RIO VERMELHO
Following its mission whose objective is to elevate Brazilian design by producing 100% national lighting fixtures with the participation of artisans, communities, and small factories, thus generating more business for these producers, the itens present yet another tribute to Brazilianness: the RIO VERMELHO collection.
RIO VERMELHO, a river that flows between curves, stones, and paths, which nourishes, draws, and tells the story of a people. The City of Goiás, better known as Goiás Velho, was founded on the banks of RIO VERMELHO and today is listed by Unesco. Hometown of poet Cora Coralina and designer and visual artist Marcus Camargo who signs his first collection of lamps with artistic direction by Mariana Amaral.
ONE DESIGNER, TWO MASTERS ARTISANS
With its cobbled streets and narrow alleys, many stories intersect in an inspiring context, like living poetry. The RIO VERMELHO Collection is born through the organicity of the features already characteristic in the work of designer Marcus Camargo, in dialogue with the exquisite hands of the local artisan “Castrinho”, who manually molds each piece in clay, as well as its handmade burning, celebrating nuances of colors natural terracotta and black, also obtained in the firing process. To brighten and finish off each piece with mastery, rings, rods, and brass finishes made by hand are made by the late artisan Carlos Bello and the team of his studio in São Paulo, the capital.
The multiple dialogues between contemporary design and manual art make the RIO VERMELHO Collection even more peculiar, authorial, elegant, and timeless, reinforcing the mission and the DNA of the itens
“I always liked Marcus' work a lot. He, like items, values the history of our Brazilian people, our roots. For a long time, I wanted to launch a collection using clay, but I wanted the right person to sign because, in my opinion, the material had to be part of the designer's repertoire ... One day when I came across a photo of one of Marquinhos' vases, I had an insight. I called him and asked: “- Marcus, did you know that your vases would make great lamp bases? I would like to invite you to sign a collection with us mixing our universes: clay and brass! ” I was very happy because he agreed at the time. Among many facetime calls and message exchanges, the concept and design were completed, still in 2020, at the height of the quarantine. The prototyping phase was long, due to the distance between Goiás and SP, the pandemic, the lockdown in the cities, factories stopping for lack of raw material, and also because we lost Mr. Carlos, our brass craftsman, a victim of COVID in the final stretch of the production process. After a lot of work, sweat and resilience, finally, one of our most beautiful and exciting collections is born. Gathering Marcus Camargo and itens certainly resulted in an artistic and above all-purpose meeting, where the main objective is to give voice and support to our culture, our people, and our Brazilianness, taking our art and authenticity into people's homes ”, says Mariana.
“Signing a collection for a brand as relevant as items is a very positive response to our authorial and independent work. A genuine recognition of everything I believe and do to make design and art a sensitive and transforming path ”, adds Marcus Camargo.
THE COLLECTION
The collection consists of three lamps that bear the name of elements that are directly connected to the river in the City of Goiás: PONTE, CHAFARIZ, and FONTE.
PONTE, which connects the sides of the river;
CHAFARIZ, which take water to the city;
FONTE, which washes the soul of the people in the backyard baths in colonial houses;
In addition to the three design options, the pieces have two color options: terracotta and black; and various types of finishes: polished brass, brushed brass, oxidized brass, black oxidized brass, nickel, chrome and copper.
Photos: Marcus Camargo