Tag: friedman benda

Raphael Navot at Friedman Benda Gallery

Paris-based designer Raphael Navot’s furniture, now on view at Friedman Benda Gallery, begs to be touched. The gallery explains that the soft, curving forms of this couch, titled ‘Entwined,’ demonstrate the concept of comfort as something experienced both mentally and physically.  Though velvet upholstery resembles the surface of rock, and Navot intends to harken back to what the gallery calls the first furniture, ‘a pile of rounded rocks,’ the sheer tactility of the sofa’s sweeping curves makes softness irrelevant.  (On view in Chelsea through Dec 10th).

Raphael Navot, Entwined, velvet, bronze, fiberglass, 3D-milled foam, 36.75 x 56.25 inches, 2022.

Mattias Sellden at Friedman Benda Gallery

Swedish designer Mattias Sellden’s eureka moment, when he settled on his signature use of minimally processed planks of wood to create dynamic furniture items, came from a simple aversion to altering a piece of wood he admired.  Calling the creations now on view at Friedman Benda his ‘little wooden friends,’ Sellden allows his audience to find use-value in the constructions or simply enjoy them as they are.  (On view through August 12th).

Mattias Sellden, Sunset Giraffe, curly birch, birch, varnish, pigment, 50.5 x 23.5 x 17.75 inches, 2021.

Jonathan Trayte at Friedman Benda

Art & design merge in British artist Jonathan Trayte’s otherworldly habitat at Friedman Benda, where a chaise longue doubles as a lamp and a pink bedframe made out of pipes questions the use-value of sculpture.  Here, an irresistible painted bronze, steel, foam and neon sculpture titled Kandi defies explanation while enticing with its organic forms and pink glow. (On view in Chelsea through July 27th).

Jonathan Trayte, Kandi, painted bronze, stainless steel, foam, polymer plaster, pigments, adhesive, nylon flock, neon, 42.5 x 43.25 x 13.75 inches, 2018.

Wendell Castle at Friedman Benda Gallery

These three dynamically twisting wooden seat sculptures by Wendell Castle come from a series titled Free Form, a musical reference that speaks to the artist’s & musician’s life-long interest. Though their solid forms are weighty, they appear to twist like a quick-growing vine. (On view at Friedman Benda through August 11th).

Installation view of ‘Wendell Castle: Embracing Upheaval’ at Friedman Benda Gallery through August 11th.

Nendo: 50 Manga Chairs at Friedman Benda Gallery

Does your furniture say something about your personality? Japanese design group Nendo goes a step further, suggesting that chairs themselves have personality, as demonstrated by fifty stainless steel seats. All were inspired by manga and intended to convey mood or attitude. Enhanced by swirling projections on the gallery walls, the chair in the foreground looks like it’s just arrived from another dimension, eager to please. (At Chelsea’s Friedman Benda through Oct 29th).

Nendo: 50 Manga Chairs, installation view, Friedman Benda, Sept 2016.
Nendo: 50 Manga Chairs, installation view, Friedman Benda, Sept 2016.