NEW YORK, NY.- London-based designers Edward Barber and Jay Osgerby present their new exhibition, ‘One by One’, a collection of ceramics, graphite drawings and watercolours. The show marks their first exhibition with the Josée Bienvenu Gallery in New York.

The exhibition is focused on a group of ceramics and the collection has roots in experimentation. Barber and Osgerby tested clays and glazed a few years ago while designing a collection of tableware in 2015. This experimentation inspired Edward Barber and Jay Osgerby to produce this exhibition.

“We were testing clays and glazes a couple of years ago whilst developing a collection of tableware and we were struck by the imprecision of the process. Clay reacts unpredictably especially when fused with glazes.

Much of our work as industrial designers is concerned with control and perfection in manufacture, there is rarely any space for serendipity. This way of working is erratic, fast, expressive and exciting, the antithesis of, and antidote to, our day-to-day exacting design practice.” – Edward Barber & Jay Osgerby

The tiles use both black and terracotta bodied clay with a natural colour palette of black, white and terracotta slips. Each tile was produced by pouring a liquid slip over a clay tile in a single motion. The result is a collection of pieces in natural colours and tones, each with an intense natural quality.

As a counterpoint to the ceramics, a series of graphite drawings feature elements of Barber and Osgerby's design work. In isolation, these elevational drawings take on a new abstract quality as they capture the essence of the objects they contributed to shape.