Geraldo de Barros

Stool

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Previously exhibited at Basel 2021.

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Description/

This stool certified by Fabiana de Barros daughter of Geraldo de Barros was produced in 1956 by Geraldo de Barros’ most important venture as a furniture designer. In 1954 de Barros founded Unilabor, a co-operative furniture manufacturer that became a mechanism of modernization from below.

Unilabor was unity in work and a unity through work. A self-managed factory was run by the workers, it was a system of production that aimed to unify not only form and function, but also a living community and production processes. The discreet beauty of Unilabor furniture pieces is certainly informed by this balance of forces. In its context, Unilabor became a social model. It was a working environment perceived as healthy. It was created to be less a company, more a community.

Literature
Unilabor, by Mauro Claro. Brasil, 2004. Senac SP; Arquitetura e Urbanismo edition (2004); Brazilian Modern Design, Alberto Vicente, Mar- celo Vasconcellos, Olhares Edicioes, 2017. Page 281.

Provenance
Private collection, Sao Paulo

Exhibitions
Side Gallery, Barcelona, Unilabor: A terceira Via, Apr 19 2018 – Jul 12 2018
Opelvillen Rüsselsheim, Frankfurt, Unilabor, Möbel und Fotografien, Sep 25 2019 – Jan 12 2020

Geraldo de Barros

designer

Geraldo de Barros (February 27, 1923 – April 17, 1998) was a Brazilian painter and photographer who also worked in engraving, graphic arts, and industrial design. He was a leader of the concrete art movement in Brazil, co-founding Grupo Ruptura and was known for his trailblazing work in experimental abstract photography and modernism. According to The Guardian, De Barros was "one of the most influential Brazilian artists of the 20th century." De Barros is best known for his Fotoformas (1946-1952), a series of photographs that used multiple exposures, rotated images, and abstracted forms to capture a phenomenological experience of Brazil's exponential urbanization in the mid-twentieth century.