Two brand new collections surprise by their subtle reinvention of uses and designs and compose ,Ovo’s installation-stand at SP Arte: Hiato (Hiatus), composed of wood and concrete armchairs that reformulate themselves into three different variables , and Vela (Sail), a series of one-of-a-kind fabric, metal and stone lamps. With marked sculpturesque character, both reaffirm essential aspects of the repertoire built by the duo Luciana Martins and Gerson de Oliveira through over three decades working together: transcendence of function while keeping their pieces useful, balance between conceptual rigor and poetic experimentalism, as well as demarcation of an imaginative terrain between the limits of design and art.

For the lamps in the Vela collection, fabrics are dislocated from their traditional role as coverings and placed as central expressive and narrative elements. Laid over lean metallic structures supported by a marble base, one or more rectangular pieces of linen dyed in gradient colors reveal the chromatism within their weaves when exposed to light, in addition to moving slightly as air blows on them.

Starting from this finding, the designers resorted to a range of variously colored stones, to linen fabrics in varied hues, and to different shapes and combinations to make every lamp a one-of-a-kind piece. Standing or hanging on a wall, composed by one or two pieces of fabric, aligned or asymmetric, supported by light or dark bases, all of them go beyond their original function of illuminating, creating also subtle chromatic atmospheres and presences to be contemplated.

With marked shapes as well, the armchairs in the Hiato series allude to a design where the elements have moved and been caught in different key positions. Taking turns in the roles of base, back, and seat—with no alteration to the angles between the top and bottom portions—concrete and cumaru wood create three sculptures for sitting, time-resistant and compatible both with internal and external spaces. With rational proportions, as if they were in a play of geometrical shapes, color, and weight, these pieces emerge as something taking their power from contrasting aspects: lightness and solidity, smoothness and roughness, light and color, evoking both design’s and nature’s textures.

Arranged in a manner to highlight rigorous formalization and the visual presence of these pieces, amplifying the invitation to contemplation they contain, these new pieces exemplify in many ways the conceptual restlessness that feeds ,Ovo’s production of furniture pieces and objects. Carrying on the experimentations started with the Rio (River) series, of rock-chairs resting on iron tripods, and the Arranjo (Arrangement) screens, superimposed colorful vertical planes, the Hiato armchairs and Vela lamps push and expand conventional ideas for and by everyday uses.