Friedman Benda is pleased to present, Fragments , French designer Ferréol Babin’s first solo gallery exhibition and the first time a comprehensive body of his work will be on view to the public. Fragments demonstrates Babin’s passion for craft, which permeates his life and practice. For Babin, each creative pursuit is a vehicle for reflection and storytelling.

Fragments was informed by an invitation for Babin to participate in an immersive artist residency by IN Residence in Turin. Exploring the city’s rich architectural culture and key historical role in Italian design, Babin evokes historical methods and motifs through his own poetic approach. Informed by Medieval wooden scaffolding used for building practices, a Vestige shelving unit and bench in dark oak appear as archaeological remnants re-envisioned through a contemporary lens. Another focal point of the show is his commanding Monolithe sideboard, which hints at being sculpted as much by wind or fire as by the human hand. Offering ambiguity for the viewer to wonder how a piece is made, Babin leaves behind fragments so one can discover the meaning of an object on their own.

Through his extensive study of wood-working techniques in France and Japan, Babin acquired the skills to respect and manipulate the material. Expressing reverence to the integrity of time-honored materials, tools and methods, Babin draws inspiration from the physical process of making. “Everything I create every day is a small fragment of my own language—a small fragment of me— and speaks to my innate need to relentlessly make things,” he states. Fragments highlights Babin’s most ambitious work to date in narrative, scale and complexity.

The exhibition will be accompanied by the first monograph on the work of Ferréol Babin, published by Italian publisher Quodlibet with texts by curators Barbara Brondi and Marco Rainò.