating authentic art pieces. Their irrational approach and an ethical design vision lead to limited use of technology and privileging of recycled resources. Here we see a departure from a rigid interpretation of design, materials, and construction processes which characterizes any of their productions,’ continues the gallery.

‘Sopro na argila’ clay series (2022)

a deeper dive into the duo’s 40-year-long boundless expression

Since 1984, the designers have created iconic products using recycled and natural ‘ingredients’ in a triumph of shapes and colors. When considering the ingenuity, the use of unusual fabrics and real stuffed animals, and the short-circuit between message and form, one can say the Campana’s story is a Brazilian story, representing somehow the fascinating and peculiar mix of cultures of the country.

Estúdio Campana, based in the residential area of Vila Anglo-Brasileira of São Paulo, has always given various forms and various meanings to the word ‘transformation’ turning ordinary objects into precious ones. Now, with the unfolding of ‘Polifonia Campana’, the public is witnessing a real transformation of a collection of objects into a collection of works of art.

‘Sopro na argila’ clay series (2022)

Indeed, the site-specific works present a plurality of typology of pieces, materials, processes, and techniques in an assortment in which one can read their whole career, mirroring once again a bridge between the disciplines of art and design. From the Terracotta pieces, a series of primitive-looking small clay tables in a material highly appreciated by Campanas, to the surreal and wild bench ‘Esse’, which includes the beloved brass animals at the two sides, from the nature-inspired 70-centimeter-high chandelier ‘Babel’, to the almost two-meter tall ‘Cocar’ vase, a stainless-steel piece that resembles some indigenous crowns. Another hereo feature is the use of a light textile for the ‘Botânica’ curtain with its vivid color-blocks fuchsia and purple

In 2024, the Campana brothers will celebrate 40 years of their studio’s activity, 40 years of artistic expression, and boundless research, narrated with extreme freedom in different fields. Since the studio’s inception, their design vision has always been peculiar and pretty much close to real people’s lives; the slant of sharing, building together, and spreading hope via dignity brought the Campana to create the foundation of Instituto Campana in 2009 with which they carry out a solid program to concretely help underserved inhabitants by collaborating in craftsmanship workshops to create unique objects and much more. Here design becomes a beneficial social transformation.