Friedman Benda presents a group installation at the 2024 edition of TEFAF

Mar 29, 2024Architecture & Design

Wendell Castle, Just in Time, 2017

Raphael Navot, Threefold (Right), 2022

Studio Raw Material, Khokar Console, 2024

New York, NY (April 1, 2024) – For the 2024 edition of TEFAF New York, Friedman Benda is pleased to present a group installation focused on material exploration and excellence in making.

Leading the booth presentation is Wendell Castle’s Just in Time (2017), a center table in bronze that highlights the late American master’s unique sculptural vocabulary.

An exciting debut voice is India-based Studio Raw Material. The design duo explores the concept of geology in terms of material and process. Khokar Console (2024) features architectural compositions of stacked marble offcuts, assembled with artisans using no adhesive or hardware.

Distinct approaches to material transformation are highlighted throughout the installation.

Swiss designer Ini Archibong debuts his new foray into carved stone. Through his surprising handling of a rare type of Verde Lapponia marble, Archibong synthesizes his dedication to craftsmanship and the integrity of the material with his unyielding visual language.

Paris-based Raphael Navot sees organic shapes as a universal language. His Threefold chair (2022) is an homage to the natural world – “a supported sliced pebble that becomes a usable surface”. The contrast of cannelle velvet with hard concrete marks Navot’s mastery of the subtle nuances of texture, form, palette, and material.

Debuting a new series of sculptural objects at the fair, Toledo-born Thaddeus Wolfe works with his unique improvisatory process that combines glass blowing, casting, and coldworking.

Los Angeles’s design-duo Farrell Hundley will present for the first time with the gallery in New York. Three distinct works highlight their signature technique of lost-wax casting. The poetic visual language rises from the pair’s exploration of mythological symbolism from ancient civilizations.

In direct conversation, Toronto-born ceramicist Kristin McKirdy presents a group of exquisite flat-cut geometric objects. These surgically precise works draw inspiration from human figures while addressing the primeval “container” concept of the clay – she builds up her volumes around empty space and raises a skin that encases an ideal volume.

Other artists presented include Estúdio Campana, Nicole Cherubini, Carmen D’Apollonio, gt2P, Misha Kahn, and Jonathan Trayte.

Fair Information

Park Avenue Armory, 643 Park Avenue, New York, NY 10065

May 9 | by invitation only

May 10 – 14 | public

About Friedman Benda

Friedman Benda identifies and advances key narratives that intersect contemporary design, craft, architecture, fine art, and cutting-edge technological research. The gallery promotes synthesis between leading creative thinkers and makers by creating opportunities to advance new connections within the global design community. Friedman Benda is committed to a critical view of design history. We aim to expand the design dialogue from its established sources, exploring perspectives that have previously been marginalized. Spanning five continents and five generations, Friedman Benda represents a roster of seminal established and emerging designers, as well as historically significant estates. With locations in New York and Los Angeles, the gallery’s exhibitions, publications and collaborations with institutions have played a vital role in the development of the contemporary design market and scholarship since 2007. For further information please visit www.friedmanbenda.com and the gallery’s Instagram @friedman_benda and YouTube channel @FriedmanBenda.