The British designer utilises craftsmanship techniques for the exhibition at Friedman Benda NY, crafting furniture designs from English oak and Purbeck marble.
By Bansari Paghdar
Friedman Benda, known for representing pioneering contemporary artists and designers in the United States, unveils renowned British designer Faye Toogood’s fourth solo exhibition, Assemblage 7: Lost and Found II, at their exhibition space in New York. The artist draws parallels between working on furniture designs and carrying out an ‘archaeological dig’, as she imagines every piece as an object lost in time, waiting to be discovered. “The block was a landscape and I was finding my treasure within this block,” says Toogood in the press release. Exploring all things lost through British craftsmanship and materiality, Toogood introduces several pieces, including Plot, Cairn, Barrow, Hill, Hoard and Lode, reclaiming their significance and identity.
Born in 1977 in the United Kingdom, Toogood worked as a prop stylist after graduating in 1998 with a BA in the History of Art before establishing Studio Toogood in London in 2008. Her fascination with art history has been inspiring her to reinterpret traditional tropes and references, reinventing new styles. Besides limited edition furniture designs at her studio, she also practices clothing and interior design, along with design brand collaborations under the Toogood label. The interrelated Assemblage series is among the standout projects in Toogood’s diverse portfolio, where she weaves concepts, forms and materials that are of personal significance.
Assemblage 5, inspired by the artist’s visit to Henri Matisse’s Chapelle du Rosaire de Vence in France, was Toogood’s first collaboration with Friedman Benda in 2017, where she explored the ancient animist notions of the moon, earth and water. With the intent of crafting a new design vocabulary by unlearning the ingrained process of design, the artist presented Assemblage 6: Unlearning earlier in 2020 at the design gallery, recasting everyday materials from her studio. Her third solo exhibition with Friedman Benda, Assemblage 7: Lost and Found, showcased Plot, Barrow, Cairn, and Mound pieces that were hidden from sight and later reclaimed—similar to archaeological sights being discovered—and took place in 2022 in Los Angeles.
A continuation of the Lost and Found exhibition, the Lost and Found II utilises the same design concept and materials as the former but through a distinct design lens. The artist uses English oak, which is widely used in the country for timber design and construction and finishes it with shellacking, a British furniture craftsmanship technique dating back to the 18th century. Toogood sources the Purbeck marble, a rare limestone containing shell fossils, from a quarry in Dorset’s Isle of Purbeck.
After outlining the conceptual design forms by modelling clay, the furniture designer works on highlighting the stratigraphy of the materials through carving and chiselling by hand, revealing its distinct pattern, colour and texture. The design exhibition comprises bench and chair designs such as Cairn, Plot II, Channel Bench, Lode I and II and Pile, along with table designs such as Hoard I and II, Barrow, Hill and the Pit side table with shutters that conceal storage. The pieces feature individual components interlocked and arranged in an asymmetric 3D composition, almost acting as art sculptures that transport one to an era of the past.
Faye Toogood’s Assemblage 7: Lost and Found II exhibition is a testament to her skilled craftsmanship and all-encompassing design vision that prioritises every tiny detail. The sculptural designs evoke almost a monolithic quality with their heavy components and evenly textured surfaces. The British artist pays homage to the artisans of her homeland by using traditional techniques and transforming two of the most significant materials in the history of British architecture from objects of the past into contemporary design pieces.
Faye Toogood’s ‘Assemblage 7: Lost and Found II’ exhibition is on view from January 11 – March 15, 2025, at Friedman Benda’s New York gallery.
