Designwork 10

Designwork 10 is Sophie Gannon Gallery’s 10th annual exhibition of works by some of Australia’s best designers and artists. This year’s exhibition features new work by artist Juz Kitson and designer Jonathan Ben-Tovim.

Juz Kitson’s works are resplendent and dense. Complex and large scale, they are exquisite musings on nature’s cycles of metamorphosis, decay, beauty and abundance. As a contemporary multi-disciplinary artist, Kitson pushes the boundaries of material and meaning through her sculptural works.

Central to Kitson’s work is the concept of ritual and transformation. There is a deep-seated and persistent questioning around the nature of self, the role of the unconscious and the experience of changing states. Kitson calls her audience to experience the vulnerable intensity of pleasure, delight, desire and discomfort.

Kitson’s work continues to gain critical acclaim as a prize finalist, including the Wynne Prize (Highly Commended 2022) (2017), the Sidney Myer Fund Australian Ceramic Award (2019), Muswellbrook Art Prize (2025), Ravenswood Art Prize (2025, 2018) and the ACAR Art Prize (2026). Her work is held in public collections, including the NGA, AGSA, Artbank, as well as in private collections nationally and internationally.

Industrial Designer Jonathan Ben-Tovim designs and makes experimental lighting and furniture works which explore the process of recontextualising found objects and source materials. His designs utilise the symbolism and cultural references of the existing materials, to question the manufacturing processes and globalised production in the delivery of commercially mass-produced goods.

Jonathan is the founder of the commercial furniture and lighting brand B-TD. Exhibiting nationally and internationally, his work has been presented at Salon Del Mobile, Milan and Dutch Design Week (2007, 2009); Dubai Design Week (2015); and Melbourne Design Week (2017-2022). Jonathan’s floor lamp, An Ode to the Airbag (2019), appeared in the NGV Triennial 2020 and is held in the Gallery’s permanent collection along with Off-piste Bench (2015) and Crash Wall Lamps (2017).

The exhibition will run from 19 May to 6 June, from 11am to 5pm.