Friedman Benda is pleased to present Paris-based Israeli designer Raphael Navot’s first solo show in Los Angeles. Installed in an immersive residential setting, Reverberations explores Navot’s suggestive visual language and poetic sensibility through the largest presentation of his work to date.
The show highlights Navot’s talent of synthesizing a myriad of artistic decisions such as proportion, volume, material, palette, construction, and motif with nuance and precision. The exhibition title refers to Navot’s pursuit of realizing works that reverberate across the currents of the origins of design—with each piece conceived in response to the human need for connection with one’s body. A key representation of his intuitive sense of composition without compromising on function, this marks the west coast debut of Navot’s acclaimed Acrostic seating.
Navot is driven by using materials such as fine upholstery, wood, eco-resin and concrete in surprising new contexts. “There is something about craft, the touch of the hand, the work behind it, the magic of just the material itself and the fact that we can actually see and feel the tradition, the heritage, the knowledge that is so embedded in the piece itself,” states Navot. Reexamining the possibilities of traditional European handcraft techniques through advanced contemporary technology, Navot pushes the boundaries of his chosen materials.
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 Cappellini, Venini, Loro Piana, and Roche Bobois for which he won the 2020 Elle Deco International Design award. Raphael Navot was named Maison&Objet Designer of the Year in 2023. He lives and works in Paris, France.
