Ferréol Babin Paints the Landscape Into Furniture

Furniture rarely asks us to pause.

Most of the time it simply exists – functional, discreet, quietly supporting our lives. French designer Ferréol Babin approaches things differently. For him, furniture is not only meant to be used, but also to be contemplated.

With “In a Landscape,” his first solo exhibition in New York, Babin introduces a body of work that feels somewhere between design, sculpture and painting. Presented at the renowned design gallery Friedman Benda, the exhibition explores a poetic idea: what happens when the landscape does not hang on the wall, but instead becomes part of the object itself.

When Furniture Becomes a Canvas

Babin works primarily with wood sourced from forests near his studio in the French countryside. The material itself already carries a story – the grain, the imperfections, the rhythm of the tree.

But this time, the designer pushes the dialogue further.

Instead of stopping at carving and finishing the wood, Babin continues the process through painting. Small fragments of landscapes appear across cabinets, chairs and surfaces, like windows opening onto distant hills or quiet countryside scenes.

The effect is subtle yet striking.

Rather than decorating the furniture, the painted gestures feel almost instinctive, like memories captured in color. Babin treats wood as a canvas, letting brushstrokes echo the shapes he observes in nature – clouds, branches, shifting horizons.

Objects That Live With You

Despite their artistic presence, Babin’s pieces never lose their sense of purpose.

He often speaks about balancing imagination with functionality, and that balance is key to understanding his work.

Each object carries a dual personality – part sculpture, part everyday companion. A cabinet remains a cabinet. A chair remains a chair. But each one also invites a moment of reflection, encouraging us to slow down and look closer.

It is a philosophy rooted in the way Babin lives and works. His workshop sits inside his home in the French countryside, with no real boundary between domestic life and creative space. The objects he creates are designed to exist within that same intimacy – pieces meant to be lived with, not merely displayed.

Between Design and Dream

There is something quietly poetic about Babin’s practice.

His work moves between two worlds: the precision of a designer and the instinct of an artist. The result is furniture that feels both rational and emotional, structured yet free.

“In a Landscape” sits precisely at that intersection.

The exhibition does not imitate nature, nor does it attempt to replicate it. Instead, it captures the feeling of observing the world slowly – noticing shapes in branches, colors in distant hills, fragments of scenery that stay with us long after we leave.

And by embedding those impressions into furniture, Babin invites us to live with the landscape every day.

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Ferréol Babin – In a Landscape
Friedman Benda
515 W 26th Street
New York

March 6 – April 18, 2026

Discover more at
www.friedmanbenda.com