Argentine-Spanish artist Felipe Pantone and Los Angeles-based designer Etai Drori have unveiled Parallel Practices: Tailored Structures & Kinetic Surfaces, their first collaborative exhibition, now on view at albertz benda in Los Angeles. The presentation explores the intersection of contemporary art, collectible design and craftsmanship, pairing Pantone’s kinetic artworks with a new series of reimagined mid-century furniture.
Contemporary art meets collectible furniture design
Installed throughout Albertz Benda’s mid-century modern residence, the exhibition creates a dialogue between Pantone’s optical wall works and Drori’s sculptural furniture interventions. Rather than merging their distinct creative approaches, the collaboration allows each designer’s visual language to remain recognisable while revealing shared interests in structure, materiality and transformation.
The project began with a selection of vintage mid-century furniture sourced across Los Angeles. Drori digitally mapped, dismantled and reconstructed each piece, preserving elements of its original character while introducing new structural compositions.
Meanwhile, Pantone developed bespoke upholstery fabrics in collaboration with Italian textile manufacturer Limonta. His signature gradients, geometric compositions and optical colour transitions extend from the gallery walls onto the furniture, creating visual continuity throughout the exhibition. Consequently, familiar design objects acquire a dynamic new identity without losing their historical references.
A dialogue between image, craft and functional design
Pantone’s kinetic artworks anchor the exhibition through rhythmic compositions built around repetition, colour and the illusion of movement. These works reflect the artist’s ongoing exploration of how images shift between digital environments and physical space.
At the same time, the furniture adopts the same chromatic systems, allowing the exhibition to function as a unified spatial experience rather than a series of individual artworks and design objects. As a result, visitors encounter an immersive environment where art, interiors and collectible design coexist within a domestic architectural setting.
Furthermore, the collaboration extends beyond aesthetics to examine the relationships among image-making, fashion, craftsmanship, and functional objects. Instead of treating furniture as separate from fine art, Parallel Practices: Tailored Structures & Kinetic Surfaces proposes a shared creative territory where design can be experienced, inhabited and used in everyday life.