Dezeen Magazine

Misha Kahn at Annex MB

Misha Kahn presents "endearingly absurd" Just Around the Bend exhibition in LA

A "rampant cast of character-objects" that includes furniture, lighting and sculpture are displayed at artist and designer Misha Kahn's first solo show in Los Angeles.

Misha Kahn at Annex MB
Misha Kahn's Just Around the Bend exhibition includes designs created in a wide variety of materials

Just Around the Bend, now on view at the Annex at M+B gallery in West Hollywood, includes a variety of new works that incorporate recognisable signatures of Kahn's style.

Misha Kahn at Annex MB
M+B gallery, which is hosting the exhibition, described the pieces on show as "endearingly absurd"

"Misha Kahn's practice is grounded in contradiction," said a statement from the gallery. "Rather than creating harmony between scale, function and materiality, Kahn zealously opts for discord, resulting in objects with constantly evolving personalities."

"For his exhibition at Annex, Kahn presents a rampant cast of character-objects, each one a unique manifestation of the artist's unbridled world view," the text continued.

Misha Kahn at Annex MB
The exhibition showcases Kahn's whimsical forms

Among these items is Tingle Tangle Mingle Mangle, a bronze desk with gloopy legs and extra appendages that appear to be partially melting.

Similar fluid forms are visible in the American Gothic chair and Around the Tree and into the Hole sofa, created around plywood and steel frames, and upholstered in multi-coloured cashmere.

Misha Kahn at Annex MB
The Tingle Tangle Mingle Mangle bronze desk has several gloopy appendages

Kahn's series of Puzzle Mirrors resemble abstract visages, with mixed materials used to add facial details and hair on and around the flat reflective surfaces.

For a chandelier named Down the Road to the Right, the designer applied a grass-weaving technique he learned from artisans in Swaziland to produce a monstrous fixture that holds distorted blown-glass bulbs.

Misha Kahn at Annex MB
Kahn's Around the Tree and into the Hole sofa is upholstered in colourful cashmere

Fibrous tufts also sprout from Kokopelli Tattoo, an anthropomorphic lamp with a patchwork-patterned body and drooping glass bulbs that protrude from either side of its top.

Misha Kahn at Annex MB
The sofa has similar attributes to Kahn's Puzzle Mirrors

A set of small lamps called Le Petit Prince look like stick figures with oversized bronze crowns, while the stainless steel table known as Back Bend Starfish Puts on all Her Jewels for Her Workout is covered in coloured glass spots.

Misha Kahn at Annex MB
The American Gothic chair follows the same design language as the sofa

"Endearingly absurd, each piece cunningly unveils its trickery while acting out Kahn's story of untamed design," said the gallery's statement.

Just Around the Bend is open 16 February to 16 March 2019 at M+B, 612 North Almont Drive, Los Angeles.

Misha Kahn at Annex MB
Grass is incorporated into the Down the Road to the Right chandelier and Kokopelli Tattoo floor lamp

Brooklyn-based Kahn, who studied at Rhode Island School of Design and Bezalel Academy of Art and Design, also presented works in a solo show at New York's Friedman Benda gallery in 2017.

The artist often uses found materials and debris to create his pieces, as demonstrated by his 2016 Scrappy Cabinet made from trash and woven grass.

Misha Kahn at Annex MB
Kahn's use of metal ranges from the stainless steel Back Bend Starfish Puts on all Her Jewels for Her Workout table to his Le Petit Prince table lamps

More recently Kahn has unveiled jewelled tables and "animated" chairs at the Nomad Monaco fair, and produced a collection of barware and pool accessories for the Miami Beach Edition hotel.

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Misha Kahn at Annex MB
Misha Kahn at Annex MB
Misha Kahn at Annex MB