By Pilar Viladas
A new show of work by Humberto Campana less than two years after the death of his sibling and partner, Fernando.
Last Thursday the New York gallery Friedman Benda opened “On the Road,” a look at the work of the Campana Studio, which is celebrating its 40th anniversary.
This is the gallery’s fifth showcase of the studio, which was founded by the Brazilian brothers Fernando and Humberto Campana in 1984 — before they became a design-world sensation for pieces like an armchair composed of raw wood pieces reminiscent of the cobbled-together houses in Brazilian favelas, and lounge chairs upholstered in stuffed animals. But it is the first since Fernando’s unexpected death, at age 61, in November 2022.
This exhibition offers a look at how the studio, under Humberto’s direction, is carrying on the brothers’ work.
Humberto, 70, called Fernando’s passing “a tremendous loss,” but one that “has given me a lot of inspiration — in dreams and intuition.” He came up with the exhibition’s title, he said, “to show where we came from — the southern continent, which is both big and small, rich and poor.”
The Campanas were known for using local materials and techniques, and the exhibition will include pieces from the Capim Dourado series, including a wood buffet in which the golden-toned fiber of that name is turned into roundels that elegantly adorn the exterior. Humberto also experimented with aluminum scraps (a material introduced to him by Fernando), which became mirror frames, light fixtures and benches, their curly texture adding a glamorous, slightly Baroque aura.
