Philbrook Museum of Art’s next exhibit sounds as if it should be displayed in a science lab instead of sharing a roof with Picasso. Welcome to the wonderfully inventive world of Brazil’s Campana brothers.
Antibodies: The Works of Fernando & Humberto Campana, 1989-2009 opens July 15 in Tulsa and runs through Oct. 7. The collection features furniture design by the pair. Humberto was a self-taught artist with a law degree, and Fernando had trained to be an architect. Right away, their furniture sculptures stirred the art scene in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
Chairs are hand woven, and plush seating bears resemblance to sea anemone and other creatures subterranean or subcutaneous. Simple tables and ottomans look capable of locomotion via means seen but through a microscope. This retrospective show of the Campana brothers’ work across two decades was created by the Vitra Design Museum in Weil am Rhein in Germany.
Two years ago, Philbrook announced a partnership with the Vitra Design Museum. Since its beginnings in 1989, the design museum has become one of the most renowned cultural institutions recognized for its research and promotion of design and architecture. The arrangement means Philbrook is the only place you will experience the exhibit for more than 200 miles.
Antibodies is the first of three Vitra collections planned for exhibit in Tulsa through 2016 and a fine complement to Philbrook’s own efforts to expand its collection of contemporary design pieces in addition to its fine art holdings.
The exhibit, divided into nine modules (Fragmentos, Hibridos, etc.), brings an exciting visual language in color, shape and unexpected materials to the ordinary.
For more, go online to www.philbrook.org.
