Furniture adorned with an intricate collage of gold and bronze motifs by the Campana Brothers is on show at the David Gill St James's gallery in London (+ slideshow).
Referencing ornate baroque decoration from the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, Brazilian designers Fernando and Humberto Campana created a series of items from jumbles of metal emblems and figures.
Gold and bronze keys, leaves, animals and figurines were all welded together to create elements such as the legs of stone tables and furry chairs.
Shades for floor and pendant lights were constructed in the same way, while small gold crocodiles pile up to form one of the candle holders.
Crafted in a Roman workshop specialising in bronze work, the detailed pieces were first shown at The Museum of Decorative Arts in Paris last year, though the small tables are now on show for the first time.
The Brazilian Baroque collection will be on show at David Gill St James’s, 2-4 King Street, London, until 15 June.
The duo recently exhibited five beds including one surrounded by hairy curtains in Milan and a series of items for Louis Vuitton in Miami.
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Read on for the full press release:
Campana Brothers to show new ‘Brazilian Baroque' collection in first show at David Gill St James's, 1 May – 15 June 2013
Bernini meets Brazil as David Gill Galleries prepares to host a major exhibition of works by the internationally renowned designers, the Campana Brothers. Entitled Brazilian Baroque, the exhibition opens at David Gill St James’s, 2-4 King Street, London SW1Y 6QP from 1 May to 15 June 2013.
This Brazilian Baroque collection takes its inspiration from the intensively decorative and sumptuous Baroque style of the 17th and 18th centuries, combined with the Campana Brothers’ own take on Brazilian art and culture. The collection includes new coffee tables, to be shown for the first time at David Gill Galleries, as well as a selection of works first shown at The Museum of Decorative Arts in Paris last autumn.
The Brazilian Baroque collection introduces a strongly theatrical, gothic and sensual element to the Campana Brothers’ distinctive style. The pieces on show revel in a sense of luxury, channelling the glories of the Rococo period and its sumptuous gold and bronze decoration.
Each piece is made by craftsmen in a Roman workshop, specialising in bronze work, demonstrating magnificent skill in welding together a jumble of decorative motifs – keys, leaves, cupids and crocodiles - to create organic and playful shapes which are combined with other materials. The Campana Brothers’ fascination with the natural world and their sense of humour can be clearly seen, for example, in the tiny, detailed crocodiles, which can be seen clambering up the stem of the Candelabro Coccodrilli
David Gill says: ‘The work of the Campana Brothers never fails to surprise us. Their choice of material, research and use of found and created objects makes their work new and contemporary.’
Using the purest traditions of craft techniques, the Brazilian Baroque limited edition series is a personal allegory celebrating the riches of the Campana Brothers’ style.
This exhibition of Brazilian Baroque by the Campana Brothers will be on show at David Gill St James’s, 2-4 King Street, London SW1Y 6QP until 15 June.