Edward Barber & Jay Osgerby at Haunch of Venison

24 September - 19 November '11

London

Acclaimed London based designers Edward Barber & Jay Osgerby will present an ambitious new project for their debut exhibition at Haunch of Venison, London. Barber and Osgerby 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.

Entitled Ascent, the exhibition will present 8 new pieces by Barber and Osgerby for this, their first collaboration with Haunch of Venison. The work is inspired by the structures and engineered forms of moving craft; Forms that have, what Barber and Osgerby refer to as, ‘hidden design’.

Interest in these fields originated in their respective childhoods. Osgerby grew up close to a Royal Airforce base in Oxfordshire and spent many hours watching the airplanes flying there. Barber developed a fascination with boat design while sailing as a child.

‘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 references 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.