Misha Kahn: All Intensive Purposes

A sprawling cast-metal dining table, complete with a sculpted torn napkin and scraps of food, appears among the new works in Misha Kahn‘s All Intensive Purposes at Friedman Benda in New York. Its glass-and-stone surface introduces a surprising degree of order to an object assembled from seemingly accidental gestures. Elsewhere, an onyx table adopts the appearance of a far more roughly constructed piece.

The exhibition marks ten years of collaboration between Kahn and the gallery, following his interest in the unpredictable paths of making. New upholstered furniture incorporates exaggerated forms and graphic surfaces, while multilayered plywood becomes the basis for sculptural objects. The title deliberately alters the familiar phrase ‘all intents and purposes,’ placing the emphasis on experimentation itself.