Edward Barber and Jay Osgerby joined Haunch of Venison in 2011. They are two of the most innovative designers working in Britain today. Recently chosen to design the Olympic Torch for the London 2012 Games, they engage in many forms of design, from industrial design to architecture.
Their first exhibition at the gallery opened in September 2011 and received widespread acclaim from the design community; entitled Ascent, the exhibition presented 8 new pieces by Barber and Osgerby inspired by the structures and engineered forms of moving craft; Forms that have, what Barber and Osgerby refer to as, ‘hidden design’. ‘Those things that have evolved or that have been engineered to move swiftly through air or water often have an intrinsic formal beauty.’ Says Jay Osgerby.
Ascent referenced these moving craft, for example in the fin-like shape of Foil V, a wall mounted brass structure, or the satellite shape of Planform Array V, an angular, hanging chandelier comprising of 8 segments that are fixed around a central axis. The restrained, refined approach Barber and Osgerby have to design is made visual in their pieces for Ascent, with form and structure becoming the main focus of the work. The pieces keenly illustrate the architectural quality of Barber and Osgerby’s practice, by virtue of their size and enclosure-like forms. This is never more apparent than in Frame 1, a large, wall-mounted structure, which the pair has sought out a British boat builder to make. Barber and Osgerby’s love of craftsmanship and remarkable attention to detail come into play with Planform Array V and Planform Array H, two chandeliers with 8 and 14 segments respectively. The frame-like segments are covered with a handmade Japanese paper that has been hand-stitched onto each segment.
Barber and Osgerby’s new collaboration with Haunch of Venison has taken their work into new areas of experimentation. These limited edition works allow them to collaborate with craft skills, new materials and processes that would be too prohibitive to use when designing for mass production.
Since founding their studio 15 years ago, after graduating from the RCA in Architecture, Barber and Osgerby have developed productive relationships with some of the most well respected companies in the world. When they started out their goal was to design either for Flos, Capellini and Vitra, They now design for all three, a rare achievement; Flos, arguably the world’s best lighting company produced the pair’s tab light which has already been bought be several museum collections. Winners of the Jerwood Prize in 2007, the judges said ‘The work combines clarity, coherence and beauty. It is a real marriage of craft and design; that is both fresh and classic and shows a true grasp of material and form."
