Friedman Benda is pleased to present, On the Same Subject, Raphael Navot’s first solo gallery exhibition. On the Same Subject marks the culmination of an ongoing four-year collaboration with the gallery and serves as a commentary on Navot’s own evolution as a designer.
A polymath designer acclaimed for his retail and hospitality spaces and private residences, Navot references his own daily drawing practice to liberate himself from preconceived expectations. Free to question every step and choice in the creative process, Navot uses this opportunity to reflect on the rigorous journey from first concept to realized physical work. “By forgetting the destination and reversing the method, you’re leaving the intention to navigate around the many facets of the same subject,” he states.
One of the rising form-givers in the field, Navot communicates through a collective language harnessing the power of universal symbolic archetypes. An homage to the natural world, this series features a dialogue between handcraft and the natural landscape—referring to the very origins of furniture: “a pile of rounded rocks that invites sitting, a supported sliced pebble that becomes a usable surface. These compositions consider the idea of comfort as both mental and physical,” Navot states.
The final body of work on view synthesizes a myriad of artistic decisions: proportion, volume, material, palette, construction, motif. Pairing European traditional handcraftsmanship with cutting-edge technology such as robotics and 3D printing, this body of work symbolizes the next frontier of high craft with materials ranging from bronze, wood, fossil stone, to eco-resin and recycled PLA.
The exhibition is accompanied by a catalouge with an essay contributed by Glenn Adamson.
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About Raphael Navot
Born in 1977 in Jerusalem, Raphael Navot graduated from the Design Academy Eindhoven with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Conceptual Design in 2003. After graduation, Navot established his own studio in Paris to explore design and interior architecture. A multidisciplinary designer, his notable projects such as David Lynch’s Club Silencio, Hôtel National des Arts et Métiers, Le 39V restaurant in Paris, the Belle Plage hotel in Cannes, and the library and art gallery at the Domaine des Etangs estate in Massignac, France. Navot has collaborated with brands such as Alessi, Cappellini, Venini, Loro Piana, and Roche Bobois for which he won the 2020 Elle Deco International Design award. He lives and works in Paris, France.
