Wendell Castle: Living at Friedman Benda Recreates the Designer's Family Home

Friedman Benda in New York is presenting Wendell Castle: Living, an exhibition curated by the designer's daughter, Alison Castle, that reconstructs the atmosphere of the family's Scottsville, New York, home. The show opens with a June 1973 House Beautiful feature on the residence, a former mill that Castle renovated, where he and ceramic artist Nancy Jurs lived among their own work. Enlarged photographs from that spread function as murals, with objects pictured in the original rooms placed in front of their own images. Among the exhibits are Environment (1972), a stacked-walnut bed and work station topped with a Kermit the Frog toy and accompanied by family home videos; a 1962 Chaise Rocker; Opposites Attract (2017); Arcadia (2010); a wooden high chair Castle carved with Alison's name; and a 1973 coat rack holding his hat, still dusted with wood shavings. The installation traces Castle's technical evolution, including his 1963 development of stack lamination. Works by friends such as Michael Venezia, Roy Cartwright, Tommy Simpson, and Ann Sutton appear alongside Jurs's ceramics. Glenn Adamson contributed a catalogue essay. The exhibition runs from September 17 to October 17, 2026, at 515 West 26th Street, New York.