At last Design Miami Friedman Benda – a gallery representing an international roster of established and emerging designers designers who create historically significant work and are at the forefront of their practice spanning six continents and multiple generations – unveiled KAWSxCampana, a collaboration between American artist KAWS and Brazilian designers Fernando and Humberto Campana, leading creative forces in contemporary art and design.Considered one of the most relevant artists of his generation, Brian Donnelly currently best known as KAWS (b. 1974) engages audiences beyond the museums and galleries worldwide in which he regularly exhibits. KAWSxCampana is one of the latest projects from the artist’s acclaimed multi-disciplinary practice, which includes paintings, murals, large-scale sculptures, graphic and product design. With humour and playful intricacy, he draws inspiration and appropriates from pop culture animations to form a unique artistic vocabulary across various mediums. Pioneers in the global design landscape, Fernando (b. 1961) and Humberto Campana (b. 1953), formed Estudio Campana in 1983 in Sao Paulo, Brazil. A radical departure from the modernist aesthetic dominant in Brazil of the time, Estudio Campana fearlessly combined sculptural and design sensibilities to create a revolutionary new discipline. Pairing traditional craftsmanship with industrial techniques and unconventional materials, Estudio Campana investigates concepts of cultural over-consumption, transformation and reinvention through their designs. Estudio Campana’s works can be found in over 40 public collections, including the Museum of Modern Art in New York and Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris. Founded in 2007, Friedman Benda gallery’s exhibitions and publications have played a vital role in the development of the contemporary design market and education, and take a comprehensive approach to work that intersects the fields of design, craft and art. Photography by Daniel Kukla
