Friedman Benda presents ‘Assemblage 6: Unlearning’ by Faye Toogood on September 10

Friedman Benda is pleased to present British artist Faye Toogood’s second solo exhibition at the gallery, Assemblage 6: Unlearning, opening September 10, 2020.

Assemblage 6 marks a dramatic rupture in Faye Toogood’s creative trajectory, in which she has set out to ‘unlearn’ the process of design, and build it up again from scratch. This has led her to a conflation of furniture and sculpture, which draws upon the shifting perspectives encountered in childhood fables. The playful qualities of rough-hewn maquettes, broken up by the corrugations of crumpled paper and masking tape, are recast at functional scale – daybeds, chairs and consoles, manufactured in cast bronze, wrought iron and rough canvas.

Taken as a whole, the collection suggests how deceptive first appearances can be. Trompe-l’oeil effects imitate the twisted wires and taped cardboard of the original models, preserving the creative steps that led to their own genesis even as the true materials of their construction are disguised. The designs suggest the aleatory qualities of folk art or found objects – yet every crinkle and crease has been carefully considered and recreated. And though they still evoke a moment of unforced naïveté, in which a shape is first roughed out, their imposing physicality betrays the involvement of numerous skilled hands.

Glenn Adamson, Senior Scholar at the Yale Center for British Art, comments, “Faye Toogood’s new Assemblage is a tour de force of thinking and making, which hides in plain sight. Through an ingenious set of imitative processes, she and her team have devised a way to do justice to that first, instinctive moment that a form comes into being. There is tremendous energy in this moment, and each work in the Assemblage is in effect a monument to that quality of instantaneous creativity.”
View Faye Toogood’s Design in Dialogue discussion, hosted by Glenn Adamson.

About Faye Toogood

Faye Toogood was born in the UK in 1977 and graduated with a BA in the History of Art in 1998 from Bristol University. She founded “Studio Toogood” in 2008 and “Faye Toogood” in 2010, both in London. Recent international exhibitions of Toogood’s include The Design Museum, Ghent (2020), Harewood House (2019), National Gallery of Victoria (2018-2019), Dallas Museum of Art (2018-2019), and the Pizzuti Collection of the Columbus Museum of Art (2018-2019). Her works have been acquired for the permanent collections of institutions worldwide, including the Philadelphia Museum of Art, Dallas Museum of Art, High Museum of Art, The Corning Museum of Glass, Denver Museum of Art and The National Gallery of Victoria in Melbourne
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 four generations, Friedman Benda represents a roster of seminal established and emerging designers, as well as historically significant estates. Since 2007, the gallery’s exhibitions, publications and collaborations with institutions have played a vital role in the development of the contemporary design market and scholarship. For further information please visit www.friedmanbenda.com and the gallery’s Instagram, @friedman_benda, and YouTube channel.

Media Contact: Christina Allan