'What Would Have Been' Art Exhibition Curated By Friedman Benda

On November 5, Friedman Benda will open an expansive art exhibition called What Would Have Been. On the heels of a tumultuous and unprecedented cycle of global design events, the art gallery will share a trove of modern design from over 30 studios filled with modern artists originally destined for exhibition in galleries, fairs, and museums across five continents.

What Would Have Been curated by Friedman Benda shows us what we have been missing and points forward; it fills in the blank spaces, offers a new direction, and represents a coming together of voices. The show tells a story of design that juxtaposes established designers with newcomers without predictability from either and prompts a re-examination of assumptions consistent with current events at large.

The exhibition makes an accessible furniture design that lost its intended platform, works shown briefly before museum doors closed or failed to open at all in Atlanta, Ghent, Melbourne, New York, Rio de Janeiro, Tokyo, Shanghai, Wiltshire, and further; works commissioned for festivals and art fairs including the London Biennale, TEFAF, The Salon, Design Miami Basel; and works that were slated for the gallery in Chelsea before the New York art community shutdown.

Consistent with the period that inspired it, What Would Have Been by Friedman Benda takes place not only in the gallery but also online, marking the tension and dialogue between these two spaces.