Daniella On Design
  • Blog
  • About
  • Design Education
  • Store

Misha Kahn: Soft Bodies, Hard Spaces

3/7/2020

1 Comment

 
Picture
Misha Kahn opened his third solo exhibition at Friedman Benda last week and hosted my class in discussing the pieces, the process, the narrative, and what they mean. I was introduced to him at his first solo show four years ago. He was 27, created a space of chaos, full of tapestries, painted tiles, enormous chandeliers, furniture made in concrete and found materials, marking a new direction in the gallery towards presenting a new movement in contemporary design: surreal, colorful, irregular, emotional, poetic, object blurring the line between art and design.

As Kahn developed so did his production methods, and with a representation by the gallery Friedman Benda, everything is possible. Kahn's work is now being collected by museums and private collectors interested in the most cutting-edge expression of contemporary design. The new exhibition, entitled 'Soft Bodies, Hard Spaces' marks the evolution of the vocabulary and the definition of a distinctive, signature style. The Chaos is there, the imagination, and so the adventure, while all informed by the theme softness, which is everywhere. Softness, to Kahn embodies us, people. Softness also marks an optimistic attitude for the goodness in the world.  

The visit to the show with Kahn was rewarding. In his personal, open, candid style, he spoke about the process of creating this ambitious show, about the obstacles, experimentation, teaching us all how to better engage with his objects. Each of them has its own story, not only for what it says, but also for the way it was fabricated. Glass, wood, bronze, fiberglass, ceramics, textile, are all used in his own way in creating interlocking forms and objects of fantasy. There are many wonderful pieces here, and I particularly loved the room divider (above), which resulted from a recent residency at Corning Glass, where free-formed blocks of colorful glass were fitted into an irregular skeleton cast in aluminum. For my, the wooden table is the least successful piece in the show, as I sense that Kahn's vocabulary is better expressed in fiberglass, metal, stone, and glass.  
 
One of the most touching components of Kahn's work is the fresh, almost naïve way in which he thinks about materials and processes, where each piece is resolved individually, and then comes to play a role in the whole story. He demonstrates that creating design today has to come from within, that it has to represent originality and uncommonness, that the visible is only one layer in the way we should engage with his objects. And what seems 'fun' at first sight, is actually a product of long research, of endless experimentation, of taking risks, and of thinking outside of the box.
 
The exhibition is open at Friedman Benda through April 4.  
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
1 Comment
Carole Hochman
3/10/2020 08:31:16 am

Thanks so much Daniella. So wonderful having you and your group at the gallery to meet with Misha and she is exhibition.

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    Picture

    ABOUT

    Picture
    Picture

    MY VIDEOS

    Video Series

    Collecting Design

    Conversations


    CONTACT

    daniella.ohad.nyc@gmail.com

    CATEGORIES


    NEWSLETTER


    ARCHIVES

    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016


    View Our Shop For Limited Edition Items
    SHOP

    RSS Feed

Picture
Home  |  About  |  Contact | Shop
Daniella On Design 2014-2019. All Rights Reserved.